We have been fishing at the Conejos River, that runs through the RV Park where we are staying, for the past week and a half. We hadn’t even had one little nibble. So we decided we were going to go to the Trujillo Meadows Reservoir and try fishing in some deep water. The owner of our RV Park, John, told us he had a lot of luck catching fish there. The reservoir is about an hour and a half drive from where we are staying.
When you get to the turn-off for the reservoir, you have to travel down a pretty well maintained gravel road that doesn’t really have clearly marked signs letting you know where the reservoir really is located. So, we spent about another half hour driving through a campground, trying to figure out how to get down to the reservoir.
Finally we found the road that would take us to the reservoir, where we would find the deep water, and where I just knew I was going to catch that BIG fish… But no. What we found was that the reservoir was all dried up! Are you kidding me? Why would our camp host/owner, John, send us to a reservoir that was dry?
Mud pies anyone?
So now, we decide we will go try our luck at the other reservoir we heard about, Platoro Reservoir. On the way out of the dried up Trujillo Reservoir area, we saw two deer romping across the road. Perhaps they were looking for some deep water too.
All was not a complete loss, because the drive to and from Trujillo Meadows Reservoir is beautiful. We passed through “Caminante” To… – Los Caminos Antiguos Scenic & Historic Byway. The welcome sign read “Bienvenidos Caminantes! Come! Take a walk with us. We know an old song, El Caminante, which tell of taking a long walk along the ancient roads. Like the first prehistoric inhabitants, you too are a caminante, or one who walks upon this land”.
When we reached the turn-off for the Platoro Reservoir, we find out we have to travel down 25 miles, on a not well maintained, washboard-like, dirt road. The first few miles were deceiving as to what was to come further down the road… But, on we went, in search of the deep water, where I was going to catch that BIG fish! Hey, if you’re not going with a positive attitude that your going to catch a big fish, you might as well stay home. Right?
On the way down the long, and bumpy road, we passed these two beautiful horses standing peacefully in their field.
And, again, we saw lots of beautiful countryside while we were going down that long, and really bumpy road. 🙂
Finally, after an hour and a half on that very long, and really, really, bumpy road, we came to the Platoro Reservoir with deep water in it.
YES! I’m getting out and I’m going to catch my BIG fish. But no! You see those ripples in the water? Well those ripples were coming from wind that was blowing so hard we couldn’t even cast out our lines without having them blow right back in our faces. And, what looks like a simple shoreline that we could just walk around to the other side of the water, was actually a steep drop off. No way were we able to get around that water unless we had some fly-fishing waders, which of course, we didn’t. So, with dashed hopes, we called it a day, and started making our way back home without ever putting our hooks into any water at all…
On the way back down the mountain, like three hours later, we passed the same horses, standing in the exact same positions. I thought to myself, these horses really know how to stay in the moment and enjoy life. I guess we could all learn something from them. Stay in the moment, expect nothing, and hope for the best! 🙂
The next day, when we saw our Park Owner, John, we told him the reservoir he sent us to was all dried up. He looked surprised and said “really, I thought that would have been filled up again by now. They drained it to work on the dam, but that was only supposed to take a month”. So much for being in the know about your area. But we’re still loving it here, and we’re still having lots of fun.
Stay Tuned!
