Delayed

Heard from y daughter yesterday that her business travel will delay her move date by one week. So whereas I was at Colorado State Forest State Park inching my way down to Denver, I've now returned to Laramie, WY for the weekend to refresh and revise travel plans.

One thing I've discovered is that when the online reservation systems open in the Spring, Colorado's campgrounds are booked the entire summer. Essentially all the state parks and federal sites (e.g., Forest Service, BLM, and Park Service Lands) are booked every weekend through the online reservation systems. This means that without reservations (which are too late to make this year), the only opportunity to camp at these sites is during the week (Mon-Thursday) but even that isn't a sure thing, at the more popular campgrounds (State Forest, Mueller, etc.). Even many of the private campgrounds and RV parks (e.g., KOA, etc.) are booked on the weekends.  The result of all this is that ensuring one has a campsite each night has become a hassle in Colorado.  Can't blame people for loving the state but other than my quick trip back to D to help my daughter move, I'm going to stay away from Colorado until the camping love fest declines, probably September:) Of course other states like Wyoming experience similar crowds and have fewer state parks than Colorado.  What's a camper to do:).

View of the mountains from the Ranger Lakes Campground

I'm looking for a small place but this is a bit dated:) 

Old logging shack along the Gould Trail in State Forest State Park.

Wild Columbine along the Gould Trail.