Over Labor Day weekend we headed down to Colorado Springs and then into the mountains. Again we had no reservations and just a general direction in mind. It being a holiday weekend, this strategy was a little risky. As you can see above, the day was gorgeous!
Our first stop was at a picnic spot in Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. No dogs allowed! So we didn't get to see anything, just ate and continued on.
We decided to check with the 11 mile canyon camping areas. Above is the route to one of them. Unfortunately they were full so we headed into the National Forest to find a free spot.
What luck! This one was available.
We were a good distance off the road. There was a bit of a rut for the RV to straddle in coming up the access road from the main national forest road but with me on the walky talky and my husband driving we navigated it just fine.
We parked back in the spot a bit due to low trees and it being level there. But we set up our table and chairs in a shaded area with a great view.
The dogs are checking out the local wildlife.
Were ready for a hike!
Off we go to explore the area. There were tons of sites, all unoccupied. I wondered if escaped convicts were reported in the area or something.
The sunset view from our site was phenomenal.
Pretty colors!
We could hear and see no one. There was no traffic noise, no ATV noise, nothing. It was a lovely spot! At night the stars were incredibly bright.
The next day we did some more exploring. There was one occupied site down below us. They were very quiet and we couldn't see them at all from our site.
Sadly we decided to break camp to explore more of the area. We knew we risked losing the site to someone else.
Blossom settled down beneath the tree as if to say she wanted to stay here. A black squirrel had been playing peek a boo with her.
I'll just wait here mom. Save the site for you when you get back.
This is a view back to the camper from where we had the table and chairs set up.
One last pic. and we were off.
Ok, 2 last pics.
Down the road we headed to see what else we may find.
First we stopped at the Platte River.
It was a pretty little area that came out of a canyon. We had driven this way the day before to check out the Riverside Campground so knew it was spectacular with white water and rocks up that way. But it was also a dirt road with no way to walk up without getting covered in dirt as the cars came by so we just explored the area at the end of the canyon.
Another view.
Our next stop was 11 Mile State park.
We enjoyed seeing the lake.
Max and Blossom decided to walk on the water.
Sunshine stayed ashore.
Blossom is eager to go swimming.
Sunshine thinks the whole thing is a bad idea.
Blossom gets her wish.
She can swim like a fish. And enjoys herself in lakes and streams.
In and out she went.
But there were rocks to explore and she needed to get mostly dry before getting back in the RV.
The south end of the lake was pretty. The other areas are very barren. After our explorations we headed back into the national forest to find another camping spot. We couldn't get level on the first one we tried without having the front wheels too far off the ground for me to be comfortable so we gave up. Luckily very close to the first spot was another where we didn't need to level at all.
We grabbed this spot late in the day. At first we were going to level to maximize the view but decided to just park where it was level and not worry about it.
Not one car went by us on this road. During our night hike we saw a campfire in the distance and the next day two ATVs came up the road but that was it the entire time we were there. My husband said a little boy showed off his lizard while he was walking the dogs. So there were at least two other groups somewhere in the forest near us but not at all close.
We had a nice cook out. That night I saw 3 shooting stars and one low earth orbit satellite traveling fast from North to South. The stars were so bright they were like Christmas lights.
The next day we were able to enjoy the view again.
It was a very peaceful site.
This is a view of our camp site.
We parked parallel to the road so as not to have to level.
Very pretty views all around.
Again to get out we had one of us on the walky talky the other driving to make sure we straddled the ruts. We had no problems getting out.
Our last stop of the day was 7 Falls. Unfortunately we were there in the afternoon when it is back lit. At $9.25 a person we probably won't go back. It was very crowded and very commercial. They do have reserved RV parking which was nice.
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