July 1 - 5: Eleven Mile Reservoir State Park, Colorado

From Blue Mesa, we drove east through Gunnison, through Monarch Pass into the South Park area, and along the Collegiate Peaks. The Arkansas River was crowded with rafters, and there were storm clouds looming (as always, this time of year). We had some very powerful winds and lightning / thunder in the area, throughout our stay at Eleven Mile, including a spectacular lightning show on 4th of July, which was a very nice treat since no fireworks are allowed in the area.

Our site was nice, with views all around, and made friends with some neighbors who were locals from Colorado Springs.

We went fishing on the boat at daybreak; our only catch was a pike which we released.

That little white dot in the center of this picture is our RV...

There were lots of seagulls and Canada geese; with the breeze and the occasional fog in the morning, it almost felt like we were on the ocean...

The winds are notoriously dangerous and would whip up the white caps on the water very suddenly. Gary spent quite a bit of time fishing from shore rather than the boat.

                                                         Cooking steak on the grill, Gary had an audience of seagulls.

The other local residents are the wild burros which are frequently seen around the reservoir.