Hail and Mouses

July 6, 2923.  Took a long drive up to Lake Wellington and  Bailey via forest Service roads.  Beautiful sun drenched backcountry, long grassed meadows with wildflowers and aspen.  It started to rain around noon so I headed back toward Deckers in hopes of another crack at the South Platte River. 

It rained steadily on the drive but lightened up enough to fish.  Not a soul on the water whereas just two days prior it was jammed with anglers and tubers.  Lots of slow rumbling thunder but no lightning.  Several trout struck at grasshopper but I couldn't hook one.

Now, the rain returned with some lightning.   Back to camp.  It poured most of the way and I arrived to find hailstones everywhere about the size of ping pong balls.  I was surprised my tent was undamaged but it was a muddy mess.  I knew I needed to get to a lower altitude and with less exposure to wind, rain, etc.  Found a new site several miles away and set up amongst ponderosa pines.

Long day but the night would be even  longer.  After hanging up my wet tent on a clothesline I went to bed.   A few hours later one or more mice found their way into my truck, munching and gnawing  on whatever they could find.  As soon as I'd drift off to sleep they would remind me of their presence until I put out some special mouse treats for them.  The munching stopped but in the morning I found they'd made doilies out a roll of paper towels.   Nice.