Golden Gate Canyon State Park July 13-14, 2021

This was a last minute trip. I booked our campsite the day before. When I get stressed, I always feel like my solace is in the mountains. I looked for a secluded backcountry site where we could set up our tent, build a campfire, and disconnect from electronics for 24 hours. This place was perfect!

We got there and set up our tent just in time for it to start raining. There were loud bursts of thunder and Lola bolted to the tent and started shaking in the corner.

Because we had left right from the swim meet, Carly and I were starving. So, I found a place under the trees to set up the Coleman stove and made us some hot dogs and bratwurst. The rain stopped when I was done cooking. It was a short storm but did get everything pretty wet.

Instead of hang out in the wet dirt, I decided to take everyone for a short hike on the Horseshoe Hare trail. It was a very beautiful area with fields, rock formations, and ponds.

Carly went into the pond and we saw lots of little fish swimming around.

On the way back to our campsite, we saw so many cute squirrels running around. They were so used to people that they let Carly come up close and take pictures of them.

When we got back to the site, I started a fire. I relaxed and read my book while Connor studied chess and the girls drew pictures.

We did this for so long that we started to run out of firewood. We found plenty of branches on the ground so I had the kids chop them up for us.

I then saw that Lola's dog bed was wet so I put it next to the fire to dry. When I lifted it up, there was a huge hole in the bottom. Connor laughed the hardest that I have seen him laugh in a long time. Glad I could provide some entertainment for him!

I then made hamburgers and hot chocolate for dinner. We had a nice relaxing evening at the campsite.

We went through all of our marshmallows and we then put all of our food in the bear proof container.

This was a place that we were perfectly happy just staying in our campsite. There were trees everywhere and rocks to climb on. We never got bored.

In the morning, we made a big breakfast and made another fire. This place was so quiet and peaceful, just what we needed.

We all started playing with Connors hair and he decided that he likes it when I braid his hair.

We will definitely be back to Golden Gate Canyon again!

Location: Golden Gate Canyon State Park, Gilpin County, Colorado, United States

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