Safe, scenic horseback rides By Daniel Sewell Trail-Gazette
o be fully immersed in the majesty of the Rocky Mountains, a horseback ride up the high trails and through wildflower meadows is a fine way to find a moment of tranquility. Traverse undisturbed natural beauty, take in the fresh air, hear the sounds of the nearby river and chirping of the birds, and feel the awesome power of the horse that carries you. At SK Horses, safety always comes first, which is exaggerated this year by the worldwide pandemic. Horseback riding in singlefile creates natural social distancing, so one can feel free to experience nature without restriction, and one can feel at ease while Wranglers are helping riders onto their horses or when they are otherwise in close-quarters as they will be wearing masks to maintain safe practices. SK Horses has two stables in Estes Park, the National Park Gateway Stables and the Cowpoke Corner Corral,
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SK Horses / Courtesy photo
For 45 years, the Kokjohn’s have toured thousands of groups in Estes Park.
which are located conveniently near the North and South entrances to Rocky Mountain National Park. Jessi Kokjohn is a second generation owner of SK Horses. Her parents moved to Estes Park in 1976 to manage the Cowpoke Corner Corral at the Historic Glacier Lodge. Their reputation as masterful horse
wranglers and pleasant hosts quickly earned them another contract to manage the National Park Gateway Stables in 1982. For 45 years the Kokjohn’s have toured thousands of groups in Estes Park. Every year the trails are fully restored by carrying the eroded rocks that slid down the mountain back up to the
trail. As labor intensive as this work is, the conservation of the natural landscape is crucial to the spirit of the adventure! Walk-ins are welcome but to guarantee your party gets to ride, reservations can be made online or over the phone at www.skhorses.com or see their ad for the phone numbers. Happy trails!
long, lungbusting hikes. Browns and brookies predominate from the Park boundary upstream, with a few rainbows mixed in here and there and greenbacks and other cuts showing up the farther upstream you go. Timing is important in Wild Basin, while the North St. Vrain does have a bit of a reputation as a stream that runs cold early in the season, is a challenge to wade around the high flows during snow melt, and is slow to kick into gear after run-off
and quick to shut down in the fall, the fishing can be very good. Moraine Park: Meandering stretches of the Big Thompson and Cub Creek wind across the wide-open expanse of Moraine Park, the confluence of the two coming just upstream of Bear Lake Road on Moraines eastern edge. Small brookies outnumber everything else by far but some very nice brown trout lurk under the undercut banks.
Fishing from page 10 by the flooding of 2013. Most of the damage occurred between Drake and Loveland. Rainbows and brown trout are the quarry, with numbers of bows highest closest to the dam and the proportion of browns increasing steadily as you move downstream. Sprague Lake: Another kid and bait friendly place to fish, and one of the few places bait is allowed in the national park. Sprague is inhabited primarily by brook trout, with the occasional out-sized brown trout
turning up in the catch.The lake has a healthy population of damselflies, and a damselfly nymph fished around weed beds is often productive. Wild Basin: Simply put, Wild Basin is a fly fishers paradise. The main attraction is the main stem of the North St. Vrain, coursing down from its headwaters at Thunder Lake and above, but there are also several fishable tributaries and numerous lakes in the high country that provide outstanding fishing at the end of
12 • 2020 Estes Park Trail-Gazette Vacation Edition
