Where NOT to camp!

by Donna
(Colorado Springs, CO)

It WAS a pretty place though.

We love exploring in Colorado! So one weekend we set out in our little Ford Ranger with a bed in the back and a camper shell on top, looking for a not-so-crowded place to camp.

We traveled down highway 115 from Colorado Springs to Florence, then turned south on highway 67 (which becomes highway 96 at Wetmore).

Just driving through the countryside enjoying the scenery, we ended up in Westcliffe. After a bite to eat, we asked the locals if there was a place to camp nearby. They told us of several spots, so we continued west towards the mountains looking for a suitable spot to spend the night.

We happened upon a campground that said, "Closed". We stopped and debated what to do - we were getting very tired!

Because we were in a truck, we decided we could just drive over a small field and camp there and no one would be the wiser. What a beautiful place we found, and wondered why it was closed. We prided ourselves in our great choice. It had everything we wanted - tall pines, cool breezes and even a stream running through it.

We tucked ourselves in for the night and were lulled to sleep by the sound of the stream nearby and the wind blowing through the trees - until about 2 a.m.

The soothing sound of the wind had become a ROAR, about every 10 minutes. And the worst part: that wonderful little stream was the home to millions of mosquitoes - all of them visiting us inside our truck (or so it seemed). We began grabbing socks to plug up every nook and cranny we could find to keep them out!

What a miserable night! We spent most of it totally under the covers to prevent getting eaten alive by mosquitoes. It was hot under those covers!

As soon as it was light, we high-tailed it out of there.

Looking back on this experience, we decided it was our payback for sneaking into a campground that, had it been open, we would have had to pay to stay there. We learned our lesson!!