RWGHE: Upper Frying Pan River, Day 1

4/28-4/30/2023 Day One

I’m pleased to announce this trip didn’t go as smoothly. …Always more fun to write about. Nothing tragic, just definitely more Menke-like. Our kids would be happy to know that this kind of thing didn’t just happen while they were being dragged along behind us in the back seat. 

We set out, spur-of-the-moment, on Friday around noon after deciding just that morning to take the camper and flee what has become a very congested time of year for fishing close to our house. I *totally* know I am a *huge* hypocrite when I complain about all the new-comers to fly fishing and the explosion of outdoor activity since Covid. But guess what? I’m close to 60 (which means I’m post-meno and way more unapologetic), and I don’t really care. So I’m going to complain anyway. 

We’ve only been in Eagle three full years, but we were coming here for the two years before that and I can tell you that the change in river use has been exponential over that time. Meanwhile, I’ve been camping in the national forests forEVER, so at least I have some legitimizing chops in this arena. Covid also changed camping dramatically. I assumed crowds would gradually go back to normal, but I’m not so sure. Time will tell, but for now it’s still pretty crazy.

When I suggested to Dave that we take off for the weekend and find a new river to explore, he said, “You figure out where to go and I’m in.” So I pulled out the books and road atlas and tried to ‘figure it out’. A natural choice would have just been mountain biking near Fruita but I knew the crowds would be gonzo due to it being the first nice spring weekend. We like to be alone — remember, we’ve got an outdoor shower now and NO one needs to see us showering naked in the desert, yeah? (<— this is a thinly veiled Succession reference. Does anyone else watch it? Does anyone else go BANANAS at how those awful people finish every stupid sentence with “yeah?” Ugh. I don’t even know why we are watching it. #digression)

So anyway, BACK TO THE STORY: I was thinking no where too far… either north toward Steamboat or south toward Marble. I was a little worried about snow up north though so I focused on the Marble area, where we had been with the kids once upon a time. The Crystal River flows through there and we have driven along it several times always remarking about how good it looked, but never fished it. (Well, okay, DAVE says we fished it once, but I seriously don’t remember that. And since WHEN does Dave remember something and I don’t?). Bonus: it was only an hour and half drive, provided there be no bozos screwing things up in Glenwood Canyon…

The camper was set to go and all we needed to do was grab some food and bevs for the fridge and pack our clothes and gear. We brought the mountain bikes, too. (I will have to take some pics of Dave’s brilliant MacGyver-ed set up for the bikes in the back of the 4Runner, as it is really nice.)

Surprise #1: Marble is elevation 8000’. Our house in Eagle is 7100’. That 900 feet makes a big difference as far as snow goes. Not a huge deal but still surprising.

Surprise #2: Forest roads weren’t open. Most had signs that said they would open 4/15. That was two weeks ago. This is a big deal because you can’t disperse camp if you aren’t in the national forest and those roads are how you get there. 

Surprise #3: Actual campgrounds don’t open until 5/12. Not that we wanted to stay in a campground, mind you, but beggars can’t be choosers. There was an open KOA we passed (several times as we drove back and forth…) but we Menke’s have standards. This was a strict last resort.

Surprise #4: There were no private campgrounds either. At all.

Surprise #5: The “Crystal River” was a mud pit

So we just kept driving. And driving. And driving… We headed up the Frying Pan River toward Ruedi Reservoir thinking “there HAS to be something open along there…”

Surprise #6: There was no one fishing the world-renown Frying Pan River, including at the dam where it is often wall-to-wall fishers. Weird.

Of course, literally never have I ever had the foresight to download maps to use when there is no cell service. Never. (Why? I do not know) So now, all we could do was drive. And drive. Dave completely lost his mind and turned off into any and every dirt track visible from the highway. At one point, rather than get stuck not being able to turn around, he said “I’m gonna walk up and check it out.” He was gone so long that I popped a beer and drank the whole thing before he got back. In the old days this would have been enough to make me give him the silent treatment for at least the rest of the day, but — remember? — I’ve had a lot of therapy, and I only said a few pissy things and let it go. Dave’s a lucky guy, yeah?

At one point we turned off and drove along what could only be described as a mountain bike trail — and now we really ARE hypocrites — finally running into a wall of snow and could go no further. Had to back up about a mile, testing Dave’s prowess using the mirrors. Neither of us is good at that, but dang if he isn’t getting way better after this trip. We thought we hit pay dirt at the far end of Ruedi Reservoir in a little wooded alcove with — oddly — no ‘no trespassing’ signs and were just about to get out when we realized the river was running along the edge of the woods and you can’t camp within 1/4 mile of the river…

Surprise #7: an open gate leading to a day-use area! — the first of the now four hour driving trip. WE know (because we are seasoned outdoor people, yeah?) that overnight camping is not allowed at day use areas, but… there was literally not one sign saying this. 

Still, we drove on because, in an interesting role reversal, Dave was not comfortable staying there. He was worried we’d get a knock on the door in the middle of the night. This is usually my phobia. Odd. What wasn’t odd was that Dave, in true Dave Menke mode, still believed we’d find a something better.

We didn’t.

I finally convinced him that the day use was our best bet. So we turned around for the umpteenth time and went back there. I thought it was all going to be fine until Dave realized it was possible that someone would come along and lock the gate and trap us in…New anxieties about that, but in the end we took our chances. We had an insanely good dinner after our almost six hours of driving around like lunatics… Dave saw a rise on the edge of the open water and took some casts… A sprinter van tooled down to join us at dusk. It was actually quite a nice campsite.

[Aside]: while I’ve never had the foresight to download offline maps, I did have the foresight to download a few shows to watch after we tucked into Stormie* for the night. (#priorities) And because we aren’t CRIMINALS, we didn’t make a fire at the day use area and therefore turned in early because it was DANG COLD. Can I tell you how fun it is to watch TV in your teardrop?? (Really fun.)

I can’t believe how long this is getting. Therefore: Part 2 two come at a later date.

*Stormie is my name for the camper. Short for Storm Trooper. Which I am taking 100% credit for. When we finally got the call from Escapod after two years of waiting to make all our selections, including color, we were still on the fence. I had taken a picture of the 4Runner and photoshopped the camper on to the back of it so we could make a decision. It helped, but we were still totally waffling. It was on the call itself that we finally decided on white, mostly because we assumed white would be the least popular color. Plus, the old pop-up was white, so it felt sweetly familiar. Immediately after photoshopping it, I realized it looked like a Star Wars Storm Trooper. I told that to the Escapod person. And wouldn’t you know that a few days later, they finished the very first white camper with black door and posted it on instagram, declaring it their new favorite calling it the “Storm Trooper”! I felt like a new mom whose baby name was stolen, yeah? Anyway, her name is Stormie now. Just so you know.