A month in the life: One more day in Gunnison National Forest

Gunnison National Forest //

In the morning, our company departs.  I had thought we would be on our way out also, but it’s shaping up to be another gorgeous day, and we have no reason to leave.  While out on a walk, admiring the rugged beauty of this valley, we decide to stay.  Now that it’s Monday, enough people have left, making it feel as though we have the place to ourselves.  The opportunity to enjoy some solitude is just one more reason to stick around.

On our walk, Mark and I discuss whether or not he should tackle the second half of repairs needed on our truck bed mounts.  He addressed the right side at our campsite in Buena Vista a few days ago.  However, the left side is much more difficult to reach, and all the tools that would make the job easier are back at our property.  

While Mark contemplates his options, I convert our inside space from night use to day use.  This entails making the bed, removing the bed’s extension cushions, and retracting the bed platform.  This opens up our space and allows room for our two dinette seats and table to be set up.  It’s a two-minute process and a great excuse to generally tidy up the camper.  Today’s weather is ideal and allows for the doors and windows to be open, making the camper bright and airy inside.  When the entire place is closed up due to adverse conditions, it feels like a cave.  But when it’s all opened up like it is today, it feels like the coolest little home on wheels one could ask for.  I love days like today and am forever in search of weather like this.

Mark decides to give the truck bed repair a go.  Eventually, he realizes he’s going to need an extra pair of hands, and so we both end up lying on the ground beneath the truck, attempting a semi-blind repair.  I have trouble contorting my body in just the right way to be able to prop my body up so that I can hold onto and use the impact driver that he’s given me to tighten a hard-to-reach bolt.  Mark does this stuff all the time, and I have no idea how.  I’m not about to complain for the five minutes he needs my help, but yowzer, my shoulders are screaming at me to resume a normal posture.  

It’s no surprise that I end up doing more harm than good.  Power tools are not my forte, and I end up breaking the one bolt I was left in charge of.  I return inside to the thing I’m good at, prepping for upcoming weddings.  Mark does what he always does and finds a solution that he can accomplish single-handedly.  The number of two- or three-person jobs that he manages to execute on his own always blows me away.  

At sunset, I take a chair to the edge of the creek to eat dinner.  Watching the setting sun cast magenta hues across the rugged peaks is mesmerizing.  It’s a show I’m not sure I could ever tire of.  Life here at 10,000’ is only this good for a short period of time, though.  In two months’ time, this valley will be frigid, and a winter’s worth of snow will have begun to accumulate.  The ability to call this place home, for free, for five beautiful summer days is what I love about our nomadic lifestyle.  We get to enjoy the best a place has to offer without having to endure the worst.