June 23 - July 7, 2021 Camp

I've been camping in this area of Roosevelt National Forest, called "Johnny Park" for decades, but knew I hadn't seen all of the dispersed camping sites in the area. I opened Google Earth to take a look around and see if there were any good campsites that I hadn't previously known about. I did know about this one road, but thought that it only lead to the first and visible campsite located there. Boy was I wrong! Using Google Earth, I was able to see that the road keeps going for quite a while and dead ends at a section with three campsites, one bigger than the rest. I was actually driving into the area to camp at one of my all-time favorite spots when I saw this road and remembered my Google Earth explorations.

What the hell, I thought, I'm going to see what those sites are like that I saw from space, and turned up the road and drove past that first site. The road is not the best and probably requires 4WD, but was no problem for the Syncro. As I reached the end of the road, there it was... a beautiful campsite just waiting for me. It turned out to be one of the best dispersed camping sites I've ever had. The road takes you up in elevation a bit and from the campsite, the views are fantastic. Most sites in the area are buried in the forest, which I love, but don't offer much in the way of long views. But this one being a little higher (about 8,650') and butting up against a steep valley, the views of the peaks in Rocky Mountain National Park right next door were stunning. Meeker Mountain, a 13er, is the predominate view, but the top of Longs Peak, a 14er and the highest peak in RMNP, can be seen just over the right shoulder of Meeker.

This site turned out to be very private, as well. Other than one couple camping at one of the adjacent sites for two nights with some friends joining them for the 4th of July, several ATV's and dirt bikes, and a very small wedding on my first day, I had the place to myself. The bride and groom say they fell in love with each other while camping here and decided to use this location for their ceremony. I was just glad I didn't have to photograph the wedding and smiled to myself as I watched the photographers from afar hustle their asses off, as is the case for all weddings, large or small. They came back again a few days later with the photographer to take some "proposal" photos. It's cheating a bit since they were taken after the wedding, so don't tell anyone!

The site where I camped is considerably bigger than the two adjacent sites, giving me plenty of room to spread out and play with Willow. Willow, by the way, is the best camping dog ever. She will wander a bit and explore, but is always within ear shot and 90% comes when called. If she doesn't come right away, I just bounce her ball as loudly as I can and she comes 'a running! There's nothing better than chasing the ball, in her mind, and we play several times a day to satisfy her need for exercise. We also work on her training at least a couple of times each day and she's a quick and eager learner. Good God, man... I love this dog!

My solar panel from AllPowers developed an issue where only half the power was being generated as normal. I suspect one half of the panel has failed. I tried contacting the seller, but to no avail. So I obviously don't recommend any products from AllPowers! I purchased another 100 watt panel from TopSolar and it is considerably more durable and has been functioning flawlessly.

I really enjoyed photographing and taking videos at this site and used most of my cameras at one time or another. I have some great drone shots and video to edit once I get to it, so stay tuned.