Second Annual? Rocky Mountain Oyster get-together.

[Divedoggie]

I just hung up the phone after speaking with a person at Lake Fork Marina at Blue Mesa. She told me that she can see 30 - 40 feet down right off the dock!
My previous experiences there have had limited viz, but maybe this year is different. The lake is full to the brim for the first time in 10 years.

Late August is the best time to dive there, because the water has warmed up a bit, the level of the lake is a bit lower, and there is very little run off to silt things up.

Gunnison is 185 miles from C470 and Turkey Creek Canyon, just over 3 hours from Denver if you take 285 to 50 over Monarch. Blue Mesa is 10 minutes from Gunnison, but its huge, and the best diving will be further away from the inlet.

There are 3 submerged towns, but only one that would be shallow enough to attempt dives on. These would also need to be boat dives. There are also old highway and railroad bridges is Blue Mesa as well.

Shade can be provided by the likes of Ron's pop up shelter, campers, and canopies on potoon boats. I would be willing to rent one if people would split it with me. They hold up to 8 passengers.

I will be at Lake Fork Marina Friday morning, and we may dive near there after our "Grail Quest." I will give you a first hand report on these things Friday night or Saturday morning.

Blue Hole may be a good idea as well, Ron. Although people can save $ by camping at Blue Mesa, and it is different than the norm.

Would anyone like to go in on a portable compressor so that we can refill?

One more thing. Our New Mexico brothers can drive North on 285 to Saguache and then up 114 over Cochetope and into Gunnison. Its a great drive!

 

[Divedoggie]

Hee hee, that sounds tasty to me. Do you know where the town is? Is it in shore-diving reach?

Scuba diving a haunted town under the lake - sounds like a Dirk Pitt novel.

Late August is plenty doable for me.

We need to meet! Dirk Pitt is my hero!

 

[RonFrank]

Where is the closest fills to Blue Mesa. I have two tanks, but they are Nitrox, which complicates things. I'm kinda liking having Nitrox, but it makes remote fills much less likely.

So we can certainly discuss Blue Mesa, but I think a trip like that while potentially very fun, may exclude a lot of folks who would certainly be up for a dive in the Denver area, but maybe not willing to devote an entire weekend to a trip.

Maybe we can see what interest there is in both options, and if most would like to do something more local, we can always do two events. There is no rule that says the RMO's can not dive together more than once a year! If there was, I'd never dive!

 

[Divedoggie]

I don't think that there are any close fills to Blue Mesa. Maybe Montrose(45 minutes).
We are bringing 4 Nitrox tanks into the canyon for our little expedition on Friday. Blue Mesa would involve bringing a lot of tanks from our respective LDSs.

A front range dive in addition, and maybe a little later(since its warmer), would be a good idea, too. I am pretty sure that I will be living back on the front range again by the time that we would put these get togethers, together. So, car pooling would would make the most sense. I would definitely put my camper on my truck.

 

[Divedoggie]

accidental double post

 

[rugbydiver]

It's about time I started paying attention here in RMO...

Anytime in August works for me (seems to be a trend), Hawaii in late July and then a wedding the day after I get back. Only weekend in Aug that doesn't work is the last weekend as I have to start teaching again that following week.

 

[Wijbrandus]

How far away from Denver are people willing to go? (I'm not trying to be Denver-Centric, but we need a starting point.)

Also, are people willing to do a motel the night before, or wanting to keep this a single-day thing?

Then we can start focusing on the where and when. I think right now the consensus is August. Water is warmer then anyway, even if the vis is more risky.

 

[Divedoggie]

I have 8 people committed to the second weekend of August for Blue Mesa. So we will be there whether its the "official RMO" get together or not.
We are planning to dive there a few times in July as well, so we can keep a running update on the quality of the dives.

 

[boulderjohn]

With my teaching/vacation schedule, I may be SOL on this--as I was last year.

 

[Wijbrandus]

DiveDoggie, this sounds great!

What kind of logistics are we talking about right now? You mentioned needing a boat, for example. Is this a charter thing? Also, what's involved in getting a campsite?

My calendar is open so far. The Mrs. won't dive it, but if I can make it I'll be there.

I look forward to hearing about your pre-RMO diving experiences there.