Vedauwoo Wyoming- The Perfect Getaway Destination
Being the outdoorsy hub that it is, the array of adventure and nature that Northern Colorado offers has become more than just the locals getaway go-to. I remember my first summer back living here, we had plans to go camping up the Poudre Canyon, but so did everyone else. It was a beautiful warm august summer day and a full moon to top it off. Every campsite along the Poudre highway was overflowing with people. Finally, after what seemed like two hours of full campground let downs, we finally found one that was free from over-population.
Personally, I go camping to get away from people, not be around them. The occupancy status of the mountains had deterred me from wanting to experience that again. Being originally from Wyoming, I knew about a place from my childhood, but hadn't been there in over a decade. But I was determined to get my people free getaway, not to mention wanting to show my daughter what true camping in nature was like.
About an hour and a half drive into Northern Wyoming in Medicine Bow National Forest, a magnificently unexpected place called Vedauwoo exists.
Smooth boulders layered together like a perfectly pieced together puzzle tower like walls against the vacant wild landscape. Housed inside those walls lies a desert beauty where wild flowers and desert sage decorate the campgrounds and hiking trails placed spaciously throughout the park. Your campsite's neighbor always far enough away that you'll forget, at least once, that your not the only person there.
One of the most fascinating things about Vedauwoo is how the terrain changes the further in you go. Deeper down into the park, the desert casually becomes a forest of aspen and pine trees and the sound of flowing water echoes off the massive boulders that linger here and there.
It was around 5:30 a.m. and a cold and foggy morning after the first night of our last camping trip of the season last year. I got up to go make some coffee only to be greeted by a large blurry shadow in the near distance. "Is that a person rubbing against that bush?" is all I could think of the bizarre event in front of me. As my eyes adjusted and the fog slightly dissipated, I was able to confirm that it was not a person, but a moose eating breakfast just feet from our tent.
A few moments later, the moose took notice to our wakeful activity, and began his exit straight through the center of our campsite. His calm demeanor was a sign that he had become accustomed to the human activity that surrounded his home as his gallant shadow disappeared into the forest of trees behind us.