Vega Reservoir

A small reservoir in the drainage of the upper Colorado River, built in the late 50s-early 60s for irrigation storage. At an elevation of ~8000 ft (~2440 m), it's higher than most such artificial lakes. It's popular locally for fishing, and is in a very pretty setting to the north of Grand Mesa, but it's hardly a Destination! I ended up there because my original destination off Grand Mesa was still completely snowed in due to the extraordinary snowfall in 2019. Vega Reservoir looked like an interesting place on the map--it is the centerpiece of a Colorado state park--so it became Plan B! Looking west; a monsoon thunderstorm is visible in the distance. Insets show some other views. The flooded bushes along the shoreline attest to the high water level.