Late August 2018
See also my Fall 2017 and June 2018 articles on fishing Lower Beaver Creek.
https://hooknfly.com/2017/12/14/beaver-creek-legend-of-the-late-fall-3-near-canon-city-co/amp/
I’m off from Salida to Denver to spend the Labor Day weekend with my #1 fishing buddy, my 2 ½ year old granddaughter Aly. After some on-line recon, I have decided to take the long way that will let me sample the waters of Upper Beaver Creek below Skaguay Reservoir, just a stone’s throw from Cripple Creek, the historic mining and now gaming town perched at nearly 10,000 feet. The lower three mile stretch at the mouth of the canyon some 14 miles downstream near the hamlet of Penrose is one of my favorite early and late season spots, holding lots of smaller brownies and an occasional lunker rainbow trout.
The drive from Salida starts down U.S. 50 then a few miles west of Canon City veers onto an official scenic byway (C0 9/HighPark Road) that more than lives up to its designation. It’s a perfect late summer day with bright sunshine and light winds. After a leisurely two-hour drive, I navigate my way through Cripple Creek, one of the three towns in Colorado where gambling is allowed, past the gargantuan Newmont gold mining operation, through the town of Victor and start the six-mile descent to Skaguay Reservoir.