Into the Mountains They Go

One of the biggest plans this vacation was for Bear to take Boo up into the mountains to go camping - a hike-in, camp and hike-out experience that would be his first.  Bear himself was taken hike-in camping for the first time around the same age and Boo has been chomping at the bit to go, so this was the opportunity to make that happen.

The main reason I drove for this vacation was to be able to bring the gear needed for overnight camping - packs, tent, sleeping bags, food, etc.  When we arrived in Durango the previous night, all the gear was checked and re-checked so we could head out and Boo and Bear could head out early in the afternoon.

Their destination was Ice Lakes, in the San Juans.  May is still an iffy time of the year for snow and frigid evenings, but with the warmer weather and pitiful snowfall this year, Bear decided it was probably going to be okay - cold, but not snowed in.

At the trailhead there was more checking and re-checking gear and then they were off!  It was just me and Bug for the next few days, with no communication between us and Boo and Bear!

As they headed into the mountains, I took Bug for a ride to Ouray, CO - a beautiful little town called "Little Switzerland in the USA" for a good reason - the village is quaint and the homes are very "Swiss" in design, and the road there is one that will wreck your nerves on a good day!  But brave the road I did and it was spectacular to see the area...until this jumped in front of my car, in the middle of the road and then seemingly jumped off the side of the mountain to my right:

Yup, it scared me - but I still had to stop and take a picture!

By the time Bug and I got settled into the cabin we were renting through Sunday, I realized my brakes needed to be done - all the mountain driving was taking its toll, they'd never been done and I was at about 93,000 miles.  So, I spent the next day tooling around Durango with Bug while the mechanic in town did the brakes!

The next day we picked up Boo and Bear and spent the rest of the weekend exploring the area some more!