Thursday, April 7, 2016

Plans Are Overrated


My return to this hidden staircase of rock and water didn't go quite as planned. The intent was to nick a few brookies and take some long exposure images of soft falls and emerging Spring. I was ready.

But the brookies were absent (I saw nary a fish, much less caught one) and the day, forecast to be heavily overcast, turned bluebird bright, and windy. There's not an ND filter made that can fix dancing rhododendrons. I snapped a few shots but my objectives went pretty well unrealized.

No worries, however. The three-hour drive was saved by a quintet of rough-coated whitetails that passed within twenty feet as I sat on the tailgate enjoying my lunch, a leisurely mid-day nap in the bed of the pickup, taken between half-mile rock hops (the first with a fly rod and the second, a tripod), and, after each climb and descent, a cold beer, tucked snuggly in a trailside plunge pool. Nature's perfect cooler.

So while things didn't go quite as planned, it was a joy to be out. To be on the road. On the stream. On the trail.

Besides. Plans, as you well know, are overrated.






Note: Click on the pics for a better look. I'm often disappointed with how Blogger represents them.

Acknowledgement: Thanks, here, to the good folks at Upslope Brewing Company for sending a six-pack of their fine lager. A perfect summer beer, light and flavorful, that would be even more perfect if I could get it here on the east coast. Just another reason that Boulder rocks. Oh, and no small thing, one percent (1%) of revenue from sales of this beer is donated to local chapters of Trouts Unlimited where their beers are sold. Well done, boys.

10 comments:

Feather Chucker said...

Great pictures Mike. I'll have to try that beer.

Mike Sepelak said...

It'd be a long beer run, Kevin. Boulder's a haul.

But I recall a college buddy of mine, back in the early seventies, taking the Thanksgiving holiday break from NCSU classes to run to Texas and back for a backseat full of Coors. (Back then Coors could not be found east of the Mississippi.) But then, for him, the beer was just an excuse to be on the road.

Come to think of it, last I heard he was in Denver...

Feather Chucker said...

My bro-in-law lives in Denver. We're planning on visiting soon.

CathyB said...

I see that your blogging continues to offer up its perks, Mike. May the freebies keep you writing indefinitely. ;)

Michael Agneta said...

Wonderful pictures, definitely worth the drive.

Oh, and you've got a beer deal? Man, I'm doing this blogging thing wrong. (Upslope is quite tasty though, had a few at the '15 Tenkara Summit in Boulder).

Mike Sepelak said...

Cathy, every now and then I get an interesting offer. I usually decline, but this was beer! Hope you survived last night's freeze.

Out of left field, Mike, but I couldn't pass it up. And you're not doing the blogging thing wrong. You're one of the granddaddys.

Mike C.W. said...

I love it when a plan (doesn't) come together! LOL...looks pretty good to me!

Mike Sepelak said...

My thoughts exactly. Michael. Thanks for stopping by!

Doug said...

Nice old yeller Fenwick.

Mike Sepelak said...

It's sort of fun, Doug, in a heavy, noodley kind of way. ;-)