Charley’s Idea to ‘Beat the Heat’

With temps forecasted to reach up to 105 on Saturday my son Cade and I decided it was time to beat the heat and head for the hills and higher elevations.

We headed up the Big Thompson canyon to our favorite trail, the North Fork trail but to our surprise it was closed.  With so many closures over the last 2 weeks due to the High Park Fire it's hard to keep up with them and a trail this far south of the fire being closed never even crossed my mind but closed it was.

The different trailheads were all taped off but we noticed one car parked with something flapping on the windshield so we went to investigate.

The owner of the vehicle was now the proud owner of a ticket but not just any ticket. The paper was for 'traffic' violations but this one was special.  It has the word traffic scratched out and handwritten in it's place was the word 'criminal' and was attached to a court date and a $1000 fine with some harsh words about assuming it was the owner of that vehicle that had removed all the 'crime scene' tape around the area.

Wow!  Harsh and a gentle reminder that we were NOT allowed to be  in that area so after a quick trip to the 'stink cabin' we bailed.

Not to be deterred though we found a nice 'day spot' on the Glen Allen road and proceeded to have a little picnic and play in the river for almost 4 hours.  Not sure who enjoyed it the most but I am guessing it was a toss up between my son Cade and our hound dog, Maya.

If you can get away, do it.  It's worth a few hours just to get away from it all with your family and those you love and just relax a bit; good for the heart, mind and soul.  Just keep in mind to check your local closures and by all means do NOT go hiking on closed trails or it might cost you thousands and free breakfast at the Iron Bar Hotel!