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3. August on the Road with Spence Part Two

I am posting this because I'm completely thrown off by this and maybe some of you are better aware than me as to what's going on out there in the desert?!

I left Cedar City Utah and drove south and took the southerly route through AZ to Monument Valley and Four Corners and finally to Cortez Colorado...

I knew nothing about the Vermilion Cliffs or that I was about to drive by them.

I drove and I drove around what appeared to be never ending rock formations, and then suddenly I came to a fly shop?! Say what?!

Then I saw the drift boats on the Colorado and the muddy looking river, and I wasn't sure what they were fishing for?

-Spence

The fly shop is at a place called Cliff Dweller's Lodge...In the middle of no-where!

Number three looks like some good astronomy country there, Spence. Those high desert climates are nice and clear with low moisture and wide open horizons, and lots of clear nights. There are housing developments in AZ and NM that are built specifically for amateur astronomers, way out in the country with no street lights and no bright security lights allowed, so you can actually see some serious sky from your own backyard. I have recently found a nice big open grassy field out in the Huron NF to start doing some star partying of my own as the days get shorter and the nights get longer.

And no, I have never seen trout come out of waters of that color, nor of waters that EVER turn that color!! Maybe they're sucker fishing? Catfish??

Jonathon

P.S. I bet if you drove down that highway at night, you'd see a lot of desert reptiles and mammals out on the prowl!

P.P.S. Looks like a great place to do some rock & mineral prospecting too.

I know it's a tad blurry, but those are drift boats down there on the water. There are three of them in the pic of the river through the supports of the bridge.

In their brochure they talk of trout and the waters being clear. Maybe that's closer to the dam?

I didn't know it at the time, but their restaurant was listed as a top 10 best restaurant in 2013 in Arizonia Highways Magazine.

This place is close to Grand Canyon. 15.5 miles of river between Glen Canyon Dam and the top of Grand Canyon?

Spence

Spence , I have not been to the Lees ferry, although my dad has been invited to fish up there with people they attend church with. I went to the Grand Canyon 3 years ago for the first time, and yes from what you could see of the river it was muddy looking. Although I have to say it was a long was down there. Oak creek and the verde river near Sedona are very nice looking streams, and payson creek is supposed to be good. My problem is every time I go out there my family has every day planned out. But I must admit I love that area of Arizona, with Jerome being my favorite place to hang out.

Mike

Spence, check out the Fishing With My Nephew thread.

I've been to Jerome! Mike, you and I have crossed paths more than once here...it's the town that closes at 9 p.m.! OMG, I could tell you a story about a trip I took there with a woman, but I'll spare you the details other than to say it wasn't much fun. However, it is a very cool place up on a hillside on which was growing a surprising amount of tree-of-heaven (Ailanthus altissima), known to those in urban ecosystems as a tree that will grow ANYWHERE ("A Tree Grows in Brooklyn"), and I guess that includes desert hillsides in Arizona...and saw two of the coolest beetles in my life, a couple of scrabs flying around in the hotel at night around the lobby lights, one a ten-lined June beetle (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten-lined_June_beetle) and the other a Chrysina gloriosa that was bright metallic green with silver stripes and an iridescent purple underside (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysina_gloriosa). I even did some fly fishing for some small rainbows that were very hard to hook in some small creek whose name I don't remember. So, all of that made the trip worth while.

Jonathon