In The Shadow of Longs Peak
Eleven Mile Reservoir
15 October 2022 - 16 October 2022
I arrive at Eleven Mile Reservoir about 3:30 PM after visiting Spinney.
The first stop is to check out the Rocky Ridge Campground on the east side of the lake, which turns out to be mostly closed. In the closed loops, there look to be some sites tucked into rocks and trees, but many are out in the open.
Next, I check out the 2 loops by the marina. The best sites are those at the back of each loop. None have much protection from the wind, and some are really close to the road.
I backtrack to county road 56, which goes around the north end of lake. There is a state wildlife area on the right and the parking lot is full, perhaps for fishing or hunting (or perhaps both!). Just past that I cross the Platte. As I look downstream into the river, there is a small river-wide weir, then the reservoir. One could not paddle very far up-river.
Once across the Platte, I turn down CR 56 toward Witcher’s Cove. At the first access, Cross Canyon, there is a day use area as well as camping. It sits just east of a tall bluff which may provide some protection from the wind coming from that side but the campsites themselves are flat and in the open. Indeed, there is a light breeze, but it is not windy at all here.
Continuing down county road 56, the next access is day use only so I pass it by.
Next is the access to Rocking Chair campground where I have a reservation for site #605. As I drive into the campground, it seems like the wind is steadier and has picked up a bit.
Again, I digress: When we paddled and camped here at in June of 2021, the wind was strong enough to flatten the 2 tents of 2 participants who packed up and went home! And there was the time Gary and I camped at Arches when we woke up in the middle of the night with the tent deforming at flattening against us and we spent the remainder of that night holding up the corners of the tent.
I park the car, planning to use it as a windbreak, and proceed to set up the tent, the new 3 person ALPS 3 season tent. As I was attaching the fly, the wind shifts, gusts, and immediately flattens the tent!
Lucky for me, I had also packed the Mountain Hardware 4-season tent! It is sturdier and has a lower profile, so should stand up to the wind.
The Mountain Hardware tent goes up quickly, stakes are pounded in, and it seems stable. The wind does not quit. I sit in the car for a bit then make a sandwich for supper. It’s still light out, still windy and a bit chilly.
I could pack up and leave but decide to stick it out. I crawl into the tent, snuggle into the sleeping bag and read, enjoying the downtime. The wind does die down around 8 PM (as predicted). I drift in and out of sleep till about 11 and finally sleep.
I wake to calmness and cloud cover. Remembering our trip in August, just a couple of months back, where we got caught in an afternoon storm in the middle of packing up, I decide to pack up. If the weather holds (which it does) I will make coffee. I do some writing, took some pictures then was on my way downstream toward Guffy to explore possible remote camping (there was none that seem adequate) then off to see Shelly and Mark at their new place in Green Mountain Falls.
Eleven Mile, Spinney, and Tarryall Reservoir
15 October 2022, 16 October 2022 and 17 October 2022
My purpose for these trips was to check out Tarryall Reservoir, the Eleven Mile area with an eye to future outings, including doing a day paddle at Spinney, paddling the South Platte between Spinney and Eleven Mile, Eleven Mile camping options (with an eye to easy lake launch access), and check out the Forest Service Area below Eleven Mile dam.
Spinney Reservoir
15 October 2022
Driving out of Boulder south on CO 93 overlooking Eldorado Springs, the wind is calm, the sky a deep blue, and only wisps of clouds to the west, beyond the flatirons.
It’s 2 ½ hours to Fairplay and 3 hours to Hartsel. Normally, to get to Eleven Mile Reservoir, from Hartsel we would drive east on US 24, then south on Park County Road 23 which has a record number of potholes. Today, just past the junction of CO 9 and US 24, I turn onto Park County Road 59 and proceed east. This road, despite being gravel, is in much better shape than CR23. It takes about 20 minutes to drive from Harstel to Spinney. Along the way is a burned home which I did not photograph.
Spinney is way down! It is a wide-open reservoir, without the protection of low-lying hills or rock outcrops present at the south end of Eleven Mile Reservoir. And it seems big! For sea kayaking you would need to plan your day carefully and be aware of possible wind and wave hazards.
Here, I take a photo of the reservoir thru my (cracked) windshield. The crack is important, kind of a statement of my life which has had many ups and downs. And it inspired me to start a blog.
There is a road that crosses Spinney dam. At the far end, another road leads to the river below the dam, a pretty setting. An outfitter there said that one cannot boat the river from Spinney to Eleven Mile. I did find it odd that signage did not specifically state that boating was prohibited in this section, but I did not find any designated boat launches.
Tarryall
17 October 2022
Driving west on Hwy 285 from C-470, the evergreen covered hills are spattered with the red-orange-yellow of aspens at their peak. At Jefferson, Park County Road (CR) 77 cuts through south park with rolling hills and the tawny brown of field grass gone by.
The surface of Tarryall Reservoir is glass in the calm wind, creating a mirror reflecting the sky, near grass-covered hills, and further hills clothed in pine. It is not a large reservoir. Looking at the map, it’s about half the size of Union Reservoir in Longmont. There are more cars parked or stopping by than I would have expected for a Monday in mid-October.
Tarryall does remind me of the various lakes in the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge in South-Central Washington: small lakes scattered amongst pillars of rock, good environment for birds and waterfowl. Though today at Tarryall, there were neither birds nor waterfowl.
The sign says 25 miles to Lake George, so I continue south on CR 77, which is still paved. There is a creek running close to the road and the environs remind me of Picado Canyon north of Loma. There is a Trailhead for Ute Creek, a forest service campground (already closed) and the settlement of Tarryall, which in New England, would have had a sign saying, ‘Densely Settled’.
I reach a junction: Lake George is 5 miles ahead on CR 77 or US 24 is 7 miles along CR 31. I take CR 31, a good gravel road and reach US 24. I turn west and head over Wilkerson Pass then down into the South Platte Valley and can see Eleven Mile and Spinney Reservoirs in the distance.
I head south toward Eleven Mile, then east to photograph the burned-out house. Then east again, and in no time, I am at the junction of CO 9 where I hop out and tighten the bike rack. Then north on 9, to US 285 which I take back to Denver, then home. I am tired!