Spontaneous Camping

Rare, but it happens.

After the farmers market on Saturday I thought, Hmmm, next weekend is Labor Day weekend and everyone will be out in the mountains. After that we'll be knee-deep in school already and the chance will have disappeared for tent camping.

So, I told Rob we'd be ready in an hour to go on an overnight.

He said, "Huh?"

We flipped a coin to choose which route we'd take to Utah and north won. A few hours later we were in the Manti-LaSal National Forest with just enough daylight left to pitch the tent, eat our supper and go to bed. However it is not so easy to wind down after being in the truck for so many hours so before light's-out we enjoyed listening to coyotes, danced with our shadows on the side of the tent, played a few rounds of Angry Birds, then let the crickets serenade us to sleep.

If I had a fancy camera I could share with you the clear, desert night sky we had. It was vast, and fierce in its depth and clarity. The constellations practically get lost in the billions of other stars. If you know what to look for you can even spot other galaxies. Sharing this with the children wasn't much of an option at 2:30 a.m. but it was a lovely moment to spend with my spouse.

First thing in the morning the sun began peeking through the clouds and the La Sal mountain range graced us with this magnificant view:



Rhetta graced me with this one:



Farther down the road from our campsite, back on the Colorado side, we found Buckeye Resevoir and had a little hike around the mudflats. Needless to say, this has been a very dry year. There was some water left in the lake, enough so someone could still take a canoe around, but the waterline was well below the boatramp and the highwater mark for the year was well below normal.

The channel:



A victim:



We are forever grateful to live in Colorado. There is beauty everywhere. San Miquel river canyon is no exception. Try to count the individual shades of green. Even the pines are multi-hued.



We spent our lunchtime at a boat put-in spot near the Lower Beaver Campground recently improved by the BLM. If you are coming downriver you might keep an eye out for this marker so you don't miss your ride:



A storm was rolling in:



No few clouds can keep the kids out of the water, though. I mean mud:





We are blessed with the ability/capability to take these short jaunts from home and still make it home in time to relax before starting a full week of school, work and more work. I feel rejuvenated, lucky, and so very free.