The itch to go camping after a 5 year hiatus caused a couple of oops on my part and the indulgence in a piece of blueberry pie. Let me explain.

The first oops was the purchase of a new sleeping pad. The self-inflating Thermarest sleeping pad I used a few years ago when motorcycle touring was only 1 inch thick. I had decided this older body could use a bit more padding and insulation than what that pad supplied. A sleepless night is not conducive to a productive day at anything. And, I was also younger then. They now make them in 2.5 and 3.5 inches thickness so I invested in the 2.5 inch size. Now the purchase is not the problem, the problem was not checking it out until after the tent is up and I’m over 60 miles from the store. The itch for camping was intense enough to eliminate even a small amount of forethought. When I opened the valve and saw the pad inflate only on one side, and only to about a 1 inch thickness, I threw out a couple of words not normally heard in my vocabulary. With one side not inflating I found myself falling out of bed throughout the night. I’m thankful I did not have far to fall and will exchange the pad.

The second oops was selecting campsite number 12. It was too close to the latrines so every once in while the sweet fragrance of the sage and pines would be tinted with an unpleasant odor, all depending on the wind. I’d wrinkle my nose and wishfully preferred a road-killed skunk somewhere off in the distance. Site number 12 was also found to be too close the the highway. Way too much late night traffic and most of that was large trucks hauling lumber and other supplies. I didn’t mind it too much as it was different than listening to the hum of a refrigerator or having camping neighbors in the campsite singing “99 Bottles of Beer” at midnight. Site number 4 would have worked better. Maybe.

I’d forgotten how dirty camping is. Everything gets dirty. Felt like a kid and loved it. Go ahead and sit on the ground, let those Columbia pants take on a bit of grim. Any nitty-gritty photographer is used to that. It felt good to shower when I returned and allowed me to appreciate those showers we so often take for granted.

Friday morning was a typical fall morning. Temperature was an invigorating 37 degrees. Unzipping a warm sleeping bag and crawling out to put on cold pants, a cold shirt and cold socks is definitely invigorating. It’s surprising how quickly a person is able to put on those clothes. Once dressed I made a quick dash to the latrine to relieve myself and faced another wakeup call: taking in the fragrance of that latrine. I quickly took care of business and with no appetite for breakfast jumped in the car to go shooting.

My camp was around 8,000 feet and the aspens I had scouted the evening before were around 10,000 feet, a twenty-five minute drive. I had an idea of where I wanted to be when the sun crested the mountains. After parking the car I walked up the road a ways then climbed up a small slope above the road and shot across the Joe Wright Creek and into the distance mountains known as the Rawah Wilderness Area, the top image. The ridge of mountains contains a large grouping of aspens in all stages of colors. I was a bit disappointed in the images I brought back. I have always had difficulty in capturing reds, oranges and yellows. I find too much bleeding and a loss of details. If anyone has some tips to pass along, I greatly appreciate them. The other issue I had was the smoky haze drifting over Colorado as the state of Idaho burns. They have over 15 actively listed fires with the three largest totaling over 650,000 acres. 🙁

Even though the apens were my focus I needed to look all around me. Gotta be present to the moment. It’s also important for me to walk lightly and make sure I do as little damage to any plants in my effort to find a location to setup. And, when I look down it is easy to see the other ecosystem at ground level.

My meals consisted of freeze dried foods. Actually the Tomato Chipolte Pasta with Chicken was not to bad. On my way back home there is a small lodge and RV park located at Glenn Echo. The restaurant in the lodge is known for their homemade pies. Without hesitation I pulled over and ordered the blueberry pie. After eating freeze dried food, the pie tasted even awesomer!

Man did I enjoy myself! I need to go back after exchanging the sleeping pad.