This wasn’t strictly a “backpacking” trip, as the majority of the miles covered were by car. But that was really the whole point. However I backpacked some and camped, and took many, many pictures.
I took some time off this summer to go home to Minnesota, visit my family, and drive my truck back down to San Diego. It was killing me being so close to all that southern California has to offer but being unable to efficiently get there. I don’t do long hours in a car (or sitting in general) so I decided to take the drive slowly and spread it over a week. Since I was driving through some of the coolest parts of the country, it was never a question that all of the overnight stops would be spent outdoors. I could have taken a month to do this drive, but didn’t have the time, so I limited myself to 6 days of driving and 5 nights of camping.
Night One – the Badlands
Got to the park in the afternoon, drove around, took some pictures, found a scenic view pull-off that I could park at overnight, ate some dinner at the truck and hiked out.
I set up camp about a mile from my truck, and then spent the evening wandering and taking more pictures (trying to find the animal responsible for the huge poops laid like landmines throughout the grass).
The ranger had mentioned a chance of thunderstorms and hail early in the evening with a clear night. The storms never came, but I could see them brewing all around me. As they all appeared to be downwind, I set up my tarp behind a knoll but with a view.
After the longest sunset ever, the evening sky was constantly lit up by distant lightning. It was very pretty, and I fell asleep thinking that it would stay pretty at a distance.
At three in the morning I was rudely awakened by a huge gust of wind that picked up my tarp and ripped out almost all my stakes. The wind had done a complete 180 and severely increased in intensity. I cursed myself for my “campsite with a view” and as I got up to retrieve my tarp, my quilt and pad both blew away. This sudden shift in events had got my mind all racing and my blood pumping (the wind was now blowing the storm clouds my way). After I got all my stuff back and calmed my head, I packed up, moved to a sheltered hole nestled amongst the hills and set back up. The storms never came, but boy was it windy all night long. I contemplated my rookie mistakes during the morning hike back to my truck.
Night Two – Rocky Mountain National Park
After being caught speeding by patrolling aircraft somewhere in Nebraska, I continued (a little more slowly) west to Estes Park. Due to limited time and permit availability, I opted to stop at a campsite right on the edge of the park. This way I could have a few amenities and still go for a quick evening hike into the park for some pictures.
Without a map and just going by trail and recommendations from passing hikers, I didn’t make it to any spectacular viewpoints, but at least caught a glimpse of some distant peaks still holding on to a small amount of ice/snow.
And some deer that considered me to be as dangerous as a stump.
One luxury of a campground is a legal campfire.
This was the coolest night of the trip (low of mid 40’s) and my 40° quilt kept me warm until the wee hours of the morning, when I threw on a merino baselayer just because I had it with me as part of my pillow system. Overall it was a relaxing and stress-free evening that let me recharge for the next day’s drive to Utah.
