Forces of Nature

It had all the makings of a great camping trip. I had good food to eat, activities for the kids, my notebook - the outlook was terrific. We drove up past Idaho Springs, and took the familiar (and favorite) turn to Fall River Road. As we are heading up, my husband mentions that when he had Googled the lake we were going to, it showed a picture of a lake frozen over. Surely, this last week in June, it couldn't still be covered in ice! That should have been my first clue...... We were passing snow off to the side of the road, but small, mostly melted patches.
As we come around a wide turn in the road, we see several trucks parked off to the side, and ahead, a snow drift covering the road. A pretty deep drift. My husband gets out to see what is past the drift - and comes back fairly quickly. Happily, he reports the lake is about 300 yards ahead, and not frozen over like we had anticipated. But, there is no way to get the camper past the snow drifts. The best we can do is park on the shoulder of the road, and hike up. Initially, this is a great idea, but it sets in that it is not going to be that easy. With us, we have our 5 year old daughter, her 22 year old sister, and our 2 year old grandson. None of them seem too happy to go on a long hike. We turn around, reluctantly, and head back down the rough, rocky road, to the spot our little girl said was the perfect place to camp. We were next to the river, icy cold, fast moving and narrow, but beautiful. We had to pick up the trash from many previous campers (as well as T.P. - don't they know to burn it or bury it or pack it out in a Ziploc?) including a rusty, ripped up lawn chair, which my loving husband hauled back to Denver, knowing it would make me happy. And despite our not getting to fish in the lake, my 24 hour flu (with no bathroom it felt like 48 hours!) and having 3 kids along, we really did okay, and had a good time. It was another reminder that Mother Nature works on her own schedule, regardless of what the calendar says.