First Camping Trip of Spring

Hiking the Seven Bridges Trail in Cheyenne Canon Park near home in Colorado Springs.

I've mentioned that I haven't gotten quite used to spring here. We'll usually have some nice warm days in the 60s and 70s in April and May, but it's also pretty certain we'll have snow fall a few days in April and even in May. It snowed today in parts of Colorado Springs, May 8th! That's just how it goes here.

Feeling the sun on your skin is the best after having been bundled up all winter in layers, winter coats, hats, gloves, and scarves. I've also realized I've become acclimated to the cold weather here because the other day I said it was "hot outside" and it was only in the 70s with 3% humidity. I quickly remembered South Carolina spring and summer time with temps in the high 80s and 90s with high humidity and decided the 70s wasn't all that hot.

Caleb and I decided since it was spring it meant camping time again! We had the same thoughts a year ago in late April and camping ended up not happening then. We got to where we wanted to camp in the mountains and the ground was covered in 6 inches of snow. See that story here.

Gorp to snack on at the campsite

snow behind Caleb in this picture

This year was a success. We went to the same place we tried a year ago. This time we tracked the weather for the couple weeks leading up to it to make sure there hadn't been any recent snowfall. There were only patches of snow left in the areas that don't get much sunlight during the day. Caleb found a perfect camping spot previously used by someone with a fire ring. It was next to a river and the great part was it was on national forest land so it was free.

It still got cold at night down to the 30s. Since our car was parked right across the river from our campsite, we were able to bring in quite a few blankets to the tent and stayed plenty warm with sleeping bags and blankets. There is really only one part of camping I don't enjoy. Having to get up while it's still dark outside and use the bathroom. Your mind is full of what possible animals could be watching you. Bears, mountain lions, wolves... I'll admit I'm pretty nervous getting out of that tent when it's dark.



We enjoyed a hike on the Crags trail which ended with great views of the snow-capped mountains all around. Caleb made a great campfire we enjoyed sitting by for the afternoon. Listening to a crackling fire and running river next to us was a relaxing way to spend a day in the mountains camping.