Rain & Hail @ Rampart Reservoir

Fall has officially arrived! From the foliage colors to the cool temperature, it definitely feels like it up here at some 9,000 feet of altitude. We made the most of the crisp, smoke-free air ... with a temp of 40F when we woke up to only 61F when we returned to the Cruiser mid-afternoon. It might have gotten a bit warmer in between when the sun was showing its brilliant self ... though that did not last long. No complaints ... fall, with all the vagaries of the weather, is one of our favorite times of the year.

With a stronger forecast for rain today, we took off a bit earlier this morning. First stop? The ridge known as Wedding Hill to take a few photos of the area we hiked yesterday from a higher vantage point. Then, onto the Rampart Reservoir Rec Area. Our plan? To hike part of the 13-mile Rampart Reservoir Trail and dine al fresco at the Promontory Picnic Area that I had scoped out in June. Best laid plans and all!

Rampart Reservoir is a little more than 7 miles from Farish, but it takes awhile to get there because the first 4 miles are on an incredibly washboardy dirt road with a 20 mph speed limit. Even that is too fast at times! At the kiosk, we paid the admission — $3.50 with our America the Beautiful lifetime pass ... pays to be a senior 😉 — and continued through the rec area to the reservoir.

Our first stop was at the same fishing access point where we stopped last time. It was surprising to see how much lower the water level was in comparison to June. Even more surprising was the lack of people on such a beautiful morning. Hey, we don’t mind having places to ourselves! We picked our way down to the shoreline where we found a gnarled tree trunk to use as a bench and enjoyed the absolute solitude for a bit.

In June, the boat ramp on the other side of the dam was crowded, so we had skipped driving across. Crossing over the 3,400 feet (.64 mile) long dam was next on our agenda this time ... with plans to hike the trail at that end. Hah!

We drove across the dam — no stopping along the way — and parked in the lot for the Dikeside Overlook to check out the burn scar from the 2012 Waldo Canyon Fire ... still spoken in hushed tones around here for its proximity to Colorado Springs.

The otherwise bleak landscape sported patches of fall colors that made looking at the skeletal remains of the trees and the blackened land bearable. The fire does not compare to the devastation wreaked by this year’s California and Oregon fires, but it apparently destroyed some 346 homes back then. What makes it particularly sad is that the fire was “human-started,” though it has yet to be determined whether it was intentional or not.

From the overlook, we walked over to the normally-packed parking lot for the boat ramp. Today there were just 2-3 vehicles ... probably belonging to hikers since there were no signs of boats on the water. I was in the midst of taking a couple of panorama shots of the reservoir when I felt the first drops of rain. Above us, a considerable portion of the sky was covered by ugly grey clouds that portended more wet stuff to come. Darn! We hot-footed it over to the Dikeside parking lot, but did not make it to the car before rain and HAIL!!! began pelting us.

Thus, our plans for hiking and al fresco dining foiled, we drove the car over to a spot near the boat ramp. At least we could dine with a view ... even if we did have to do so inside the car!

We patiently waited for the rain to stop. But it soon became clear that Mother Nature wasn’t going to favor us. So, we returned to the Cruiser instead, planning to enjoy a relaxing afternoon outdoors.

It was obvious when we first arrived back that nary a drop of rain had fallen @ Farish. Unfortunately, that changed a short time after I was settled on the patio with my book. If not for the wind that further chilled the temperature that was showing 61F on the gauge, I would have persisted with my plans, but in this instance moving indoors was the better part of valor.Læs mere