After a dozen years of car and RV camping, I’m finally returning to my backcountry roots this summer. In this trip, I’m camping with my 12 -year-old daughter, Shanti, on her first backpacking adventure. We did a pretty steep (2,750′ elevation gain in 13-miles) out-and-back hike to Carey Lake, up the West Branch Trail in the Rawah Wilderness in northern Colorado. Had fun. Stopped to smell the flowers. Saw a bear.
