PIKE NATIONAL FOREST - KELSEY (July 23, 2005) |
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Our return trip to this wonderful, secluded campground
was just as nice as our first visit in 2004. We grabbed site 15 again
since we like it best and it works well with our screen room.
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Since our trailer is rather long (over 26 feet), slightly
sloping sites pose a challenge for leveling. I needed to use a
railroad tie plus three additional 2x6 boards to allow the jack to extend
far enough to get us level. Then to level side-to-side, I needed three
boards on one side (about 6" stacked).
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Weather at Kelsey this weekend was warmed than we
expected. Temperatures were in the high 80s...we were hoping for low
70s!
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Courtney's expression tells it all. We were indeed
camping in bear country. Sometime Saturday night / Sunday morning a
bear ransacked the host campsite. You should have seen what it did to
a tent that was also nearby. Yet another reason we bypassed tents and
pop-up campers in favor of a hard-sided Outback camper.
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We hiked a portion of the Colorado Trail like we did last
year. The Colorado Trail is 426 miles and runs from Denver to Durango.
A two-hour hike was good enough for us.
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Here is the gang taking a well-deserved break during our
hike.
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Portions of our hike were in dense forest. The air
temperature was instantly cooler and our surroundings a little eery.
The only wildlife we encountered were horses.
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Carly is turning out to be a camping doggie. She
loves going on hikes and chasing the occasional squirrel or rabitt. We
bring plenty of water for her each time we go out (how would you like to go
hiking while wearing your winter coat?). One mountain-biker stopped to
visit with us and asked where I got my little fox. After I told him to
stop harassing my wife, he explained that he was talking about Carly, our
Schipperke (pronounced skipper-key).
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Cameron and Dad played some catch before dinner. We
worked on fly-balls and grounders. Another cool thing about Kelsey is
the paved roads. When it rains, no muddy mess!
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Cameron and Courtney are having fun in the bunkroom
looking at old camping photos.
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On the way to Kelsey is a scenic overlook...on Sunday the
overlook became even more beautiful when the Lotus Owners Club stopped to
show off their cars.
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Here is Cameron sitting in a REALLY EXPENSIVE Lotus
sportscar. Cameron says he wants one. Yeah.
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Courtney says this Lotus would be perfect to take to
college. Nice try, babe. She'll get enough attention without the
sportscar.
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Yeah, sure, it looks nice...really nice. But can it
seat 8 and tow an Outback camper?
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Feel free to take pictures...just don't breathe on it.
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And when we got home from our trip to Kelsey, look what
our next-door neighbors had sitting in front of their house. That fine
looking unit on the left is a 2005 Outback 25 RS-S. The equally
impressive unit on the right is our 2004 Outback 26 RS. We are looking
forward to camping trips with our neighbors very soon.
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