Two days back working after my 2nd month off for paternity leave and now reflecting on the month while I should be working. I took of January when my daughter was born but we stayed home obviously. My wife's brother and sister both recently moved to Durango, Colorado within the past 3 years, in laws also bought a house there last year, so we decided to spend most of June there with our new daughter to get a better feel for the area. We have visited 3 times before but no longer than a week or so.
Well, there are lots of things to like about Durango with respect to where we live in Mukilteo. We are planning a move somewhere in 5ish years and Durango has been a lingering option with her siblings both now living there full time. Durango is a deserty mountain town with enough amenities and frivolous luxuries and what not around to not feel like you need to get in the car to go somewhere else. There's not really anything in WA you can compare it to. The closest maybe being Ellensburg/Cle Elum but I've never heard anyone refer to Ellensburg as a mountain town growing up and Cle Elum is tiny. I like the Hood River area in Oregon a lot personally but don't think that would be a realistic option for my wife. One of the nicer things about Durango is how physically active the community is. With that, everything is easily bikeable/walkable which I've never had in a place I've lived. It also felt very safe and seemed like a very cool place for kids to grow up. Luckily, we don't need to make a decision yet and are still seriously considering just moving to Greece because of the cost of living. We will be there all of September for my last month of paternity leave.
Anyways....I did a bit of fishing with the Animas right there in town and lots of other small creeks/rivers around. Most of the time was spent with family but I was still able to get out quite a bit. Not a lot of fish pictures this trip but here's some photos to wrap things up.
Typical Animas river spot...lots of pocket water and a few deeper pools but far and few between in town. There's also so much green sludge in the water it was a real pain in the ass. It gets better the further away from town you get. I ended up getting a Ute reservation license as well and fishing below town quite a bit. The section in town is considered Gold Medal Waters for Colorado but I didn't find it that great unless you really like catching 12-14 inch stocker rainbows and the occasional bigger fish. There are some browns but I didn't find many. For me it was about 1 brown trout for every 15 rainbows or something like that. Did a float one night below town after my brother in law was finished with work and stuck a big ole buttery brown but it shook the hook eventually. Next time...
Down the Animas we floated...
Big ole hook jawed cutbow ate a sculpzilla right behind the grocery store.
One of the many small feeder creeks in the area.
Hiked the Piedra river trail and found lots of wild brown trout. Need to hike pretty far in to get away from the pressure.
One of my brother in law's showing his cousin from Greece how to cast the fly rod.
Los Pinos River...need to hike pretty far again to get to the good water.
Ruby Lake...caught a lot of nice cutthroat in the lake. Deceivingly steep down to the lake.
In laws drove from Leavenworth to Durango and brought our dog for us. We flew. He's getting older but was still able to handle nearly 13k of elevation and 10 miles this day.
I've fished this creek every time I've visited. Spooky native Rio Cutthroat.
Stocker lake on the way up to Silverton. Fished from a paddleboard for the first time here, pretty fun with no wind.
Well, there are lots of things to like about Durango with respect to where we live in Mukilteo. We are planning a move somewhere in 5ish years and Durango has been a lingering option with her siblings both now living there full time. Durango is a deserty mountain town with enough amenities and frivolous luxuries and what not around to not feel like you need to get in the car to go somewhere else. There's not really anything in WA you can compare it to. The closest maybe being Ellensburg/Cle Elum but I've never heard anyone refer to Ellensburg as a mountain town growing up and Cle Elum is tiny. I like the Hood River area in Oregon a lot personally but don't think that would be a realistic option for my wife. One of the nicer things about Durango is how physically active the community is. With that, everything is easily bikeable/walkable which I've never had in a place I've lived. It also felt very safe and seemed like a very cool place for kids to grow up. Luckily, we don't need to make a decision yet and are still seriously considering just moving to Greece because of the cost of living. We will be there all of September for my last month of paternity leave.
Anyways....I did a bit of fishing with the Animas right there in town and lots of other small creeks/rivers around. Most of the time was spent with family but I was still able to get out quite a bit. Not a lot of fish pictures this trip but here's some photos to wrap things up.
Typical Animas river spot...lots of pocket water and a few deeper pools but far and few between in town. There's also so much green sludge in the water it was a real pain in the ass. It gets better the further away from town you get. I ended up getting a Ute reservation license as well and fishing below town quite a bit. The section in town is considered Gold Medal Waters for Colorado but I didn't find it that great unless you really like catching 12-14 inch stocker rainbows and the occasional bigger fish. There are some browns but I didn't find many. For me it was about 1 brown trout for every 15 rainbows or something like that. Did a float one night below town after my brother in law was finished with work and stuck a big ole buttery brown but it shook the hook eventually. Next time...
Down the Animas we floated...
Big ole hook jawed cutbow ate a sculpzilla right behind the grocery store.
One of the many small feeder creeks in the area.
Hiked the Piedra river trail and found lots of wild brown trout. Need to hike pretty far in to get away from the pressure.
One of my brother in law's showing his cousin from Greece how to cast the fly rod.
Los Pinos River...need to hike pretty far again to get to the good water.
Ruby Lake...caught a lot of nice cutthroat in the lake. Deceivingly steep down to the lake.
In laws drove from Leavenworth to Durango and brought our dog for us. We flew. He's getting older but was still able to handle nearly 13k of elevation and 10 miles this day.
I've fished this creek every time I've visited. Spooky native Rio Cutthroat.
Stocker lake on the way up to Silverton. Fished from a paddleboard for the first time here, pretty fun with no wind.
