With Friends in a Meadow

I've been putting off an update to The Wanderings due to poor computer performance. But I finally bit the bullet and re-imaged my laptop so I'm back to a clean, reasonably usable device. So here's the latest on the happenings with the Wandering Leos.

We're now in Woodland Park, Colorado, which is a few miles northwest of Colorado Springs and Pikes Peak. We spent time here two years ago, so I am familiar with the area. There are a number of tourist attraction (Pikes Peak, Garden of the Gods, Cripple Creek, etc), music concerts, good restaurants and gold metal trout fishing. So it makes a great location for Maggie and Jonas to come to spend some time with me, which they will be doing next week (YEAH!!!).

Our trip from the Vallecito Lake area to Woodland Park took us through the Conejos River Valley, where we spent last summer.

Conejos River Valley in southern Colorado

Some of our friends from our winter camp on the Guadalupe were spending time here this summer, so we decided to catch up with them at the Elk Creek Campground. We found our friends were staying in a meadow at a trail-head above the campground, so we found a flat spot and settled in for a week.

Our boondocking site in the Conejos River Valley

This was our first experience boondocking in a national forest. Instead of staying in a designated campground, we were doing what is referred to as "dispersed camping". In the western United States, a large percentage of the land is public land administered by the National Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). That means that this land belongs to the people of the United States and is, therefore, ours to use. So, in addition to staying in National Parks and developed campgrounds in National Forests, public lands are available for use by the public, including for camping. There are guidelines to be followed and some areas are restricted from use for camping, but there is still plenty of open space where Wanderers can spend a few days. Here is an excerpt from the BLMs web site regarding dispersed camping:

View from our front porch

It is the general policy of the BLM that undeveloped Federal lands under it's administration are available to the public for camping and general recreation, with the following provisions:

• Camping is limited to 14 days within a 30-mile radius in a 28 day period
• Pack out what you pack in
• Avoid camping within 200 ft. of any water source
• Do not leave campfires unattended. 

So, the Leos joined Nick and Suzy Watson and Jay and Ann Starnes in the scenic meadow at the Elk Creek trail-head. The elevation here was around 9,000 ft, so the temperature during the daytime was in the 70s with nighttime lows in the upper 30s. Not bad for early June. And an added plus...dispersed camping on public land is free.

During our stay here we also stopped by Mogote Meadow RV park, where we spent last summer, and caught up with our friend Ron McKay. Ron was busy building a deck in front of his travel trailer, which stays at Mogote year round.

Each evening during our stay, we got together with our friend for happy hour.

Happy Hour at Elk Creek trail-head (Suzy took the picture)

Ron McKay joined us for Happy Hour

The Trusty Companion found his own way to enjoy happy hour by dashing through the woods in search of any of natures creatures who might enjoy being chased. Of course, this had to involve a romp across the creek and its muddy banks.

Leo's version of Happy Hour.

  While we were in this location, I took my Guadalupe friends to the train stop at Ozier, the midpoint of the Cumbres and Toltec railroad, where we enjoyed lunch.

View from the road near Ozier

This is a very scenic drive that takes about 45 minutes going up a Forest Service road (dirt road) to an elevation of around 9,800 feet. The meadows were covered with beautiful yellow wildflowers (dandelions). Here they're wildflowers...not weeds.

Jay, myself, Suzy and Nick at Ozier (Ann took the picture)

The creeks and rivers in the Conejos Valley were running high while we were there, so we didn't get any fishing in during this stay. We stayed in the meadow for a week before heading on to Woodland Park. The first order of business here was to get Leo his summer haircut, so he won't be carrying so much campground dust and mud everywhere he goes.

Summer trimmed and feelin' feisty.

Since arriving in Woodland Park, we've been getting repairs made to our truck, finished two books, re-imaged the laptop and enjoyed access to good restaurants and shopping. The boondocks are great, but it's nice to get back to civilization for a while too. I did make one outing to Eleven Mile Canyon to fish and found a spot thick with trout. While standing in the water I could see several dozen within a ten foot radius of my feet. Some were even between my feet. Most looked like 15 to 18 inch fish and none were biting. I worked the area for about two hours until a thunder storm drove me off the river. I'll get back there again before we wander on.

For now, we are anxiously waiting for Maggie and Jonas to arrive to enjoy the Fourth of July with us on America's Mountain (Pikes Peak).