Camping in Colorado - 2007

This camping trip was self-motivated and planned. The motivation evolved after discovering how difficult it was to get a spot in some of the good campgrounds even a month or more in advance. Originally the idea was to facilitate an early start for a hike further away from home. I also started loving the western side of the Rockies since we visited it in May with my parents and saw a lot of moose, elk, green meadows and vast expanses of lakes and snow capped mountains.

After some cancellations and searching, I chose the Elk Creek Campground close to Granby in the western slopes of the rocky mountains. My other choice was the Winding River Resort. Being a novice to the whole camping experience, I never even considered the federal/state campgrounds since I assumed they would lack the facilities I needed back then (flush toilets and showers :) )

We setup camp without trouble but had a whole lot of difficulty getting a fire going. Helpful neighbors and some liquid fuel helped us get a roaring fire where we cooked our mixed vegetable dinner and shared it with fellow campers. This trip was exclusively memorable because of our more than usual interactions and conversations with fellow campers. We all had marshmallows around the fire feeling blessed to be in Colorado with its beauty and relatively clean air (compared to Southern California according to our new friends)

The night was cold and not extremely comfortable (the hard campground made its presence known inspite of the sleeping bag). Though we were bundled up in comforters and sleeping bags, we now know that there is nothing like zipping up your sleeping bag for added insulation.

We got an early start for the Shadow Mountain hike to the Lookout tower ( 10 miles RT) with some leftovers packed from the day before and some sandwiches.

The trail borders the lake for a while before climbing up with many views before you reach the tower. There is a 270 deg view from the tower of Lake Granby, Grand lake and Shadow Mountain Lake and everything surrounding them. The best part of the trail was the lack of people. There were only a couple other people we met in the entire 6 hours we spent on the trail. My feet were killing me and little did I know that this would be the first attack of the plantar fasciitis pains I was going to have.

After a very yummy lunch in Grand Pizza in Grand Lake, we went back to the campground to be treated to fire baked peach cobbler by our neighbors. The next day we woke to some frost/dew as we packed our tents and did the Mt Evan scenic highway on the way back home.