The camping trip that wasn’t and the sunset that certainly was.

August 10, 2025

As a solo female traveler, I’ve grown accustomed to periodic uneasiness throughout my adventures. Sometimes accompanied by excitement as I start my journey or sometimes more of an angst if I’m approaching a shelf road or once when I ran into a group of suspicious men at a trailhead. It’s usually short lived and easily overtaken by the feeling I get from being in the wild. That being said, this feeling is something I’ve learned to pay close attention to and to differentiate between jitters and gut instinct. I’m certain that at least once, listening to my gut has saved me from what quite possibly could have been a pretty bad situation.

This time, as I left my house Sunday morning, the apprehension was not accompanied by excitement but I pushed on and headed west. In truth, I wasn’t sure if it would be a day trip or overnight since I had to work in the morning but I hoped and prepared to camp!

Chili and I turned off 285 and into a new area for us. As we explored the back roads, the nervousness started to fade and the sense of adventure took hold. We spent several hours driving around, scouting campsites and taking in views.

At about 2pm we started to look for a campsite for the night. By this time though it had become quite windy and the spot (with epic views) that I scouted earlier would no longer be a viable option since it was so exposed. So, we found one nestled behind a small hill and in the trees, popped the tent and laid down for a rest. After about an hour, the wind stopped so we moved back to the spot with a view and setup camp.

This spot was stunning and except for a group of dirt bikers passing by, I hadn’t seen anyone in the area, perfect! But for some reason, the uneasiness crept back in…

Trying to ignore it and enjoy this peaceful spot, I started making dinner and what a view!

After dinner, I still couldn’t shake the feeling that something just didn’t feel right so, I decided to head home.

As I was packing up, the sun started to sink towards the mountains and I could see that it was going to be an incredible sunset, I’d be crazy not to stay for it. I packed up everything except my chair and sat with Chili to watch the magnificence of Mother Nature. Because of all the wildfires, I got an incredibly orange/red sunset.

After the sun sank behind the peaks, I loaded up my chair and thought to myself that I would probably be kicking myself all the way home for not staying the night. It was so beautiful and tranquil.

As I got into the Jeep and drove away, the anxiety completely left me and I felt calm and confident that I had made the right decision. I’ll never know why I felt so certain that I should leave and I truly think that’s a good thing.

Sometimes you just have to listen to yourself.