Northfork Vacation, Backpacking/Camping

On our last Saturday of vacation, we went camping. This was the only day we could really work it into our schedule, so we ignored the weather forecast, which called for rain.

We backpacked for an hour up the Crosier Mountain Trail from Glen Haven and found a good spot to set up our tent at Piper's Meadow. The boys then continued the hike to the summit, while the girls rested and played around in the meadow.

Here are shots from the boys' continued hike to the top of Crosier Mountain:

The meadow was absolutely beautiful, and we enjoyed playing there in the afternoon and cooking our dinner on the camp stove. We brought MREs from REI which were quite tasty (Chicken & Dumplings and Red Beans & Rice). That was actually the first time in my life that I remember eating chicken & dumplings. It was delicious. I'll have to try a non-dehydrated version sometime!

We also made a small campfire, which was nice, as it was starting to get cold.

Helene found a special dinner spot on the boulder in the middle of the meadow:

John found a good reading rock:

Shortly after dinner, the rain began. And it did not stop. It rained and rained and rained (heavy rain for Colorado) the entire night. Our new tent let quite a bit of water in, and we were all sleeping in puddles. No one got much rest, and by morning we were rather miserable. So we packed up at 6am and headed down. John tried to heat some water for coffee and oatmeal, but the stove, matches, etc. were all too wet. So we just hiked back and hopped in my parents' hot tub. :)

All in all, it was a good experience. Despite the rough night, we enjoyed camping and look forward to going again in better weather!