8/6/16 - Frisco, CO

This morning it was overcast but we walked around all the camping loops for some steps.  Then we went to Summit County Shooting Range to shoot our guns.  This is a free range.  After shooting guns we went to City Market and then to Dillon Dam Brewery.  Jim’s nephew, Rush, called and they are in Wyoming just north of us.  We are going to join them tomorrow.  After supper we walked around the camping loops again.  The sun finally came out today but this evening the wind started blowing cold and the clouds came in again.  It hasn’t rained yet but sure does look like it.

8/7/16 - Medicine Bow National Forest, WY

We got up at 6:15 and had breakfast, hooked up and went to the dump station.  It had been 10 days since we last dumped in Longmont.  We got gas and groceries at Safeway in Frisco and then took off for Wyoming.  Penni and Rush are camping in the Medicine Bow National Forest near Saratoga. It took us 3 ½ hours to drive there.  We found their disbursed campsite and it was really pretty.  They had a great view of the surrounding area.  Rush had been eyeing another site and when the people left, he and Jim drove Rush’s Jeep to look at it.  They left the Jeep to claim the site and walked back.  We all hooked up and moved to the new site which is at the top of a hill with great views of the surrounding hills.  This is the first time we have ever set up camp two times in a couple of hours.  The hills here are covered with quartzsite rocks and they almost look snow covered.  Jim and I went on a walk around the area and saw an old cabin that dated back to the 1870s.  We all sat outside and Penni cooked pork chops and corn on the cob on the grill for supper.  Rush got a fire going and we stood around it until it started lightning and sprinkling.

8/8/16 - Medicine Bow National Forest, WY

After breakfast this morning, Penni and I went to wash the dishes in the nearby stream.  She found some rocks to sit on but I found a place a little flatter and closer to the stream.  I didn’t trust myself to not fall in.  She almost lost her balance while getting back up. We had a good laugh.  

 Around lunch time Rush wanted to go to a picnic area to eat and then do a little hiking.  We drove to Mirror Lake and then took the hike to Lookout Lake.  We continued down the road through Medicine Bow National Forest and stopped at the Miner’s Cabin Trail and Libby Flats Observation Tower.  Penni and I walked the trail to the Miner’s Cabin while Rush and Jim waited on us.  At the lookout tower I finally had a cell signal and called by brother and Martha.  Jim called his doctor to get a prescription refilled.  Rush is the only one at camp who gets a cell signal.  At night we had another nice campfire.  We have been to this area before in 2009.  I found out on 8/9/16 that my great niece had her baby today -- Colt Ryon McCrary.

8/9/16 - Medicine Bow National Forest, WY

Today is my son’s birthday.  He’s 43 years old.

Jim updated the blog for two days.  Jim, Penni and I went to hike while Rush stayed back at camp and did some work on his computer.  We hiked French Canyon Creek.  This short trail took us over a bridge and by a small waterfall.  There were some men fly fishing in the creek.  Then we walked the paved trail between Marie Lake and Mirror Lake.  After returning to the truck we had some lunch.  Then we hiked the Medicine Bow trail as far as The Diamond.  On this trail there was a magnificent view of Marie Lake, Mirror Lake and Lost Lake.  We were up at 11,720 feet.  At camp we had a fire and a retired forest ranger and his wife stopped by and talked to us

8/10/16 - Medicine Bow National Forest, WY

After cooking oatmeal for breakfast, Jim and I drove to Centennial.  Rush and Penni stayed at camp.  On the way back we stopped at Pine Campground to see if the water was better than the water nearer us.  It was!  We drove through Pine Campground and through Nash Fork Campground.  We stayed at Nash Fork last time we were here but it has been closed for seven years due to the trees being destroyed by pine beetles.  The dead trees might fall on campers.  We came upon a rustic church and stopped to see it.  St. Albans Episcopal Church has a service on Sunday.  Rush and Penni told us they saw a wedding there when they drove by.  Then we drove to check out Brooklyn Lake Campground and Libby Lake Picnic Area and Sugar Loaf Campground.  Sugar Loaf is the highest campground in Wyoming.  We also checked out the water there.  After we got back to the Casita, Rush, Penni, Jim and I went for a short walk.  Then after supper we had a fire and we made S’mores.  Today is National S’mores Day.  It started to sprinkle and everyone went inside their camper.

8/11/16 - Medicine Bow National Forest, WY

Jim called the pharmacy in Saratoga to see if he could get his medicine today but it won’t be ready until tomorrow.  Penni and Rush are going to Saratoga today to do laundry and get some supplies.  We drove to the Pine Campground to get fresh water and then back to Silver Lake Campground to hike.  We hiked to Silver Lake and then took the Meadow Falls Trail.  We hiked 6 miles and got 14,000 steps.  It was 60 degrees and windy.  At night we stood around the fire until midnight.  It was 45 degrees.  We had beautiful clear skies and we watched the Perseid Meteor Shower.

8/12/16 - Medicine Bow National Forest, WY

We drove to Saratoga today.  On the way we stopped at Ryan Park and looked at the campground.  At Ryan Park in the 1930’s there was a CCC camp and in 1942-1946 this CCC camp was used for a German POW camp.   In Saratoga we went to Family Dollar, and walked around the main street shops.  Jim bought a couple of long sleeved shirts from a thrift shop because he had only brought one on the trip.  He scored two nice heavy ones made by Cabelas and Eddie Bauer for $7.00.  We got one of our propane tanks filled and then went to Snowy Mountain Brewery for a beer.  The brewer, Steve, showed us around the brewery.  We got some gas in the Silverado, Jim picked up a prescription from the pharmacy, and we went to the grocery store.  When we got back to camp, Penni had cooked a pork loin and some potatoes. It was fabulous.  We had another fire tonight too.

8/13/16 - Medicine Bow National Forest, WY

It was 34 degrees this morning and 47 degrees in the Casita.  Jim and Rush went hiking today to the nearby mountains.  They walked cross country from our campground through the forest towards one of the peaks using a compass to stay on course.  I knew better than to go with them.  Penni and I went on a small hike to a nearby lake.  Jim and Rush got back 6 hours later -- they had hiked 9 miles and 20,000 steps.  Jim said it was a very strenuous hike and that he felt all of his 72 years.  They had to scrabble up boulders to reach the top of two peaks at over 11,000 feet elevation.  They saw a marmot and a moose on the way back.  We had a fire at camp.