Saturday, May, 7th

Picture of the Day: Beej's car on the way to our camp site in the Rocky Mountians in Colorado.

May, 7th, 2011

So pretty much today and yesterday blended together. Once the car was loaded up we drove out toward the Rocky Mountains in Colorado for our first 5 day camping trip. We drove 15 hours total with only a few stops for gas and stretching.
Even though I was exhausted once we were in sight of the Rockies I felt energy flowing through my veins. We planned to be out in the mountians for five to seven days. This jolly park ranger (Who reminded me of Santa oddly enough) set us up with a schedule that would keep us out of avalanche territory and on our agenda.
Once the car was parked we loaded up our gear and headed out to our first camp site. This is when I realized how much I need to adjust to both a super heavy pack, and being in the highest altitude I have ever been in. Our first camp was only a few miles away but it was a larger of an ordeal that I thought. I started feeling the Rockies as the training trip, we would find out what we really need to pack, what has flukes in it, ect.
When the tent was set up (we had a pretty nice camp site, and I was thrilled to find that my tent worked perfectly.) we decided since we had so much daylight left instead of waking up super early and seeing some sights before moving camp, we would hike to the sights that evening and then have a easy morning. I'm really glad we did.
For two miles Beej and I hiked up a snow covered mountain in search of a falls that we found out later was frozen. Even though my socks were soaked and I was exhausted it was amazing to be standing on the side of a cliff looking at the forest around us.  Sadly we never found the falls or the other sights the ranger told us of, the sun was setting and after hiking 2 miles we had to turn back. Yet it still was really enjoyable.
Sadly that night I found out the zipper on my sleeping bag was broken so it was a wee bit chilly for me.

Other favorite photos form the day:

MC Donald's Coffee from a small town in Colorado that I can't remember the name of.

Our tent and camp at the Old Forest Inn site.

Beej on the side of a mountain (my lens was smudgy boooooo)