0 miles
$23/night: Pawnee Campground (Arapaho/Roosevelt National Forrest)

I’m not going anywhere for a while. I can walk to this with the kayak.

What else do I need?

Camping so close to the lake and hiking gets you “magic hours”, to use a Disneyworld phrase: extra hours at your destination before the general public arrives.

Last night, as I was drifting off the sleep, I heard a family singing a song to guitar a few campsites away.

Awoken by the wind, I started the morning with a hike towards Mitchell Lake. It was so windy, Brainard Reservoir had white-caps, and spray.

Is this a koala bear, or a tree knot?

The campsite is ideal, and the pit-toilets are clean. It’s 20 degrees cooler than Denver.

I haven’t yet mastered high altitude cooking. This is supposed to be a crumb cake. We’re at ~10,600 feet.

Mostly crumbs, as you can see.

After I go back up the mountain, I have a campfire ready to go, and maybe I’ll make a grilled cheese.

And look at this.

I’m not coming down the mountain again until Saturday. Why would I?