photos/20/0707-11_VanColorado/

By Alan Silverstein, ajs@frii.com (page updated Sun Mar 9 14:33:54 MDT 2025)

Parent directory/folder =photos/20/

We decided on short notice to beat some of the Front Range heat by taking the van out on a short Colorado loop for 4 nights -- but ended up returning home after 3 nights. We drove to Dillon, where even around 2:30 pm it was too late to snag any of the FCFS campsites at Prospector, so we followed directions to a nice dispersed Forest Service location a few miles away (uphill past the landfill to forest across from Keystone!)

The next day I did a tough 7.5-hour, 5.5 mile, 3045' gain hike/scramble up Buffalo Mountain, 12777', and had my best mountain goat encounter ever! Then we overnighted at the overflow parking lot at Prospector CG; continued to the cabin for one night; and I ran one tank of gas through the chainsaw (even though it was hot out, high 70s) chopping up fallen tree trunks into 3' sections.

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