Camping @ CMSP ... Day 3

I love falling asleep to the sound of rain on the roof. Last night, we had no shortage of that delightful pitter-patter that portended a good night’s rest inside the Cruiser as beneficial rains fell outside. A light, rhythmic pattern of rain drops, broken occasionally by downpours that increased the volume of the sound.

This morning we woke up around 6:00a to dry and calm conditions … not even the hint of a breeze. Even though it was only 53F when I stepped outside an hour later, the sun made the temp feel much warmer. In fact, warm enough to have breakfast al fresco. Unfortunately, by the time we were ready to eat, the sun had left the small patch of blue sky to hide behind the cloud cover that was now stretching out in every direction. Nonetheless, we bundled up and persevered. It was quiet … it was peaceful … only the sound of birds chirping unseen in the trees. No one stirring in the neighboring sites.

The morning remained overcast and cool, with a light breeze adding a chill factor. The humidity was in the 50% range — quite unusual hereabouts — so it was a bit muggy as well. Nonetheless, we were in the mood to get some exercise. So off we went to put our hiking plans into action.

We left the Cruiser and drove to the Limekiln parking lot from where we would be starting our hike. Our plans called for hiking parts of three trails — Zook, Talon, Sundance — that we had kludged together to create a 6-mile loop. These trails run through mountain meadows … far more open than the Blackmer Loop we did yesterday.

The All Trails website lists the elevation gain as 918 feet over 6.3 miles. We didn’t feel like we gained that much in elevation … perhaps because we somehow detoured to the portion of the Sundance trail that is open to equestrians on the return portion of our hike ... thus missing the hike up. The website also describes the trails as being moderately trafficked. Not today. Though there were a surprising number of cars in the parking lot, we didn’t come across too many others — either bikers or hikers. Nor any equestrians or “signs” of horses having preceded us 😉

It was nice to have views of Cheyenne Mountain most of the way during our hike. Birds were plentiful — in song, if not in actual sightings. There were flowers adding color to our walk. What I didn’t care for much was the traffic noise from CO 115. It was a dull roar much of the way. Par for the course, I guess, when a state park is so close to a city.

We were back home for lunch shortly after noon. While eating a light meal, we discussed what to do in the afternoon.

Literally across the road from the turn-off to CMSP is Fort Carson, a US Army installation that is home to the 4th Infantry and the 10th Special Forces Group … amongst several others. We’d been wanting to check it out for a while now. Since there was heavy rain in the afternoon forecast, we figured it was a good excuse to drive over and explore it today.

Just outside the gate to Fort Carson is a museum dedicated to the 4th Infantry. But we weren’t in the mood for a museum visit, so we continued on through the gate to just drive around and run some errands instead.

I’ve got to say that we were quite impressed with the measures they are taking at this installation in an effort to deter COVID-19. Our errands took us to the post exchange (mall), the commissary (grocery store), and the military clothing store. At each building, we had to show our IDs, wash our hands in portable sinks set up outside the doors, and answer questions about COVID-19 exposure and our recent travels. Once we ran this gauntlet, we were allowed to enter the building … but not before having our temperature checked at the door. It goes without saying that masks were required before we even approached the buildings.

We were in the commissary, picking up groceries to replenish the larder, when the skies opened up. We couldn’t see the downpour, but we sure could hear it. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some accompanying hail, too. The wet stuff was barely a drizzle when we left the commissary … and not a drop was falling by the time we got back to the Cruiser.

Even though the storm was already on its way to the plains, it was still a little breezy and way too cool to sit outdoors. Instead, we made ourselves some hot tea and enjoyed quiet time inside. This was a good time for me to write the journal and download/process the very few photos I took today.

After a light dinner, we sat down to watch Ice Station Zebra. An ancient film, I know. But it is one of the few DVDs we have in the rig at the moment. We need to remember to download movies from Netflix before we leave on our camping trips … in case the cell signal that provides our data is not up to the challenge of streaming.

Tomorrow we will be leaving CMSP. But before we do so, we hope to do a short hike. Assuming, that is, the weather lives up to the forecast.

P.S. When my friend Sue asked if we might move to a site with trees to get some shade, I told her that there are no trees here. I mis-spoke. I should have said that there are trees … and plenty of them. But none that provide shade at the camp sites. The mountainside sites in our loop, as well as several of the pads in the lower loops, have vegetation … no shade, but the bushes and such do help with the privacy.

As busy as the Colorado state parks are, we had just the one site to pick this time — take it or leave it. We’ve done what we usually do at a new campground ... reconnoitered the sites. Next time, we’ll start making plans earlier and hopefully be able to make an informed choice with more sites available for consideration.Read more