A Sentimental Campsite to end our Mountain Trip

After I finally made it to the LabMobile after being lost, we had a long drive ahead of us. We wanted to drive about halfway home, spend two days at a favorite campsite, and then drive the rest of the way home.

We were both very tired, and we didn't quite make it to our preferred campsite after our very late start due to me being lost. In fact, we pulled over on a forest road and went to sleep, about a half hour before we got to the campsite. We were both too exhausted to go another inch.

We woke up early the next morning and traveled the last little bit to the campsite. It's a favorite campsite because of all the memories it holds. K used to love to lie under the big spruce tree just behind the LabMobile. We took K to this campsite for a long weekend just two weeks before she died. She ran around like a crazy-happy puppy during that trip, finding the strength in her heart to have one last wonderful trip with us.

That's why I love this relatively plain-looking campsite. I think of it as K's campsite. It's quiet and relaxing, and it's filled with the memory of K.

In all the years up until the one when she was sick, K used to run along side my bike while I rode a trail that parallels the Continental Divide near the campsite. It's one of my favorite rides on Earth.

Shyla hasn't come with me on this trail yet. It's become more popular with mountain bikers, and I worry about some gonzo dude who is riding really fast accidentally hitting her. I'm hoping its popularity will wane so I can take her on it someday.

As I rode the trail on our last day of the trip, the mountains were still shrouded in smoke. Although it bothered my lungs, the smoke made the world look almost mystical.

I knew that fall was almost here because the primary blooming flowers near the campsite were Gentians. They are usually the last bloomers of the year.

As we took our last sunset hike of the trip, Shyla walked close by my side.

The members of our pack change but the spirit among us remains the same.

I wonder which star is K's? This was the view from our campsite at bedtime on the last night of our trip.

Saturday Sunset

During our recent camping trip, we stayed in a very high meadow filled with wildflowers that awed us.

But, that campsite wasn't only beautiful by day. It has an incredible view of a couple of towering mountains. One evening, the skies turned pink as the moon was rising.

As dusk fell, the mountains grew darker but the sky seemed to grow more brilliant.

The pink spread all across the sky. The view in the photo above was to the south and the view in the next photo was to the north. Ah, what an unbelievable sunset show!

I won't forget it anytime soon!

A Stormy Start to our Trip

Our trip started out in the midst of rain. It was raining at home when we departed, and the weather wasn't much different at a favorite campsite of ours. At least they were pretty clouds...

On that first night, for the only time while we were at the campsite, we could see the stars for about an hour. Because I knew the Perseid meteor showers were ramping up, I decided to pull out the camera for some star photos. I love seeing the Milky Way and shooting stars, all in one instant!

Then the clouds started to return, obscuring parts of the sky. Within a few minutes, we couldn't see more than 10' away from us. We were literally camping in the midst of the clouds.

The next morning, it wasn't raining but the Divide looked threatening, by any standard. This photo is on one of my favorite mountain biking trails. Over the days that we spent camping near it, this was the sunniest that it ever looked. I spent almost every instant on this trail pedaling like a maniac, trying to avoid being struck by lightning. I exhausted myself, but I saw the trail without any major mishaps.

We're thinking of visiting that area again soon to enjoy some sunshine rather than perpetual views of the trail like the next one. I found the clouds to be gorgeous but also very scary for someone riding a bike above treeline on the spine of the Continental Divide.

We did have some brief moments of sunshine near our campsite, making the wildflowers shine like candles in the night. We'd all run outside to have some fun in the fleeting sun.

Shyla leaped with joy during those respites from the monsoons.

And R sprinted with abandon (which makes me smile because his elbow seems so strong right now).

Then, as fast as the sun had broken through, a new storm front would appear on nearby mountains. We were perched so high in our campsite that we could see storm fronts coming our way in all directions.

Then the front would creep to the edge of our meadow before the skies above us opened up, again.

It was truly a lesson in life at high altitude. We tried to patiently wait out the storm cycle, knowing that eventually the weather would be sunny and nice. However, we finally gave up when every view of the horizon looked like this one. Again, it was beautiful, in a dramatic way, but it portended another day of thunder storms ahead of us.

We eventually decided to break camp to try to find better weather. We were treated to a pretty meadow vision on that last evening before we departed.

On the morning that we departed that camp, we did a quick run/bike ride before going to town to find a cafe with wifi where we could search for a sunny part of Colorado to visit.

Our decision seemed perfect when our final morning outing from that campsite involved deep fog and the heaviest rain we'd seen yet. Yes, the trail in that photo is on top of a mountain - although it's impossible to tell due to the clouds hugging it.

Our strategy of searching out good weather ended up being successful. The photos from yesterday's post were taken about 8 hours after our rain-soaked run/ride with zero visibility. Our search led us to find an island of sunshine and wildflowers. Sometimes it pays off to scrap your "plans" and follow the sunshine! We had great weather for the rest of our trip because we continued to follow the sun!