Paonia

It was getting towards the end of June, which meant it was time to once again go camping.  On this trip, we would be joining some of our local hiking group members on a two-night trip to a Forest Service campground near the western end of the road over Kebler Pass. 

It’s a first-come, first-served campground, which meant we needed to be there early to catch a site as weekend campers departed on Sunday morning.  To ensure that happened, we decided to bunk Saturday night somewhere nearby so we could arrive at the campground in plenty of time to snag a vacated site.

It would have been nice to spend that preliminary night at Kebler Corner, but all of their cabins were booked.  The next best option was to stay in the nearby town of Paonia.  With the help of Google, we booked a night at the Rocky Mountain Inn.

…our room was simple and clean…

…and the inn had a grassy open space lawn area behind the motel office, where we escaped to enjoy a glass (or two) of wine we brought from home.

The location was near downtown…

…where we enjoyed a burger and beer dinner at a restaurant frequented by several otherwise attractive young ladies whose tattooed skin made them look like crayon-colored pages from a toddler’s coloring book.

No, I’m way too old to find this look attractive.

Lost Lake Slough

We got an early start the next morning, drove to the campground and found a site in a nearly empty loop.  No trailer on this trip.  Instead, we erected our tent and inflated our air bed. 

Our friends soon arrived, and we ended up with our little group occupying pretty much the entire loop. 

Plenty of signs warned us to be aware that this is bear country.  Fortunately, we all followed the rules and encountered none of the burly bruins ambling about.

Our first group hike took us up and around three lakes on the short, Three Lakes Loop Trail…

First came the real Lost Lake…

…the Falls…

…and Dollar Lake…

…before heading back to Lost Lake Slough…

…and our campsite.

Dark Canyon Trail

On our getaway day, we drove up the road to the trailhead for the Dark Canyon Trail.  This would be an out-and-back trip up the trail. 

Our route wandered through groves of aspen…

…and past beaver dam ponds.

We enjoyed ample views of towering mountains and verdant meadows…

…with patches of wild roses…

…and other wildflowers adding pleasant dollops of color along the route.

Being close to getaway spots like this…

…is why we choose to live beside the Rocky Mountains.