Close Calls

Let me start by saying we are OK as of now regarding the wildfire but I'll get to that more in a minute.  This summer Eric and I decided that, since I have to work every other weekend and summer is too short as it is, we will do something fun each weekend that I have off.  This weekend was camping which we were very excited about.  For anyone that has watched any news recently it is no surprise that we are having a difficult summer already for wildfires.  There was just one a few weeks ago that was pretty close to us but was 100% contained so we were were ready to go.  Now usually when we go camping it is to a very remote, middle of no where, just find a spot to throw a tent, type of camping.  We did engage our critical thinking skills prior to departing and knew that it would be safer to stay at a managed, permanent, campground.  So, we knew that there were many, many options up our beloved Poudre Canyon so just decided to drive until we found one we liked.

Obviously many other folks had camping plans this weekend as well because we passed campground after campground and they were all full, until we got about 50 miles up the canyon and got lucky enough to snag the last site at the Sleeping Elephant Campground.

  See? A Sleeping Elephant!  You don't see it you say?  How about now?

This was the view from our campsite so we were definitely feeling lucky.  It's amazing how quickly life's problems seem to dissipate for me once I am out in the mountains with no cell service with my own little family (sans cat of course).  It really restores my soul. 
The next morning dawned with beautiful Colorado blue skies.  A perfect day for a hike.  There was a trail that I had been wanting to hike just a few miles up the road so we got a nice early start to complete this 10 mile trail.  It was (mostly) lovely.  We crossed the river multiple times and had great shade from the mighty conifers. 

Can you find the Dogbert?

We had actually gotten some rain recently so everything was pleasantly green with wild flowers everywhere.  I loved this little babbling brook.

Unfortunately for us the last mile of the trail did not prove to be so pleasant.  There there multiple downed trees that blocked the trail so we had to get in touch with our inner boy/girl scout and navigate around the obstructions and find the trail again.  Over and Over.  At least Cass was pleased with her discovery of snow where she left many a doggie snow angel.  At this point we were pretty fatigued and a bit grouchy from scrambling over fallen trees and crossing streams.  But then, the summit came in to view.

And it was all worth it.

It's amazing the clarity you feel at 11,000 ft, at a secluded mountain lake with no one else around.  I enjoyed the best PB&J I've ever had.

We then headed back down tired but happy and looking forward to our campsite dinner and a beer.  But, alas, our luck would be tested once again.  I had left the ignition on a click when I rolled up the windows and the car battery was 100% dead.  Doh.  Remember how great I was saying it was to get off the grid and be unplugged?  Not so much at that moment. We were out of water and at least 5 miles from our campsite.  So, Eric took a walk down the road and I waited and hoped that a fellow hiker would return to their vehicle and also, miraculously, have jumper cables.  Well, a random string of events played in our favor and, I won't go in to all the crazy details, but Eric did manage to track down a kind soul who had stopped for a bathroom break and happened to have cables.  He gave us a jump.  We gave him beer and I proclaimed that he was going to heaven.  So an hour later we were back at our campsite  ready to enjoy the evening.  

It was a bit breezy so I had to get creative in keeping our camp stove lit.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed our dinner and were thankful to be back at our campsite.  Then we played a new card game version of Monopoly, which was a lot of fun (and much shorter than regular Monopoly.  

 The next day dawned in similar fashion with bright blue sky.  We had breakfast and packed up the gear.  As we headed back down the canyon we soon reached a road block stating the road was closed.  We pulled up to talk with the State Trooper who said it was closed due to wildfire and looked at us rather puzzled when we questioned when and where this happened.  We had seen no smoke and had no evacuation notices from our camp host.  We took the detour and it soon became evident, our canyon was on fire.

As we got closer to home it got scarier as we realized that this was pretty bad

 We we finally got cell service again we learned that the fire had started the day  before and rapidly spread to 12,000 acres.  There are many homes in this area and the situation is very grave at this point.  Had we gotten "lucky" at a closer camp site we would have surely been evacuated in emergency fashion.  2 hours later the news reports that fire has now consumed 14,000 acres and 12 structures with one person missing.  The plume from the fire stretches for hundreds of miles.  Here is the view from our front door. 

 Although it looks like it on top of us we think it is about 8 miles away at this time.  Too close for comfort.  We made sure our phone number was up to date with the reverse 911 system and are watching the news closely.  Please send prayers for all of the firefighters and people waiting in agony for news of their homes.  

And let's hope that this was the worst thing to happen to us on our close call camping trip weekend.