This last weekend I went camping in Curt Gowdy State Park with an old friend who reached out to me after seeing some of the other blog adventures I've been having across the state this summer. It was such an incredible time! If you haven't watched last week's live stream on Facebook or Instagram, I highly recommend going over and checking it out. Of course, if you have seen it... it should shock you very little that I completely forgot to get a camp tour on video. 🤦♀️ Amateur hour over here I know!
We actually camped in the Medicine Bow National Forest about 10 minutes from the park itself. To get to camp we traveled down a dirt road until we found a relatively flat spot with plenty of shade. By the time camp was set up it was 11:30 am, so we decided to have lunch before heading to he park to hike.
This is where more of my amateur hour came out to play 😂 I had just gotten a really nice French Press for camping and just assumed that you could heat it up... until it started melting! I hadn't brought any other pot to boil water in, so it was by sheer luck that my tin mixing bowl actually worked to very slowly boil the water at this point and the press wasn't totally ruined.
With lunch behind us, we headed into Curt Gowdy State Park named after the famous sportcaster Curt Gowdy who was the "longtime" voice of the Boston Red Sox. He loved the area and spent a lot of time fishing out here back before it was a State Park.
We decided to take the scenic route to Hidden Falls, one of Curt Gowdy's most well known attractions. This meant taking the highest trail in the park, El Alto, when we got to the scenic overlook we were able to look out over the whole park! Even with the smoke from the fires in the states surrounding us, it was a great view well worth the climb.
Now here we get back to my amateur hour, and at this point i'm just going to chalk it up to why I never wake up before 8 am! I had carried two full water bottles with us on the hike, but they weren't very big. It was also over 85 degrees Fahernheit! At the end of the day my phone said we had hiked 10.3 miles. With all that walking and heat I was very dehydrated by the middle of our hike and whined probably the rest of the way back to the trail head about how much I needed water. Tip to the wise, there is no such thing as too much water!
For the Finale of our Day 1 exploration in Curt Gowdy, Shelby took me to Hynds Lodge. The lodge itself was closed and is usually used for events like wedding receptions. However, the ampitheater is really cool along with remains of old outhouses and camping grills once used by the Boy Scouts.
That night we settled into camp eating hot dogs, drinking pink lemonade, and admiring the stars. There are some friends that just feed your soul. All those off limits topics are fair game and if you're willing thier honest opinions and wisdom can help shape you for the better. We had such a great time catching up and feeding each other's souls that we completely forgot about the s'mores!
Day 2 we headed back into the park to enjoy the Causeway, this is the best place in the park for paddleboarding. You can rent your paddle boards and life jackets from the Camp store for about $23/hour or bring your own. Honestly, an hour was just the right amount of time to explore the Causeway and eat a snack about half way through.
If you're a mountain biker, fisherman, or hiker, Curt Gowdy State Park is the place for you! Just don't forget to keep a clean camp! We want to keep this place beautiful for many generations to come.
What silly mistakes have you made after being an outdoorsperson for many years? Have you visited Curt Gowdy State Park? Who is your favorite person to go camping with?
Thank you, fellow adventurers! You can follow the lilmissbearpaw blog page on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @lilmissbearpaw for sneak peeks into upcoming posts and my adventures. This will also be a great place to share your own adventures!
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