Day 17-21 (6/12-6/16/21): Miles traveled: ~ 425

Location: various sites, ending at Chalk Lake Campground near Salidas, CO

Science: various air quality measurements, interestingly very few campfires at the campground until the last night

I was nervous about this day/site -- I was meeting up with really close camp friends who I had not seen or been in real touch with for about 20 years.....

First stop was at a rest stop near Des Moines, NM --

It was starting to feel a bit deserty.....but cool scenery/wildlife/flowers......

Second stop was for the scenery.......near Starkville, CO --

Third stop was in Trinidad, CO to do laundry and re-organize my (still out of control) stuff. 

I put together another huge box for shipping back home. I also finally figured out how to put some lettering on the outside of the trailer so people would know what I was up to. Can't say that I am a professional at this, but at least it's there for now:

Feeling a bit more confident (and less disorganized), I drove into Chalk Creek Canyon where my friends were meeting up at the Chalk Lake Campground.

I was actually so nervous about seeing my long lost friends I completely missed the turn into the site and ended up having to make a 5-point U-turn on the narrow mountain road to retrace. My hands were shaking and my heart was racing -- would they recognize the me they knew so long ago? Would we have things to talk about? Had too much time passed?

When I finally pulled into the campground and saw my friends waving and jumping from their site, I quickly realized how silly I had been to be so nervous. And even though I had to BACK the camper up into the tiny spot (I was still shaking a bit but it did finally work, using the no-pride-please-help-me-anyone approach), we all just sat down in a circle of camp chairs and started picking up where I had so unfortunately left everyone off so long ago. 

My camp friends are so kind, generous, and ridiculously FUNNY. And I am forever grateful for the very low level of ribbing I received from everyone (I think there were like 18 or 20 of us throughout the week) for having been out of contact for so long.

I am terrible at taking pictures when I'm hanging out with folks, but it's really great to be reconnected --a big shout out to everyone -- Jacobsen (best unit leader ever), Beaz, Braden, Co, Scotty, Sporto, Keith, Bridge, Lizzy, Lisa, Pat and all of the family and friends who tolerated our camp talk...:).... 

The first night we stayed in campsite #4. There were very few campfires nearby. 

The second night and beyond we stayed at campsite #18 (I think). There were a few campfires around but not many.

The location was magical. The campsites were right on a beautiful mountain stream and shaded by tall trees. The days were hot but handleable, with glorious cool nights that were perfect for tiny trailer sleeping. There were early-morning sightings of some bears, a sweet robin's nest full of chirpy chicks right outside my trailer, and Chalk Lake was clear and super cold, perfect for paddleboarding and paddledrifting (my favorite way to use a paddleboard). I tried to snorkel here but within 2 minutes had a terrible headache. When I scrambled out of the water, the two flight nurses in our crew explained that I was undergoing basal constriction and probably should be wearing a wetsuit next time....