Unplugged and Recharged

 We recently came back from our favorite camping trip of the season.

We headed up to Pike National Forest to one of our favorite forest service campgrounds. This is real "roughing it".  No water, no electricity, no sewer hookup.  This is the first real test our off-grid trailer has had.  It has solar panels on top and despite all the trees our batteries stay charged the entire time.

At this campground you have no choice but to be totally unplugged.  The cell service is very sporadic and non-existent most of the time.  There's no better way to recharge!

One day we drove to Buena Vista to go to the Mt. Princeton Hot Springs.  It was a beautiful day!

They have an adults only area which was great.  We spent most of our time at this infinity pool with Mt. Princeton as a backdrop.  Its temperature was 106 degrees.  I tolerate the hot water much better than the hubby.

There is also an opportunity to get into Chalk Creek which runs through the resort.  It was 56 degrees so it was a quick in and out.

There are hot springs in the creek, but you take your life in your hands to get to them.  The Corps of Engineers would allow steps to be built so you have to climb down a cement wall.  Going down might not have been so hard, but going up would have been impossible.

Instead we enjoyed the lobster pots in the adults only area.

On our way back to the campsite we stopped at a favorite restaurant for their chicken fried steak.  It's huge and we shared.  Those fried green beans are amazing.  I know, I know how bad it is, but sometimes you have to splurge.

Our campground has a trail that leads to a small lake so the next morning we hiked over there.  It was a little warm by the time we started and there was smoke in the are from the Aspen Acres fires.

We always carry a hummingbird feeder with us in the trailer along with sugar so we can offer nectar to the hummingbirds passing by.  Several stopped by for a snack.

In the afternoon we took the kayaks to the lake.  Is there anything more relaxing than floating on a lake in a beautiful setting?  It's one of my favorite things to do.

We have such a good time together, there's nobody I'd rather camp with.  From now on it will be only us (until our daughter and her hubby get a new camper).

Cattails are so beautiful!  The Merlin app picked up so many type of birds.

I know I posted this pic last week, but aren't they adorable.  I used telephoto to capture this shot.  A couple youngsters got too close and scared them off.

We only cooked one meal on the Blackstone this time, the other nights we ventured into Woodland Park..  Last trip I volunteered to do all the meals and believe me, I won't do that again.

All of Colorado is in a Stage II fire ban which means no wood fires, charcoal cooking, outside smoking etc.  I checked the county's fire restrictions several times before our trip and propane fire pits with an on/off switch are allowed.  We think one of our neighbors call the sheriff on us because he came through and stopped to take a good look at what we had going on.  After a wave he moved on.  This daughter of a forest ranger strictly abides by the rules.

Here's Irv holding his scepter (aka bug zapper).  I think he told me he was Thor or was it Zeus?

Wildflowers were few and far between.  I loved this thistle that was about four feet tall.

Colorado is so dry and scorched.  The Aspen Acres is nearly 100K acres now with 850+structures lost including 300+ homes.  Its a rural area so that equates to 2% of the homes.  That's a huge loss for these small communities.  

The time came all too quickly for us to pack up and head home.  We were both so sad we couldn't stay a few more days.  Have you heard of the 3-day effect?  Three days in nature away from technology allows your brain to relax and temporarily reshapes brain chemistry.  Being in nature is my mental therapy.  give it a try some time.