July “Campout” Becomes An Epic Day Trip
Our intrepid adventures planned their first campout in over 5 months with the goal to camp somewhere near the town of Bailey, Colorado. After successfully buying food, preparing the trailer, filling 20 Gallons worth of water jugs, and setting out in 5 separate vehicles, the trip began Friday afternoon.
While the first 3 vehicles did manage to get ahead of any significant traffic, the unfortunate reality struck that everyone in Colorado loves camping, and first-come-first-served campsites would be difficult to find. Our lead vehicles confirmed that our first choice, Deer Creek Campground, was already to capacity by early Friday afternoon. We ventured another 30 minutes down the road to Kenosha Pass where we found 1 campsite available on the West side of the highway, and 1 campsite available on the East side of the highway. Fitting our required number of spaces for the 7 adventurous Scouts and 5 faithful leaders was not possible, especially with a busy highway separating the 2 possible sites.
The crew decided to rendezvous back in Bailey where they attempted to secure space at any campsite that would take them. Multiple residents even offered up their lawns, with the stipulations that their bathrooms were off-limits. Deterred by the prospect of relieving themselves on lawns in full view of leering neighbors, the first 3 vehicles decided to abandon the attempt to camp Friday night. We alerted the 2 remaining drivers who had yet to make the trek up the mountain and regrouped on a Zoom meeting back home.
Because we had already paid for our treetop adventure on Saturday morning, we decided to forge ahead with those plans and we set out once again, sans trailer, for Bailey, CO at 8am Saturday morning. We arrived well rested and to a beautiful Colorado mountain morning where our 7 fearless Scouts and 1 (of 4) brave adult decided to put their lives on the line by attempting several ropes courses full of obstacles that no human should be attempting, even with a harness. The smarter 3 adults who decided not to tempt gravity shouted words of encouragement to the crazed-wanna-be-squirrels and took photos and videos to ensure proof was obtained. After 2 successful hours where only 1 or 2 Scouts were lost to the trees of Bailey, we packed up our appetites and headed for a day use area near the original campground goal.
After what felt like 15 miles of treacherous unpaved roadways with mountains looming all around us, we finally hit the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow – a parking area that could ever so slightly accommodate all four vehicles. The Scouts set up “camp” and cooked a hearty lunch. Max “I’ve Never Cooked A Burger Before” D. supplied the adults and Scouts with the first burgers of the day and no one fell ill – a certain success! After lunch complimented by sandwiches, chips, and roasted chipmunks, the boys decided to play around (and in) the babbling brook nearby. Once sufficient energy was burned, the boys settled down into full-on Scout-mode and the older Scouts taught the younger ones many requirements…some making great strides towards their next ranks. The adults settled down into full-on Adult Leader-mode and either passed out in a hammock or started talking politics.
We then cleaned up camp before the afternoon thunderstorms descended on the intrepid crew, performed the final police line (where the only offenders found were trash left from previous campers), packed up the cars, and departed for the hair-raising roller-coaster ride back down Highway 285. Since each family drove themselves (with the exception of a couple of wayward Scouts that Mr. Bielkiewicz was generous enough to give a lift to and from our great adventure), there was no need to decompress at the church. We all returned home safely and while the trip could have been labelled a bust by some, due to the success our crew experienced on Saturday, we all considered it a well-fought victory.
Join us on our next adventure where we will attempt to roast even bigger game – turkey, bears, and a giraffe are in store for those who are willing to take the risk!