This day will go down in our family archives as an example of 'another one of mom's great ideas'. It will be said with much eye-rolling and sarcasm. The idea was a good one: go explore some of the National Parks access roads to find some closer dry camping locations. Go when the trailer is not hooked up so we don't get stuck in any tight situations. Genius, right? The part of this plan that went south is when I looked at the map and found a 'short cut' that would bypass the interstate and the densely populated Denver suburbs. I thought it would take about an hour and a half to the target forest areas and then some additional scouting time. (If only you could see me rolling my eyes now....) Well, the 'short cut' was not so much that and it took us close to 3 hours to get to those National Forest access roads in the mountains. Who knew it could take so long to travel so few miles. We learned several things during this trip:
1) if it were a real short cut it would be a bigger road on the map
2) if it were a faster route, there would be less cars on the highway
3) don't promise your son, who is salivating in the backseat over all the prime fishing areas in the river that you're driving by, that "we'll hit them on the way back"
4) when your kids are claiming starvation in the backseat, don't make them wait until you get 'there' to have your picnic lunch
5) there really aren't any closer-to-home camping locations for us, so back to Salida we go
6) when a stranger on a 4-wheeler pulls out a map and recommends a fishing lake "about 3/4 mile up from the parking lot"- run like hell because he's really just messing with you
7) just because the creek crosses the road does not mean that's the parking area for the trailhead
8) if you see a truck coming down the road (and I'll use that term loosely) and driving through the creek to where you think you're parked for the trailhead and you think he's nuts... turn around
9) an ATV may not be a luxury for these parts, but a necessity
10) find a good chiropractor
11) 10 hours is just too long of a day when you've only driven 170 miles
12) the Subway at the gas station along the highway should have a liquor license for parents who've had days like this
13) you don't necessarily have to go camping to feel like you've been gone all weekend
14) you're surprised to hear your little one say, as she's closing her eyes and falling asleep, "I don't want to go to sleep. That was SUCH a FUN day!"
Yep, so that was our day in a nutshell. On the bright side, we did see a lot of pretty scenery and found some great REAL 'day trip' destinations that don't require the full tour. Nik did not get his fishing time in, despite the backseat salivating, but we do know where to go next time and we'll be smart enough to STOP and enjoy it. They say it's not the destination but the journey. Sometimes, it's ok for it to be about the destination!
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| It was surprising to see how flooded this creek (river?!) was. |
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| The contrast of blues and greens in the Colorado landscapes catch my eye every time. |
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| Here we are making our way up the trail to the lake. JUST KIDDING! We only THOUGHT it was the trailhead up to the lake. |
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| A little water is soothing for the soul. |
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| A real smile and a 'pose' all her own. |
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| The view from the actual parking lot to the lake. |
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| Maybe we need horses. That would make everything easier. LOL... man am I cracking myself up.... |
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| Taking in the vista during our '3/4 mile hike to the lake'. |
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| Oh, snow? There's snow on the trail still? |
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| All psyched with his fishing poles in hand. |
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| These people are crazy, I mean the ones that did this before us, so I guess that makes us crazy, too. |
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| It's not everyday I see a creek flowing out my window as we're driving through it. |
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| Another beautiful scene. At least now we know where to find a LOT of aspen trees come fall. |
So how, you may ask, did the hike up to the lake work out? Well, ironically enough we met a couple of Griz grads (right?!!) coming down the trail. They hadn't made it to the lake because just up the trail there was so much snow that their daughters sunk to their waists when they tried stepping on it. In their journey, they had passed some people who had made it up to the lake-- with snowshoes. Oh, and here's the real kicker: it's not 3/4 mile up to the lake, it's THREE MILES... 3 very steep, rocky miles. Alas, we turned around and headed back to the truck and the insanely rocky and narrow road back down the mountain. Huh-- sometimes you just never know how the day will go! Case in point: our plan of the day was never to go climb a mountain to fish at a lake- we simply wanted to take a drive to find some more camping areas. Talk about getting off on a tangent! Oh well, we know at least one of us had fun. Lol.....
