It took us around 21 hours to drive out there. We camped out on Black Mountain (public land if you are wondering). Day 1 we say antelope, rooster pheasant, big horn sheep, bear and 2 cubs, mule deer, and elk! We also found 3 elk and mule deer sheds (their antlers that have fallen off in the spring)...big deal for hunters like my husband! Here is my recap of day 1: Chilly when we arrived. Setting up camp Brad came to the tent and told me he saw bear...we watched a mama and 2 cubs play about 200 yds up the mtn from out campsite. While we were watching the bear it started snowing...yep! It snowed again later that evening too! We hiked around looking for sheds (found 3) and glassed (looked thru binoculars and scopes) for animals on the mtn sides. We returned to camp and ate ramen noodles for supper. Then watched elk and mule deer make their way up the mtn side. It got COLD so right before dark we settled into our tent and bags and kissed goodnight. It got well into the upper 20's at night...yikes!
After a decent night sleep...we did stay warm...we woke up and I was so thankful that we slept with our tent facing the East so that the sun did warm up our tent a little bit. We got up around 8:30 and cooked breakfast (oatmeal) and we had 4 visitors join us...antelopes!
After breakfast we decided to head off for a hike...2 1/2 hour hike. It was gorgeous. But on our way back we saw a whiolte truck parked by our campsite and we got worried! 1,000 things ran thru our heads...shouldn't be camping here, shouldn't have started that first last night (which was small), shouldn't have cut that very small tree to Brad could get his truck up in the woods, they would search Brad's backpack and take his gun, fine us, haul us off to jail, oh and what would happen to our 3 boys...yep...we were worried. Brad was worried but he was not letting it on and trying to be strong for me b/c he knew I was scared to death...we kept saying..."we will play dumb and be very polite and respectiful!" Ok...so we get down to our campsite and their truck and these 4 men came out of the woods towards us. Ummmm they were forestry guys looking at some of the oldest trees in Colorado (3 of the trees are dated over 2,000 yrs old). We snall talked with them about trees and then excused ourselves for lunch (pb&j's, chips with homemade peach salsa we bought at the Cotopaxi Store). We put our feet up for a minute then it was back to hiking in the oppostie direction...
We hiked up to weard Brad killed his elk back in teh fall then back down again around the treeline. We saw some trees (5 or 6 of them) with pencils stuck to them with staples. No clue why we asked the forestry guys about it later that day and they said it was probably for some type of research.
When we got back from our hike we were able to set up the tripod and take some pictures of us on Black Mountain before the rain set in for a while and we chilled at our tent. After the rain and naps we cooked supper (chicken, rice, peas, and mushrooms). Then another storm could rolled in and we were able to sit on the side of the mountain ans watch a bear with 2 babies and a cow (yep a real cow that's what Brad said it was) until the rains hit at 8:45 and we headed off for bed.
Pretty cool view from our tent huh? I would definitely say we had a "scenic view!"
The next morning we hiked around camp a little and went to the top of the ridge that we were staying at. Brad wanted to find neat limbs to bring home to hang turkey beards on for display and I wanted to find some beautiful rocks (big ones) that I could put in my rock gardens as art. We did not want to "purchase" souveniers for our memories...we set off to find them...and find them we did! We took our time taking down camp...sort of sad because we had so much fun just being outdoors in nature together. But it is nice to leave and yearn to go back one day...and that we will. What fun memories and beautiful scenery we had while we were there. 
After we left the mountain, I wanted one last memory. I guess it is safe to say that it is "our" mountain now...since we both have camped on it and spend 3 days there together!
After we left the camping part of our trip we decided to do a little traveling thru the State of Colorado before we headed home. This beautiful site is between Salida and Gunnison on the Molas Pass. The temperature was 40 degrees when we stepped out to snap this photo. It was absolutely breathtaking...God is such an awesome artist!
In Silverton we did our only "tourist" thing...we toured the One Hundred Gold Mine and it was so cool. We traveled in 1/3 of a mile on a railcar and toured the mine. Miner Dan showed us the history of tools that miners used, different lighting, how they blow out holes in the mine, and also the potty that miners used while they were working. Really cute, rough around the edges, Miner Dan was a lot of fun to learn from!
Traveling thru New Mexico on the way home I had to stop for a photo shoot with Brad. How cool....Carson National Forest! It is after Kit Carson...no my Carson. But is was special anyway!
In Amarillo, TX there is a neat restuarant called the Big Tex. They are know for their 72oz steak that is free if you eat it with all the trimming in less than 1 hour...or you pay for it...$72.00!All in all Brad and I had a great time together and we were reminded that we were a couple and that we could have adult conversations about things we wanted to talk about. We got to share lots of fun memories together that we will never forget...how cool to camp on a mountain with no one around...just the 2 of us. Some of you might not think so...but it is right up our alley.
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