Parks and Recreation Nation: State Forest State Park

For our second Colorado camping trip, we picked the somewhat redundantly-named State Forest State Park. More accurately, Girlfriend picked the park, probably because it was A) far far away from civilization, B) in the mountains, and C) included a body of water to appease me and my preferences. Exciting news: we are moving to a tiny town in the Rocky Mountains! Just kidding, but Girlfriend totally wants to, and after seeing this place a tiny piece of me wants to as well.

My girlfriend's idea of paradise, and my idea of maybe dying alone in a forest.

A much bigger piece of me is terrified of being so far from civilization that you can go for 40 miles without seeing a gas station (we only came a leeeeetle bit close to being stuck in the wilderness with an empty tank. But more on that later). Coming up: cooking adventures and MOOSE!

Driving to the Colorado State Forest takes a little while, but that's part of the experience. The scenery is GORGEOUS along the way:

When the sign says "scenic picnic area," you stop the car. No questions asked. This is the Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area.

Everything just got more and more beautiful and remote, until we finally reached our campsite, where we were greeted by a horde of chipmunks.

One of the three chipmunks in the posse that ruled our campsite.

This chubby guy was chilling at a nearby campsite. He didn't move around much.

Our campsite came with an excellent view...

Good morning, mountains!

...and its very own lakefront breakfast nook.

Don't worry, we brought the extra-comfy Costco chairs.

As you know, breakfast is way more delicious over an open fire.

Cast iron for the win.

Scrambled eggs with black beans and queso fresco, potato pancakes (IKEA!), turkey bacon, turkey sausage, and toast with our homemade strawberry jam. Not too shabby!

 We went hiking and saw a beautiful creek complete with beaver dams (we even saw an actual beaver!)

No beavers in this picture, but you can see a bit of the lodge they built.

Of course, what we really wanted to see was a moose.

Pictured: not a moose.

Also pretty, still not a moose.

And then, when we were driving back to our campsite on the second day, Girlfriend spotted something off in the bushes and we were able to park near a trailhead, walk briskly but quietly down the path, and catch sight of this guy:

He was majestically snuffling around in the water and slurping up mounds of greenery.

Want a closer look? I only took about 450 photos.

OMIGOD it's a MOOSE!

We sat and watched the guy for probably 30 minutes. He took a few looks at us, too. It was pretty cool. After that we figured we'd pretty much won State Forest State Park, so we went home early.

Actually we went home early to avoid the epic thunderstorm that was on its way to our campsite, but we weren't as sad to leave because we'd gotten to see the moose. On the way out of the park we realized we might not have enough gas to make it back to civilization, so we actually had to drive further west to the tiny town of Walden in order to go eastward back to Denver. But we made it, so that's the important thing. And Ly wants to live in Walden now. They have 2 gas stations, a liquor store, a Family Dollar, a bar, and a library, so for the Colorado Rockies, it's a thriving metropolis.

And this magic is right in your backyard.

So that was State Forest State Park!

Distance from Denver: 3 hours, or slightly longer if you accidentally go to Wyoming. In other news, I've added a new state to the list of places I've been!
Know before you go: There is no cell phone reception in or near the park, and it's very hard to find a gas station nearby. If you need things like gas, booze, or a grocery store, head west from the park to Walden. If you need camping supplies (including matches, marshmallows, and graham crackers) or souvenirs (including adorable moose-shaped Christmas ornaments and cookie cutters) head east from the park to the general store in the tiny town of Gould. Also: watch out for deer and moose on the road because A) you will want to get a good look at these beautiful creatures and B) you will die if they hit your car.
Things to do: hiking, fishing, animal-watching, camping, swimming/wading (though it's a bit cold up there)
Creature feature: this state park has been the best place to see animals so far. We saw tons of chipmunks at the campsite, hummingbirds and a bluejay at the visitor center, deer on trails and along the side of the road, beavers in the stream, and last but definitely not least, a moose!
Plant highlights: the aspen tree, which is way cool. I couldn't get a good picture, so here's one from the internet:

It has olive-green bark, which moose and deer like to chew on (look for the bite marks!), and apparently a whole grove of aspen trees could be clones of each other, connected through their root structure. This will be how they eventually take over the world, so don't say I didn't warn you.

Next time on Parks and Recreation Nation: Chatauqua Park in Boulder, CO!