Last Camping Trip of the Season

We have taken our last RV camping trip for the year. Two weeks ago we went to Mountain Park in the Poudre River Canyon, with our good friends, Ann and Gary. After a rainy start early on Friday afternoon, the sky cleared and we had a fantastic weekend. We had planned to hike the Mount McConnel /Kreutzer Nature Trail on Saturday, but it was still closed while the forest service was working to repair damage from the High Park Fire this summer. Instead, we walked our dogs all around the campground several times, then let Penny swim in the Poudre River. She had a blast!
We spent most of the afternoon sitting in the sun, playing cards and dominos. It was tough duty. We had fun watching the Stellar jays flit from tree to tree, and from limb to land, looking for any scraps of food that might have been dropped near the camp area. Later, we broke out the adult beverages and hor d'oeuvres before preparing dinner.

As the sun went down, Gary built a great campfire and brought out some ice cream for dessert. We shared stories by the fire while enjoying a great view of the stars.

On Sunday morning we intended to take Gary’s truck and drive further up the Canyon to an open trailhead for hiking. As we headed out of the campground, we noticed the McConnel trail was open, so we changed plans and decided to stay at Mountain Park and check it out.

Much of the 2.1 mile trail was quite slippery with loose gravel and pine needles. It was evident where there had been mudslides which required the forest service to eke out the trail and many areas where they cut down the burned trees to ensure hikers’ safety.

It was good to see lots of green still in the area, and it was encouraging to see new growth peeking up under the trees.

The High Park fire burned over 87,000 acres of land and it will be years before the area is restored to its previous beauty, but we still love camping here. This won’t be our last trip!

As September is coming to a close, the weather is starting to cool down and the winterization of the RV is almost complete. Tobey still needs to change the oil in the generator and repair the damaged solar panel while I finish cleaning and putting things away. I guess it’s time to start planning for next year!

High Park fire info: http://inciweb.org/incident/2904/

Mountain Park: http://campincolorado.com/federal/arapaho_roosevelt_nf/mountain_park/mountain_park.html

McConnel/Kreutzer Trail info: ttp://poudrewildernessvolunteers.org/trails/lower-poudre-canyon/16-mt-mcconnel-trail-kreutzer-nature-trail#description