We had been reading about fires in Colorado. We had a campsite reserved up the Poudre Canyon, at Chamber's Lake, near the top of Cameron Pass. A few days before we were to leave, we learned about a major fire near Chambers Lake, called the Cameron Peak fire. Our campsite reservation was canceled by the Forest Service. We had to make a decision.
The night before we were to leave, the dark cloud from the fire was high over Fort Collins, looking very ominous. The sun was blood red, adding to our unease. We knew that there were multiple major fires in Colorado, and considered where we should go.
Since the Poudre Canyon road, and most of its campsites, were closed, we decided to head west by going north, through Laramie Wyoming, and then go to Teal Lake Campground, southwest of Walden Colorado.
On the morning of our departure, the smoke was very bad, causing us to cough. We desperately wanted to escape the smoke, to flee the Apocalypse. The smoke cleared as we headed up US287 to Laramie. Outside Laramie, the skies were clear, but we could see pollution in the Laramie Valley. We refueled in Laramie, and considered our options. Our backup plan was to head for the Wyoming Snowy Range mountains. As we looked west, the choice seemed clear; turn south towards Colorado and dense smoke, or turn north towards the Snowy Range, which was clear. We decided to head for Rob Roy Reservoir, which we had never seen. We drove through the tiny town of Albany, population 55, with a fire station and one business, and headed uphill on washboard dirt roads. Everything was jolted by the washboards. Eventually, we arrived at Rob Roy, and were glad to be in clear skies. There were plenty of campsites, perhaps due to it being Sunday afternoon, and due to the bad road. We chose a campsite overlooking the lake, with a good number of trees, and were happy to be there. The campground was somewhat primitive, with hand pumps for water.
The lake is popular for fishing for Kokanee Salmon, but one needs a boat, which we did not bring. We saw a few boats tied up to shore. We planned to fish for trout from shore. We had bought two day Wyoming fishing licenses, starting Monday.
Looking to the south, we could see smoke, but there is no smoke here to speak of. The air is a bit thin, at 9500 ft elevation.
On Monday morning, Richard went out and fished for a couple of hours, but only foul hooked a small fish. Sandi communed with the chipmunks and ground squirrels, and studied her “Field Guide to the Rocky Mountain States.” Midday, we took a driving tour around the lake to Keystone, an old mining town, now with summer cottages. We saw an impressive bull moose in Keystone.
Tuesday, we fished in the morning, no luck. We took a drive to the Spruce Mountain fire lookout tower. We thought that it would be a hike, but we could drive almost to the base of the tower. They apparently take reservations to stay overnight. Richard could walk up the stairs almost to the top, where he had a good view of Medicine Bow peak. We wandered further to Cinnabar Park, a large meadow, where a few RVs with ATVs were camped. We walked over to a cross dedicated to Joyce and Fred, next to one of the only trees in the area, probably planted by their family. We got back and had salmon for dinner. Richard fished for an hour, and had one good fish on, but the fish jumped out of the water and got off. The skies were very cloudy, so our star watching plan will have to wait for another day.
Wednesday we decided to try to move to one of the campgrounds off the Snowy Mountain Scenic Byway road. We had lunch outside at the Beartree Tavern and Restaurant, in Centennial Wyoming; the patrons outside outnumbered the ones inside. The town of Centennial is a funky place.
The views from the Snowy Range Road were great, very alpine, but the trailheads were crowded, and there were no campsites to be had, even on a Wednesday. The license plates were mostly Colorado. We decided to go home a day early.
