Camping at Chalk Lake

Chalk Lake

Sunday we arrived home from our fist camping trip of the summer. We camped at Chalk Lake with friends, Kristin and Doug, and their three children. We really love to camp even when it rains :) I left for camping on Friday at noon and Scott met us at the campground around 8:30. Our site was right on the banks of Chalk Creek, which runs through a valley at the base of Mt. Princeton (14,197 ft.).

The creek next to our campsite. We have had so much snow that the creek is well over its banks.

On Friday, we hiked around Chalk Lake and watched the kids play in the creek. They had so much fun making dams, skipping rocks, getting really wet and exploring in and around the creek.

Of course, we always end the day with smores. Yum!

Mason's first breakfast outdoors. He really seems to thrive when we are doing something outside, be it hikng, biking, camping, etc.

On Saturday, we woke to grey skies. In the morning we went on a beautiful hike to Agnes Valle Falls. Agnes Valle (late 1800's) was an explorer who loved hiking in the mountains of Colorado. While hiking Mt. Princeton in the winter, she fell and died. They named the falls after her. Hmmm. Anyway, I digress. The hike was nice and there were plenty of rocks for the kids to jump on and sticks for whacking...er, walking. After the hike, Scott took the kids fishing at the lake. Pretty quickly after they left, it started to rain. As I was pulling camping gear under the canopy, Scott was trying to keep kids dry and happy. They didn't catch any fish but they did give it a good try and only got slightly soaked. After gobbling down lunch under a drippy canopy, we decided to pile into two cars and go to St. Elmo, a nearby ghost town. After a couple hours of steady rain, we decided to pack up camp and head for home. Just as we were pulling out the stakes on the tent, the sun made an appearance and we changed our mind. So, we pulled everything out of the car and started dinner. We filled up on Frito pie and Jiffy Pop and were very happy to see the sun.

Sunday morning we woke to warm air and blue skies. We celebrated Father's Day with breakfast burritos. The kids gave Scott their present, a t-shirt with a tie painted on the front. They were very proud of their work. After packing up, we headed down the canyon to the hot springs. The Mt. Princeton hot springs have four different natural pools and one really fun slide. All six of us enjoyed that slide. Mason cracked up the whole way down. He loved the water and was pretty upset when he had to put his shoes and brace back on.

Check out that fancy tie. I asked Scott if he wanted us to make him a t-shirt for every holiday. There was no reply, just a look. I guess I will scratch that idea.

Like I said, we arrived home and man was I tired. Mason and I were up, on and off, the entire Saturday night. I didn't realize it until we got home, but he was cutting a molar. After camping and swimming, we were all exhausted.

Have a great week!

Jennifer