New #31: Go Camping on Our Own

No, camping in itself is not something new to me. In fact, I grew up with parents who would often take my sister and me venturing into the Great Outdoors. I continued to become one with nature during college, often tagging along with friends to their favorite spots. However, through all of this, I'd never arranged a camping trip, picked out a site or even owned my own gear. So last weekend, when Ben and I hit the open road in search of a night under the stars, it was indeed new to me.

We started the journey on a Saturday without any plans of where we were going except somewhere up the Poudre River, which is just outside of Fort Collins. There's one road winding alongside the water, and everyone said we could easily find a spot along there. I'm the kind of person who likes to make reservations, to know I'm guaranteed a place to lay my head in the dirt - but unfortunately, I called too late to make that happen. So off we went up into the mountains with nothing but a little optimism.

Lucky for us we stayed positive, because more than the first few camping sites were completely full. Finally, about an hour 1/2 up the canyon, we saw a sign for the Dutch George campground. Being a proud Dutch girl myself, I had a good feeling - and thankfully, they had one spot left that we quickly scooped up. Our site wasn't perfect. There weren't any trees for shade, and it was *sigh* and 10-foot walk to the river instead of one. But really, it was beautiful, especially compared to the malls, model homes and manicured grass of suburbia.

Ben and I put up out tent without too many problems. With differing ideas of how it should be pitched, we teetered on the edge of a fight throughout the process without ever going over the edge. The canape was another story. This wasn't one of those easy pull-it-apart-and-it's-done canopies. No, this one had about 200 tent poles and no direction. Soon, the wind started blowing and our tempers started flaring. Luckily right then a passing Harley Davidson-riding couple asked us if we needed help. Ben, trying to be manly, said no; but I overpowered him with an emphatic "yes please!". They came in on quite a scene, not only with the flimsy canape and flared angers, but right when the wind literally picked up our tent and started blowing it away into a field. They caught it just in time, and were able to help us erect some shade. Thank you, biker couple, where ever you may be! Not only did you save our campsite, but you also saved us from a weekend of marital malice.


After our campsite was in order, Ben and I could finally relax. It ended up being a great rest of the day, too, with playtime in the river, a hike up a mountain, another hike through a meadow and a few good games of paddle ball.

Beer + River = Happiness for Benny

Above: Some bright wildflowers we saw along the way.
Below: A view of the river from our campground.

On our hike through the meadow, we had to cross a stream to continue the path.

Relaxing back at home base.

Soon it was time for my favorite part of camping: cooking dinner. Being our first time roughing it on our own, Ben and I cheated and lit the campfire with one of those super flammable logs. (Maybe next time we'll try rubbing sticks together instead). With the open flame somewhat near the canape, I decided we should move it away to avoid an accident. That's when irony decided take the stage. As we were moving it, the entire canape fell right on top of the fire. Ahhh! And we couldn't even get it off right away. Thankfully, when we did get it back up, there weren't any holes, just some black charring. Phew. After all that excitement, we settled back down with our dogs. Hot dogs, that is. Cooking them with sticks over the open fire, I must say they were some of the best burnt hot dogs ever. At least we can always eat right :)

The next morning we were still full of s'mores and beer. Pair that with the 90-degree heat we woke up to - and the fact that we forgot coffee - and we decided to end our camping adventure pretty early. The trip may have been short and sweet, but it was still our first time doing it all one our own. And while we may not be mountain men quite yet, at least we know we can hold our own alongside Mother Nature.