I promised you early on that my eating life is not all massaged kale salads, chia pudding, and homemade almond milk. That’s right, friends, there are days, sometimes several in a row, when my normal abundance of fresh fruits and raw veg are scarcely seen. Granted, it’s not often, but it happens. Usually on vacation! And always when camping.
I adore camping. I grew up camping in the Colorado mountains, and I’ll tell you, I find few things more glorious than a crisp mountain morning, watching the sun rise over the meadows and warming my mittened hands over a mug of hot coffee.
Too bad we got rained out after our second night of tent camping, obliterating our hopes of backpacking for two more nights near Rabbit Ears Peak (elev. ~10,ooo ft.)
Yup, it’s been a rainy, rainy summer in the Rockies, and though it didn’t rain all day every day, it rained hard and cold enough every evening and night to convince us that backpacking would be a silly idea. We’re hardy, but not stupid.
So we broke camp early the third morning, “re-camped” with my aunt & uncle in their lovely guest house in Strawberry Park (just up the mountain from Steamboat Springs,) and then came back to our camping area at Dumont Lake during the day to do some fun hiking and fishing. Best of both worlds, right? Plus, more time with my aunt and uncle, and that’s always lucky!!
Since we had all of our “camp food” with us, we continued with our meal plan… for the most part.
I started the day off with a fresh orange and 2 banana oat cookies (I made this batch with walnuts, dried cranberries, and chocolate chips.)
Theda and I went hiking around Dumont Lake while the rest of the family fished. Of course it would have been downright foolish to hike without stuffing our pockets with granola bars, so we did. I ate a Kind bar. It tasted fab after a fast-paced hike up to a ridge with a spectacular view of the lake. (The “fast-paced” part was my fault for failing to put on enough mosquito repellant.)
As we made our way back to the lake, the black clouds we’d seen gathering in the distance were no longer so far away. In fact, they were right on top of us, and the already-brisk temperature was dropping fast. We reckoned it was a good time to wrap up the fishing gear and get out of Dodge (and Dumont Lake!) We quickly ate some peanut butter “sandwiches”… just natural PB on whole wheat tortillas. Not overly exciting, but satisfying in an outdoors-y sort of way. We did beat the rain, but not by much.
By the time we got back to Steamboat, the storm had passed, but so had the afternoon, along with our opportunity for further outdoor activities.
But that was fine with us, because in Steamboat, happy hour starts as early as 4pm! We went out for Mexican food with my aunt and uncle at Vaqueros on Lincoln Avenue, where I had chips & yummy house made salsa, fish tacos and the biggest margarita I’ve ever seen. Too bad I don’t have a pic of this, as some folks might not believe me… either about the margarita, or about how many chips I ate! But somehow I’m hungrier in the mountains…
Living in a tropical climate makes spending time in the high country seem even more heavenly, and I treasure every breath of pine-scented air and every glimpse of mountain scenery. So I’m not eating fresh salads and spinach smoothies on camp days… but I’d say it’s a pretty fair trade for a view like this!
