Backpacking 101, A Trip Report

Last week was my work's annual big conference down in Denver. We've been planning it for months, and it all culminated in a week spent at the Westin, and a 60-hour work week. There was some fun mixed in there too, no doubt. Including a secret VIP night on the pool deck ;-)

I knew I would need to get away after this week, so camping was definitely on the agenda. I invited Truman, then promptly told him that he'd have to figure out where we were going, because I just didn't have the mental energy to think about it. Yeah, I was that girl. It worked out better than I could have imagined though, because while I was thinking car-camping, Tru was thinking carry-everything-on-your-back camping, a.k.a. backpacking. I've never been backpacking but have wanted to go for a LONG time. I just never had anyone to go with, or the gear, or the knowhow, etc. Turned out that the locale Truman had in mind was only a 1.5 mile hike in. Perfect for what turned into Backpacking 101 with Professor Truman.

We got a bit of a late start on Friday, leaving my house around 5ish? The last .8 miles of the drive to the trailhead was for "high-clearance vehicles only". Luckily, due to the seasonally-low water level, and my kick-ass off-roading skills, the Forester qualified as "high-clearance". I think Truman was pretty impressed when I somehow plowed the Forester through an 8" deep puddle in the middle of the road. ;-)

The first half of the hike was in twilight, the rest by headlamp. We hiked 1.5 miles up to Lost Lake, outside of Eldora, CO, and right outside of the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area. This meant we didn't need a permit to camp, and that we could (legally) have a camp fire. We set up camp at the first empty site we found, which happened to be site 9. We later discovered that site 8 is where it's at, with an awesome view of the lake. Site 9 was secluded and nicely forested. Whatever.. I was just psyched to be out in the woods!! So while I set up the site, Truman got a nice roaring fire going and we spent the night in ultimate-relaxation-campfire mode.





Neither one of us had any timekeeping instrument, so I have NO idea when we woke up. Which was really nice. I miss the days when I really didn't need to know what time it was. I still resist wearing a watch as much as possible. Truman cooked up an awesome brekkie of southwestern scrambled egg sandwiches on english muffins. SO tasty! I chipped in by making some awesome Thai-style Nescafe coffee. Sounds gourmet doesn't it? ;-)





We had a couple of options on how to spend our day. Pack up all our gear and hike 4.5 miles to another lake and camp there for the night. Then wake up wicked early Sunday morning to hike back and get back down to Boulder by 11am. OR Keep Basecamp 9 and do a 9mile loop instead. Be a bit more relaxed Sunday morning, and still get down to Boulder by 11am. For a variety of reasons, including Truman's body-heat-loss-inducing sleeping bag, we decided to go with Option B. Before setting off on the 4.5 miles up to Woodland Lake though, we thought we'd check out the lake we'd apparently camped next to, but had yet to see.... Lost Lake.









Then we headed off to Woodland Lake. It may have been 9 miles, but it really didn't feel like it. Maybe it was the gorgeous weather ("downright balmy" in Tru's words), the great company and conversation, or the beautiful scenery. All I know was that was the shortest 9 mile hike I've ever been on. Despite the time warp, I tried my best to take it all in and thoroughly appreciate every second.

Woodland Lake... our lunch and turn-around spot.

After our 9-mile adventure, we headed back to camp for a nap. Woke up who knows how many hours later, and it was getting dark. Common sense and hunger dictated that we should probably get up, gather firewood, and cook dinner before nightfall. Well, we didn't quite make it, but we tried. I cooked up some delicious cheesy-sundried-tomato-tuna pasta dish, while Truman once again, built a kick-ass fire. The only thing we were missing was some nice sipping whiskey and/or wine.

The next morning, as promised, was a bit more lazy. Nescafe and Luna bars for breakfast, followed by another jaunt down to Lost Lake, packing up, and the hike back to the car. It was nice hiking back in the daylight. This time we were able to see some beautiful waterfalls that we missed on the way up.

















Woohoo! Made it back to the car just in time to get Truman back to Boulder for NFL Sunday. Such an awesome weekend. According to Truman, I kicked ass and got an A in Backpacking 101. Can't wait for next time!! Perhaps on snowshoes.............??