Cimarron Goes To Cimarron

Dear Maia and Isaac,

Summer flies. Time for our second spring/early summer camping sampler (2 night) trip. This time, we head to my dog’s namesake, Cimarron, Cimarron is a town, a river, a site within Curecanti National Recreation Area, and a mountain ridge. Well, more than that, but that is what the name refers to regionally. Oh, it also refers to my 13-year-old rescue Italian Greyhuahua, Cimarron.

This is another “close to home” trip because I want to cut travel time and get the yard caught up. It works out – only 17 miles to this fun stop in the nearby Cimarron Mountains. And, Cimarron’s (the dog’s), birthday was just last week, so she gets to try out her new sleeping bag.

I was taken aback when I first looked at the weather forecast. Cold and rainy? I thought maybe I should wait. Then it dawns on me that it has been in the 90s, I’m exhausted from yard work, and Kokopelli struggles in the heat with her short snout. YES! Cold and rainy!

Kokopelli is mostly Japanese Chin-Chihuahua, so she has a shorter-than-normal snout often seen in Asian dog breeds.

We got there late afternoon. The next day, I woke up super early and couldn’t get back to sleep. The days are so long. Eventually, I got up and we all ate breakfast. Then, the rain started. We went back to the tent. I read for a bit, then slept. By late morning, we started our day again.

Our adventure included a walk through the railroad exhibit and a hike on Mesa Creek Trail/Morrow Dam. It was windy, but not hot. We didn’t walk terribly far – I am still recovering from a day chopping hedge in 90-degree weather a couple days before. Oh, yea, and the broken toe is still healing. But, Koko’s heat tolerance (or lack there of) due to her short snout is a primary concern. It is a beautiful walk, nonetheless. A fun day trip or short camping trip. All dog-friendly. In fact, the Curecanti is a US Bark Ranger site, but the visitor’s center is on the Gunnison side of the park.

View looking at the Gunnison River from Mesa Creek Trail.

Denver and Rio Grande Western caboose and the Three Amigas Hartt.

I love to tent camp. I’m almost 70 and I still love to tent camp. The average tent camper is 40 years old, but I never “graduated” to campers or RVs. To me, the stress of driving a large vehicle plus all the maintenance would not be positive wellbeing. Nothing is simpler or more cost-effective than a tent in a hatchback. I almost feel sorry for those who graduated to more complex camping and now, for whatever reason, can’t continue. This is usually due to the loss of a partner. It takes a lot to travel in larger vehicles. I hope to keep tent camping as long as I can, although car camping may be a viable option (too) as long as it is a smaller hatchback vehicle.