Casa Cielo, Fishin, and a Sunset

There’s nothing quite like the quiet, still mornings you have when your body is adjusting to a whole new climate and atmosphere. The Jet lagged wake up call at 3am, and the still silence that you’ve been missing for the last week which permeates everything. It’s a great feeling, and I hadn’t realized just how much I’d been missing it until we arrived in Casa Cielo. It was a prefect middle ground. Quiet, cool, and comfortable I was able to revel in the sounds of nature and the relaxing tranquility of the Cain’s property.

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Casa Cielo, tucked into the hillside.

After a quick workout, a few push ups and some jumping jacks, I just stood by the double sliding glass doors looking out across the valley. The Cain’s had put a small garden down at the base of the hill, and looking out from the gate, I could just make out the Sleeping Ute.

As the day continued on, and the sun rose, I took my camera, stepped outside, and grabbed a quick shot of the Sleeping Ute –

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Sleeping Ute – Mountains on the right.

We settled in as the morning continued and after a refreshing shower, a delicious cup of coffee, and great conversation, I took a walk around the Cain’s property and fell in love with the little details they’d gone to the trouble of decorating. One of which wasn’t quite so little – this IMG_5029
Kachina metal art at Casa Cielo, Dolores Colorado
Was just fantastic.

It was time to take a moment out of the day for relaxation with a collective rally, we assembled and declared, “we were goin’ fishin’.”

It’d been raining pretty hard, and we weren’t sure how our luck would be. There was too much mud running in for us to fish the west fork of the Dolores, so we turned around and headed down toward the McPhee Reservoir.

We slipped and slid through mud and muck before deciding that our first road wasn’t going to get us anywhere near the lake. So after some careful maneuvering we turned about and headed to the other side of the lake. As we dropped down into a fisherman’s launch, we parked the truck, grabbed our gear and with a bounce in our step headed down to the lakeside.

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Fishin on the Mcphee Reservoir – Dolores Colorado

We were surprised to say the least to find that the lakeside had moved! The drought had been quite serious, and as a result the water line was down at least 60 feet. Word around town was that there was only 4ft left of irrigation water in the reservoir – which for a small farming community meant serious worry.

We set aside our doubts, trudged through the mud and down to the waterline, grabbed our poles and cast out.

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Alex Casting on the Lakeside – The rocks should have been covered with water

In the wind, and a slight drizzle we persevered, although only one of us managed a catch. Still, satisfied and relaxed by the beauty of nature and the cool winds, we packed up and headed back to Casa Cielo. What we didn’t expect, was the absolutely stunning and mind blowing sunset we encountered as a major storm blew through.

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Gorgeous sunset as the storms rolled through, High View – Dolores, Colorado
We made it home, had a fantastic dinner, and headed off to bed contented.


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