theboondork's RV blog

Aimlessly wandering around the foothills.

7/27/2020

These pics can be safely clicked. They've been tested for the Bat flu and found to be negative.

Camping in the Pike national forest Picture

My camping spot for the night. No facemask required social distancing not a problem.

I headed south out of Denver at about 11:30 this morning. I figured I would go to Colorado Springs and head towards the foothills and make a big circle heading back up to Denver over the next few days.

The first place I wanted to get some pictures of was the Garden of the Gods just outside Colorado Springs I've passed it a lot, but I haven't driven through the Park in many many years. It turned out to be a bad idea because the Park was so packed with people. The parking lots were full, and the pullovers where you could stop and take a picture were full of cars, so driving through the Park turned out to be a waste of time because I didn't get a single photo. But it did answer the question... Are there a lot of tourists running around during the weekdays? And I would say that was a resounding yes.

When I got up in the foothills, I started looking for some national forest "improved" campgrounds. Those are fee campgrounds usually $10 or so a night, in the national forest with water available and often a picnic table and a fire ring. I went to the two I was familiar with, and they were both closed. I don't know if that was because of the Bat flu or possibly not haveing any volunteers to man them.

After that, I just went down some dirt roads in the national forest and pulled off in an area where people had obviously camped before. And seeing no signs that camping was prohibited, I picked the most unlevel spot in the entire Pike national forest. Raised the roof on the little Bronco camper and settled in for the night.

Don't know where I'm heading tomorrow, I guess I'll find out when I get there.

theboondork

Old building in one of the towns I passed through.

Last nights sunset in Denver.

8 Comments

OFM

7/27/2020 06:58:35 pm

Same tourist stuff here in Texas.

Tom

7/27/2020 07:35:29 pm

By the way the tourist situation looks in Colorado it's hard for me to believe that every tourist in the country isn't right here.

I'm kind of using this brief trip to get a better idea about how many tourist there actually are running around in the mountains and see if it makes any sense for me to take a mini vacation anytime soon.

It kind of seems to me like you could use a mini-vacation yourself. If you stay where you're at much longer their going to make you pay property tax.

Tom

Judith

7/27/2020 09:09:24 pm

Congratulations on the most unlevel spot available. Nothing like a sleep challenge for those of a certain age.
Actually, I do wish you the best and a good night's sleep. Rather discouraging words about the numbers of people. My years of roaming around and camping in Colorado were many years ago.
And even then we went only before and after summertime. Lovely times those were.

7/28/2020 07:41:33 am

No need to worry about my sleeping abilities, my sleeping skills are legendary. I can sleep hanging upside down like a bat if I have to.

But my refrigerator is a bit more persnickety so I turned it off last night to prevent any harm. Fortunately it was chilly enough that I didn't need refrigeration anyway.

It looks like crowds are just a way of life this summer. I just hope it doesn't carry over into my winter travels.

Tom

Linda Sand

7/28/2020 02:05:10 pm

So, that's what happens when everyone is trying to get away from it all?

7/28/2020 03:52:14 pm

That sure is what it looks like. People are afraid to get on an airplane, or a tour bus, and their sure not gonna get on a cruise ship. So all they can do is pack up the kids that haven't been able to play with their friends for months, put them in the Family Truckster and head for the beach or the mountains.

There might even be some big city folks trying to get away from the riots that's plaguing their cities and towns. Who knows? Nobody at this point. I just hope it doesn't continue because it makes living in a popular tourist state like Colorado a bit more difficult and challenging.

Tom

7/28/2020 04:05:46 pm

There is two campgrounds ( Spur 406 and Rough Canyon) open here in the Amistad NRA and I never see anyone there. OF course the 103F afternoon temperature may cause that.

7/28/2020 04:38:27 pm

Yeah, anytime it gets over 90° most boondocker's run and hide someplace cooler. Where I'm at right now has been in the high 70s in the daytime and mid 40s at night which I find pretty comfortable.

Looking at Denver temperatures the next 10 days it looks like it's going to be in the high 80s to very low 90s which appears like we may be over our heatwave and getting back to more normal temperatures for this time of year.

Tom

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Aimlessly wandering around the foothills.

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