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Top 10 most-read stories this week: Rattlesnakes and record fish

Brady Wettlaufer celebrates his potential record-breaking Rainbow Trout at Steamboat Lake on Monday, August 8, 2022.
Brady Wettlaufer/Courtesy photo

1. Steamboat fishing guide reels in potential record trout in North Routt

It is not every day in the fishing world that you come across a Rainbow Trout that could earn you a Master Angler Award. It is even less common to reel in a record-breaking Rainbow as you are heading back to shore.

Brady Wettlaufer accomplished both feats after reeling in a 26.5 inch, 12.5 pound Rainbow Trout at Steamboat Lake to earn a potential lake-record on Monday, Aug. 8. 



2. Rattlesnake found in residential neighborhood in Steamboat as snake season peaks

Around 10 a.m. on Wednesday, August 10, Kathy VanBlarcum, a resident of the Fairview neighborhood in Steamboat Springs ran a prairie rattlesnake over with her truck, just a couple of houses away from the Kid’s Kabin Preschool.



It’s rare to see rattlesnakes in a residential area, but during the hot summer months, they are known to wander miles away from their dens in search for food and water, according to Emily Taylor, Ph.D., a professor of biological sciences at California Polytechnic State University. 

A Steamboat Springs homeowner shot a bear that entered his home on Saturday, Aug. 13, 2022. Though the exact weight is still unknown, the male bear was estimated to be between 350 and 400 pounds.
Ken Mauldin/Courtesy photo

3. Steamboat man shoots bear that broke into his downtown home

Around 2 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 13, Ken Mauldin heard his German shepherd barking and his wife, Kelly, screaming.

He rushed out of his room after hearing the scream. A bear was at the top of the stairs of their Steamboat Springs home, looking at Mauldin from about 10 feet away.

4. Lauren Boebert’s neighbors’ 911 calls describe threats, husband running over mailbox

Garfield County Sheriff’s deputies decided to let neighbors of U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert settle a dispute between themselves and the congresswoman’s husband after he reportedly threatened them and destroyed their mailbox.

But 911 calls from the incident, obtained by The Denver Post, show just how upset and nervous the neighbors were over their run-in with Boebert’s husband, Jayson Boebert.

During the largest attendance day on July 4, 2022, of the Rainbow Family of the Living Light gathering in Adams Park, those attending formed a large prayer circle in the “main” meadow off trail 1144. Forest Service officials estimated attendance that day at 10,000 people.
John F. Russell/ Steamboat Pilot & Today

5. Last of Rainbow Gathering attendees leave as restoration work is completed

Rapid planning by U.S. Forest Service staff, good cooperation with agency partners, work during the incident and rain helped the rehabilitation effort “go as well as it could” after the 50th anniversary Rainbow Gathering, Forest Service District Ranger Michael Woodbridge said this week.

Woodbridge said all remaining Rainbow Gathering campers in Adams Park in North Routt County left the forest on Monday evening, Aug. 8, after completing recommended rehabilitation work for almost one month.

6. Steamboat Resort announces winter flights to Hayden airport, adds new destination

Steamboat Ski and Resort Corp. announced the 2022-23 flight plan at Yampa Valley Regional Airport will continue to include 16 flights through six airlines, with an additional flight to Nashville through Southwest, according to a news release on Wednesday, Aug. 17.

Last winter marked the first time 16 flights and six airlines came to Hayden as Delta and Southwest started making the trip to the Yampa Valley.

7. Search for man who went missing during Rainbow Gathering uncovers few clues

Routt County Search and Rescue conducted a ground search along with dog teams on Saturday, Aug. 13, looking for a 31-year-old Iowa man who was reported missing from his campsite at the Rainbow Gathering in north Routt County.

Routt County Search and Rescue President Jay Bowman said 12 people searched in a dense area northwest of the north Adams Park 1144 trailhead where the Rainbow Gathering took place earlier this summer.

Longtime Steamboat Springs resident Sue White smiles between plays at a recent softball game. White, 52, died at Yampa Yalley Medial Center Aug. 4 after a brief illness. She moved to Steamboat Springs after graduating from Moffat County High School in 1987 and quickly became a beloved member of the Steamboat Springs community.
Tim Hancock/Courtesy photo

8. Steamboat grieves loss of icon, athlete Sue White

Her smile was full of life, her enthusiasm contagious and when Sue White said hello, it would bring a little light into the lives of those she greeted, and to the community she called home.

9. No fish tale: the eye-opening story behind Tim Daniel’s record-breaking brook trout

Unlike many fish stories, full of heroism and bravado on the angler’s part, the one Granby local Tim Daniel tells about catching his record-breaking brook trout brims with feeling and lessons in resource protection.

The story started on May 23, nearly two and a half months ago. Daniel, who’s been fishing since he was three years old, cast his line into one of the spots in Monarch Lake he thought a healthy brook trout would like. Soon enough, he got a bite, and as he reeled the fish on his hook in, he says he knew it was a large one. It fought for 15 minutes.

The Yampa River Icehouse at 751 Yampa St. opened earlier this summer.
John F. Russell/Steamboat Pilot & Today

10. Yampa River Icehouse brings cool new vibe to downtown Steamboat

John Duty wants his restaurant to be a place where friends can gather for a drink and eat a little barbecue on the banks of the river as it flows by the backdoor — a true Yampa River Icehouse.

“Over the years, icehouses in southern Texas became places that people would gather and come to get things,” said Duty, who opened the restaurant at 751 Yampa St. with his brother Jarett earlier this summer. “They evolved into outdoor type of bar venue and places where you get food, or what have you.”


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