One of the best things about living in the mountains of Colorado is the ability to throw some gear in the back of the car and go camping pretty much whenever you want. So, the other afternoon, in spite of the fact that we both had to work the next day, the other half and I did just that.
The first stop on our little trip was at the old railroad tunnels just north of Buena Vista.
"Both the Rio Grande and the Midland followed the course of the Arkansas north of town. Since the Rio Grande had arrived first, it's roadbed was situated on the banks of the river, at one point above Buena Vista in a very narrow section of valley. When the Midland arrived, it had no choice but to dig into the hillside through a series of short tunnels until the valley opened up. It's been said that this location was the only spot in the country where one train could be in 4 tunnels at once." -http://www.narrowgauge.org/ncmap/jerry/buena_vista.html
Obligatory Bumblebee picture
The tunnels can be found by heading East on Main St. in Buena Vista, turning left on Colorado Ave. (which will turn into County Road 371), and driving about 4.5 miles.
From there we drove into the Fourmile Travel Management Area to find a camping spot.
"The Fourmile Travel Management Area is located in northern Chaffee County and consists of 100,000 acres of Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management lands. The area offers an incredible variety of recreational activities from ATV and motorcycle riding to hiking, biking and horseback riding." - http://www.fs.usda.gov
After driving probably about 10(ish) miles through Fourmile, we found a perfect spot to camp, a little meadow in the middle of an aspen grove right next to Fourmile Creek. The perfect place to get an amazing view of the changing leaves and a gorgeous sunset.
Fourmile Creek
Now is probably a good time to mention that as it was a gorgeous day and the next day was supposed to be just as gorgeous, so the other half thought it would be a good night to sleep under the stars and that we didn't need a tent, while I disagreed, off we went with just our air mattress and a bunch of blankets.
After setting up camp we did a little wandering around near the creek.
Cautiously crossing the log 'bridge' over Fourmile Creek
Siggers couldn't quite figure out how to cross the 'bridge'
Even with help from daddy, he couldn't quite get it
After that we spent a quiet evening grilling some hot dogs and having a few drinks around the campfire.
Eventually we headed to our cozy little air mattress bed, which I will admit was a great place to star gaze and even see half a dozen or so shooting stars. Even sans tent it was pretty comfortable with 2 down comforters and a pile of blankets, up until pre-dawn when EVERYTHING got drenched with dew. Waking up soaking and cold is never any fun! After turning on the heat in Bumblebee to warm up and putting on some dry clothes the sun finally decided to come up and warm things up a little bit.
Sunrise (on a side note, that tree totally looked like bigfoot in the dark)
Another bonus to the 'close to home' camping trip is that after packing everything up it was just a short drive home where I could take a HOT shower before heading to work. And the other half has been informed that next camping trip either the tent is coming with us or I'll be sleeping in the back of Bumblebee with the dog (who was smart enough to 'seek shelter' when it got dark and slept in the car). Apart from almost freezing to death it was a great getaway right in our backyard, and made an entertaining story to tell our friends. It's always the worst planned trips that leave you with the most memorable moments.
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