Rainy Roadtrip 1
The monsoon season rolled into the southwest, and with it I was free to get out on the roads again. It had been a while since I last explored and I knew that mines, caves, mountains, and adventure lay out just beyond the horizon. As I drove north, the air grew thin, the temperature dropped, and the mountains rose.
On my first night in the San Juan mountains I was seeking out a place to pitch my tent and spend the night. Too cheap for one of the Forest Service's paid campsites I decided to find some backcountry accommodations. Backcountry being the dirt pull-out just yards ahead of the sign announcing the fee area's boundary. Another car was already there with a tent right next to it. Surely one more wouldn't be a problem. But slowly as the evening wore on more and more cars pulled into our dirt lot. The backcountry was getting crowded. It wasn't long before a motley collection of climbers, backpackers, and peak baggers had gathered around a campfire. Late into the night we talked, laughed, traded stories, passed bottles around, tested bear spray, and blasted air horns at the mountains. Even as the rain began to pour, the party went on. A dirt parking space was transformed into part of our wilderness playground that night. We had gathered here for the same reasons, our love of the mountains, the will to test ourselves against them, and of course, our desire to avoid camping fees.
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