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Photo by Kit Dunsmore
Last weekend, we intended to spend four nights camping in the Snowy Mountains near Medicine Bow Peak with friends. We picked an easy loop hike that would allow us to backpack in, camp for a few nights in one spot, and do interesting day hikes on side trails. One of the advantages of our choice was being able to start at high altitude, so that the hiking itself wasn’t all that strenuous. Unfortunately, things did not go as planned.
The hiking itself was as intended – exercise, but not the backbreaking slogging that can go with climbing endless trails with a pack when you’re not really in shape to begin with. However, the area we picked for our first camp spot turned out much wetter than we realized. (There was a little “marshland” symbol on the map, but none of us noticed that…!). We were attacked by swarms of mosquitoes that made cooking and eating dinner so unpleasant that the teenagers with us were happy to forgo dessert in order to retreat into their tent.
Molly and Sarah before the Bugs. (Photo by Dana Geary)
Photo by Dana Geary
We did have a net tent that we set up and used as a place to get a break from the mosquitoes. Even the dog learned the joy of being able to go into this shelter and get away from them.
The next morning wasn’t as bad, though it was still buggy. The girls did not want to stay out another night, so we packed up and hiked the rest of the loop to get back to the car. The day started well but it rained heavily all afternoon, making the last few hours of the hike cold and wet.
This picture of me only hints at how wet I was. I'm not wearing my hat because it was soaked through. (Photo by Dana Geary)
It's still raining, and one of the signs they are sitting by gave us the cheery news that we had almost 4 more miles to go. (Photo by Dana Geary)
Remarkably, the scenery was still gorgeous. If it hadn’t been raining so hard, I’d have taken endless pictures. There were some things (like flowers) that I just couldn’t resist.
Photo by Dana Geary
It was hard to get good pictures at all with the low light, but Dana got a couple that really captured the beauty of the place. I imagine the rainy part of our hike might be easily replicated in parts of Scotland (although I’m not so sure you would see snow…)
Photo by Dana Geary
We saw a little wildlife and lots of wildflowers.
A pine grosbeak that hung out with us in the parking lot. (Photo by Dana Geary)
Columbines (Photo by Kit Dunsmore)
Photo by Kit Dunsmore
I am dying to go back and stay longer, and I think we now have a better idea of which sections of the trail are likely to provide better camp sites. Maybe Kurt and I will head back up there before the year is out. He bought a Wyoming fishing license but didn’t get to use it.
More of my photos from this trip can be found on my Facebook page.
And now for one of the colorful events that made our trip memorable.
We were fortunate enough to get to camp in Goblin Valley State Park. The campground runs next to amazing rock formations and our spot was tucked away a bit, fairly close to a rock wall.
Rock outcropping behind Goblin Valley State Park Campground
Kurt brought our brand-new car camping tent. It’s huge. It can sleep 8 adults and Kurt, who is 6′4”, can stand up in it. I think it may have been an omen that the only picture we have of the tent standing is blurry.
In case you missed it, that was foreshadowing. Three days later, we were down in Goblin Valley proper when the wind began. As it got faster and harder, we began to wonder how our campsite was doing. Once we were out of the valley, we drove back to the campground (which was nearby). This is what we found:
The tent is the gray and black blob in the back
A group of campers who were eating lunch saw our tent blow into their van. They saved our tent, and a lot of our camping gear, by putting things where they wouldn’t blow away. We were still surprised that the wind had been hard enough to move the tent, because we had several suitcases worth of stuff weighing it down. I think the tent stakes tell the whole story.
The rain fly was shredded and the tent was ripped. Digging everything out of the tent took some time.
Rescuing our belongings
We agonized about pitching other tents we had with us, but I think we were all too tired to face putting up a camp we would just have to take down again in the morning. We decided instead to give up our last night at the campground and stay at a hotel.
This apparent disaster paled in light of later events. More about that later.
