Have you ever driven through Glenwood Canyon, mouth agape, senses awed and wondered what was on top of those cliffs? I got to experience the top firsthand the weekend of June 19-21. If you get off at the Dotsero exit, head north on the Colorado River Road for about two miles, there will be a left turn onto the Coffee Pot Road. The Coffee Pot Road is one of those epic Colorado roads…it is narrow and windy and the landscape falls very steeply off the side of the road. But, the views are stunning, and the landscape once you are on top of the canyon are nearly indescribable. You can see to Aspen to the south and to Vail the west. Once on top, all around are deep canyons, meadows filled with wildflowers, aspen groves that light up in the fall, pine trees, interesting rock formations and more lakes than you would expect in dry Colorado. The Flattops Wilderness begins in this area, so it is the perfect location to really get away from it all.
About 29 miles up the Coffee Pot Road is Deep Lake (about 10,500 feet in elevation), 
which has a beautiful campground along the eastern edge. That was Grubby Guy and my destination. We’d heard a snowdrift had made getting to the lake nearly impossible, but that they were plowing it in the morning. So, Friday night, GGuy and I drove most of the way and pulled off Coffee Pot to set up in what had been a hunter’s camp in the fall. (A sign that it was the right spot...a mama elk and her newborn baby were walking up the hill by the campsite right as we pulled off. GGuy was sold!) We had eaten before we got there, so we built a fire and talked and gaped at the absolutely amazing night sky. I swear, we could see the whole Milky Way. I made a wish on a falling star.
We woke to an absolutely beautiful morning – sunny, warm, clear. After a delicious breakfast, we packed up our little camp and drove up the road to Deep Lake. GGuy wanted to fish (and look for Elk – he’s spotted two herds that morning), and I just wanted to sit by a lake
and relax. Perfect solution! When we got there, the spots right next to the lake were taken, so we settled for a spot in the trees with a view of the lake. Our spot had a great place to pitch our tent, a picnic table and a nice fire ring with a grate for cooking. We pitched our tent and set our campsite up, and then GGuy and I headed down to the lake for some fishing. We could see the fish jumping out of the water, and GGuy had a good feeling. The fish, however, decided to be picky. After about 45 minutes and not a nibble, I decided I’d rather get some exercise, and left GGuy to decide which dry fly would work best. Since the area is pretty remote, there wasn’t a lot of traffic, so I walked along a dirt road for a while. It was unlike anything else I’ve seen in Colorado. Once I got on top of Old Ute Trail, there were tons of white and red rock
everywhere, set against the vivid green of the grasses and evergreens – it looked almost like an alien landscape. Stunning. I could have kept walking just to see what was around the next corner, but I’d been walking for more than an hour, and decided to go back to camp. GGuy and I napped for a bit in the sun-warmed tent, then went looking for firewood for our campfire. There was plenty of available fuel, but with all the recent rain, it was more difficult to find dry wood. 
Once we had enough to last us the night, we came back to camp to hang out. I read and he fished a little more (catching two Brookies). Then, we made a lovely camp dinner, sat around the campfire chatting, watched a beautiful sunset over the lake and called it an early night. A fierce thunderstorm roared through about midnight, and it pretty much rained the rest of the night. When we woke up, nothing was dry, and most of our things had standing puddles on them. With nothing we could do about it, we made the best of it. We marveled at the low-hanging clouds racing 
up the canyon carved by Deep Creek, made some coffee, cooked a little breakfast and then packed up our soggy belongings and made our way back down the hill. I’d definitely go back. The campground was nice – very scenic, the potties were clean, and there were plenty of dispersed camping options nearby. The sites were just $6 a night. It takes a bit to get there, but was well worth the feeling of being in the middle of the wilderness
and surrounded by the great outdoors.
Great, grubby weekend,
GG
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