June 5th and 6th, 2021
We visit Chatfield State Park at least once every year. It's a big campground, so there are almost always available spaces. And it's close. It's in town, but it's surrounded by open space and mountain views. There is a big reservoir and lots of trails to explore. So we always meet friends there for camping.
This year was an adventure, with multiple injuries and a crazy storm that destroyed our canopy. The wind and rain were obnoxious, but we played games in the Millers' toy hauler garage and had a blast (thanks, Mike and Heather!).
Boating was fun, though there were a lot of boats in the water. On the weekend, we had to weave in and around all of the other boats. It was still fun, and the dogs got in the water to cool off.
Water at the reservoirs we were visiting was finally warming up, and almost everyone got in the water at some point. A highlight was Joe on an inflatable tow toy behind the boat, and then Heather joined him for a second ride. The rest of us laughed the entire time.
One of the trip's highlights was kayaking. They are filling up Chatfield Reservoir and the water has overtaken beaches and areas that were once grassy. That means a lot of trees in the water near the shores, and we were able to kayak in between them. It felt like Florida (it was pretty hot, but not nearly that humid), and the birds were loud. It was awesome.
The additional water also meant we could carefully take the boat out of the reservoir and down the South Platte River for a bit. We even went under the bridge that we drive over on our way through the park. Too cool!
Out of all of our trips to Chatfield, this may have been our favorite. We even had a grilled cheese competition with the rest of the gang, and we won with a caprese-type sandwich. Delicious!
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