Getting Lost in Pike National Forest
Sometimes you can plan all day, but ultimately when you can’t find the campsite you were trying to remember staying at years ago and you drive for what feels like forever through the pines, you settle for whatever you can find. Does this sound like I’m setting something up?
We decided to take a trip out to Pike National Forest to find a campsite that we stayed at back in October 2014. The trip to Colorado Springs is about 1.5 hours from Brighton, but usually feels pretty quick. We left in the late morning assuming we’d easily have enough time to find a spot. We weren’t counting on getting lost, however.
Well, not really lost. More like, unwilling to turn around. I think that explains it better.
I’m fairly certain we drove at least another 1.5 hours through Pike National Forest through winding but mostly well maintained dirt roads. It became an adventure. In fact, we drove so far that we drove out the other side of the National Forest boundary before we turned back and drove to an area that looked pretty interesting, right near an area of geological awesomeness called Cathedral Park. We explored around for a bit before taking a north road to the point where it ended and then settled on a campsite near Middle Beaver Creek.
The campsite was actually super crowded, and mostly with long-term campers. We could only find a fairly exposed little area in the middle of the campground to set up. It was not the best site we’ve ever stayed at, but was mostly quiet (except for a few dogs that roamed the area).
On the way home, we took another epic route and explored the little mining towns of Victor and Cripple Creek (from the car window, of course, there is a pandemic out there).
Final bonus: when we arrived back at our home, we discovered a tiny bull snake had snuck in and made its home under a chair. I wonder how many times the cats got bit while we were out of the house…
