Camping 2.0 and a Bear

I must really be getting into this camping thing! Twice in one summer.

Josh, my friend Liz, and I headed off to Red Feather Lakes, CO, for four days of adventure. Liz has only been camping three times in her life, and Sully (her dog I spoke of previously) had never been camping, so Josh was ready to show them some fun.

Our campsite was 20 miles outside of the town of Red Feather Lakes, and we were so close to the big fire that we could see the devestation all around us. Very sad. It rained on us EVERY. SINGLE. DAY, which was not fun because we still couldn't start a fire. It was cold and wet our entire trip, but we didn't let that slow us down.

We just spent a lot of time in the tent.

 Sully had fun cuddling with all of us. Yes, even me.

 We played a lot of UNO and Scattegories, and we all read a lot, too.

 Since we couldn't start a fire, we had to improvise and roast our marshmellows on the stove. It worked well enough. Then we wrapped our chocolate, graham crackers and marshmellow in tin foil and let them cook a bit on the stove. They came out warm and delish!

 Liz enjoying her S'more.

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On our second day of camping, Josh found an "easy" mountain bike trail for Liz and me to ride. Yes, on the website it said "easy," but Liz and I quickly found out it wasn't easy for someone like her who hasn't ridden her bike in years or someone like me who has five years of road bike experience but little to no experience in the world of mountain biking.

The trail was less than a foot wide, it was full of giant rocks and roots, and it was very hilly. Nonetheless, we made the best of our bike ride and had a blast. We saw two deer on the trail, and even ran into some cows.

We encountered a stream, and luckily I had my Teva's on, so I carried the bikes through the stream and then helped Liz cross over on the rocks.

Hello, cows!

 I think we did more picture taking than riding!

I had a minor accident, but I turned out OK, and Liz's bottom hurt so badly the next day she could barely sit. But we made it to the end of the trail and back and had stories for Josh, who was fishing at the lake.

After fishing and riding, we met up with a friend of Josh's. Rick, a teacher in Greeley (whom Josh met through his observations at the high school), has a cabin in Red Feather Lakes. He met us for lunch, and then he kindly invited us to his cabin. He asked if we wanted to go for a ride on his 4-wheelers.

Liz, as you can see below, had never been 4-wheeling, so she was excited for the adventure.

 Liz even got to drive! This hour long ride took us on a tour of the town and the lakes. It was gorgeous, and we saw a few more deer along the way. It even stormed on us while we were out, and each one of us got pelted on the head with hail (definitely hurts when you're going 30 mph). It was a blast!

 Rick then invited us back to his cabin for a few adult beverages. We spent several hours at his cabin before heading back to our tent (and the downpour of rain). What a fun day!

Rick has hummingbird feeders all around his deck, and we saw close to 20 hummingbirds all fighting to get some food (all at the same time). You can see one in this picture if you look close enough. He also had deer out in the woods we were watching, and he says he has a moose that comes out everyone in a while, but we never saw the moose.
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The next day, the three of us headed to a fire overlook tower, but it was closed so we couldn't climb to the top. We did, however, see a bear! It was running through the woods, and I was the first to see it. All three of us got a glimpse before he disappeared. It was a dream come true for me (really, it was. I've always wanted to see a bear out in the woods). It totally completed my trip. We knew bears were close because we had bear crap all over our campsite, but we didn't realize they were THAT close until we actually saw one. But don't worry, we were safe and sound!

We ended up coming home a day early because of the rain. It was just too cold and rainy for our likes, and we had done everything we wanted to do. We packed up our wet gear and came home.

The best part of the trip?:

Liz-The mountain bike ride, even though she was in pain.

Shiloh-Hands down, seeing the bear. And meeting Rick and spending a fun day at his cabin.

Josh-Going to the fire tower even though it was closed. He also enjoyed our day at Rick's.

Such a fun trip!