After fishing the North Platte, I spent the night of Friday the 13th of September, in Laramie. In the morning, I started off from the high plains to eventually wind my way through the Laramie River Valley. I arrived at the ranch that was to be our home in the early afternoon.
By late that evening, all our fellow FISH members had made their way from Denver to the ranch. The normal route to the valley (through Ft. Collins and up the Poudre River Canyon) was closed due to road and bridge damage. FISH members had had to take a circuitous route north through Laramie then west and south thus adding hours to their journey.
In exchange for this longer drive, everyone (except for those few who had arrived after dark) had gotten to experience the high plains and their first view of our beautiful valley.
Once in the valley, we could see the river was a bit high and off-color, but definitely fishable! Somehow, this drainage (and thus FISH XXII) had been spared! We were thrilled to have dodged the proverbial bullet. Optimism replaced anxiety and our fatigue was shoved aside by the excitement we all felt. We were eager to begin fishing in the morning!
