June Camping at Peaceful Valley

We arrived at the Peaceful Valley Campground, near Ward, Colorado at around 7:30 p.m. The sun was behind the mountains, and I just barely had time to get the tent up, blow up the air mattress (with my handy-dandy battery powered air pump), and get the bed made before darkness fell. While I did the “cozy-home-away-from-home” thing, Harry threw some tasty hamburgers in a pan for dinner. We would have been set up earlier - or have camped somewhere else altogether - if the campground at Brainard Lake had been open. We found out the next day from our campground hostess, Karen, that the Brainard Lake campground opened June 25th - it took them that long to get the roads cleared of snow and everything cleaned up from the winter. While we ate our burgers in the gathering darkness, we tossed ginger snap cookies to Tim and Star. They love ginger snaps.

In the middle of the night, Tim woke me. He pawed at my arm, and then went to the door of the tent, and pawed at it. I groaned. “Oh, Tim. Do you HAVE to go out?” He sneezed, and pawed at the tent again. I rolled off the air mattress and slipped on my sandals (I slept in my clothes, which was a good thing, since Star had most of the bed and Harry had most of the covers). I snapped Tim's leash on to his collar, and followed him out into the night.

It was absolutely beautiful outside. The air was balmy, and there was a light breeze. I guess ginger cookies aren't the best thing for a terrier tummy - Tim hastened over to the nearest patch of grass he could find, and his guts just let loose. While Tim was “taking care of business,” I looked around me. The full moon turned everything into black and white. It threw the tree boles into stark shadows and was so bright it drowned out the stars. I was so grateful to be at that particular place at that particular time, transfixed in the moonlight. I’m so glad Tim woke me up (for more than one reason, obviously), and I was more than happy to wait for his stomach to settle down. I wish I could share that experience with you, but I didn’t think to bring my camera. I don’t know how (or if) the pictures would have turned out, anyway.



The next morning dawned cool, with warm sunshine. While I rearranged the tent (after talking Harry out of packing everything back into the Dogmobile and going in search of another campsite and that elusive “better view”),










Tim found a series of ground squirrel holes and busied himself by digging in, while Star found a convenient patch of sunshine. It was right about then that I realized I’d bought the SUV tent for Winnie, because she didn't like to sleep on the ground and it was difficult to talk her into getting out of the car when we went camping. This was our first camping trip without Winnie. My heart contracted, and I hauled a disgruntled Tim out of a hole just so I could hug him. He smelled of pine sap and sunlight.




I sat down next to Star in her little patch of warm sunshine and Tim came trotting over and laid down with us so he could rest and I could give him a rub.


That’s when I saw two blood red marks on the pale skin of his belly. The day before, I’d moved Tim off my lap into the back of the Dogmobile and he’d yelped as if I’d pinched him. I felt terrible when I saw what I supposed were the marks I’d left. He didn’t seem bothered by them at all, but, when I showed them to Harry, we saw there were more than two of them. In fact, it looked like he had five or six more marks that resembled blood blisters, all on his belly and chest. Tim had been bitten - probably by fire ants (we later learned). I’m guessing they were in the ground where he’d been digging for ground squirrels. They faded over the course of the next few days, with no lingering problems, but they sure did look awful at first!





As I sat next to Star with my camera, I realized how difficult it is to take pictures that will really convey what I would like to share with you. A photograph can’t capture the clarity of the air or the fragrance of pine trees warmed by the sun. Photographs don’t let you hear the hummingbirds whirr by or allow you to feel the mountain breezes, warm and yet cool. I can show you some of what I saw, though.














And a nearby yellow flower . . .



I didn’t get a shot of the cocky mountain jay swooping down to snatch a piece of dog food, or the crows pillaging nearby campsites, but I can share a photo of the curly tan caps on the new growth of the spruces. They remind me of my father, who used to warn me when I was a child against damaging the new growth when I “helped” the trees shed their protective coverings.



This is ATV country - almost very other person coming through the campground has two or more ATVs on a trailer. We took a short hike up a portion of one of the ATV trails that start at the campground. During our first day there we didn’t see or hear even one ATV, but that next day, there was a steady stream of folks headed up the trails. It wasn’t bad, though, and people were respectful.









The middle of the day makes a great time for napping, and Harry and the dogs took full advantage of that.




After Harry woke up, we took a little drive back up to Brainard Lake, so Harry could get his fill of the vast panorama of Indian Peaks.





We stopped on the way back down at Red Rock Lake. I was amazed to see that nearly a third of the lake was covered by lily pads. The wind ruffled their leaves and made their yellow flowers dance on their stalks. Star waded right into the water, although it must have been cold. Tim was a little more careful, just getting his feet wet and tasting the cold, fresh water.






The clouds had been building up all the while we were up at Brainard Lake, and by the time we got back to the camp site, it looked to me like we were in for a storm. Harry made dinner while I put everything that could be water damaged either in the car or inside the tent. We were still waiting for the storm when we went to bed, but it never materialized. We enjoyed a campfire while the furkids lounged about on the air mattress in the tent, keeping a watchful eye on our whereabouts.

The insects weren’t bad, which was surprising since we were camped very near a stream. The first night we were there, we swatted more than one mosquito. I don’t know if it was because of the impending storm, but the second night, while we were sitting by the fire, there weren’t many.


This is the sparkling stream (the St. Vrain) that ran behind our campsite.



The water was clear and cold - as my feet could attest. Star went wading, too, but I had to convince her to come in. She’s used to the muddy waters of Nebraska, and the clarity of the water in the stream confused her.


So, that was our June camping trip.

After the camping trip, we went down to Denver, and while Harry relaxed with the furkids at La Quinta Inn, I went to a party commemorating the 50 year wedding anniversary of my high school choir teacher. All in all, it was an excellent weekend!

Thanks for coming along!