The “not-so-thorough” Plan:

One Tuesday afternoon my boyfriend, Edwin, and I had the great idea of taking a camping trip to Moab for the upcoming weekend. Though it was mentioned, not much planning had happened at all; when Thursday rolled around and we realized we were supposed to be driving 6 hours to a national park we had done no research for and was expected to be 100+ degrees for the entirety of our stay, we decided to abort that plan and come up with something more realistic. On to plan B — while searching the internet for dispersed camping near us we came across Buffalo Pass up in Steamboat Springs. The pictures of aspens and thoughts of waking up 10,000 ft high on a mountain sold us. We decided Buffalo Pass was the place for us and started packing. This might come as a surprise given how much time went into planning this trip, but from the drive to the third and final (yes, third) time we staked our tent in the ground, Edwin and I struggled to remember why we decided to go on this trip in the first place. 

The Long and Bumpy Drive:

The first obstacle on our trip begun about twenty minutes after we got in the car. With excitement for our trip and a recent payday in the bank, I had ordered my first pair of hiking boots on REI’s website and planned to pick them up at the store on the way. Unfortunately this rush job of a hiking boot purchase did not take into consideration the fact that, one, it was Labor Day weekend and the biggest sale of the year for REI, and two, that buying something online at midnight does not mean your stuff will be ready when you walk in at 10:00 am the next morning. Thanks to the combination of covid regulations, the Labor Day sale, and my thoughtless ordering process, the 3 lines I had to wait in to buy these hiking boots took a grand total of an hour and a half to get through; all the while Edwin and Mabel, my dog, were waiting in the car for me. Needless to say when I finally did make my way back to the car, I had a grumpy crew who were stuck in the car with me for the next three hours. But hey, at least I had hiking boots. 

The Confusing Campsite:

When we finally arrived at the service road leading up to the campgrounds we were tired of the car (and perhaps of each other). We were ready to set up camp, play a game of Rummy 500, and go to bed. Unfortunately for us a few more obstacles stood in our way before any of that could happen. First of all the service road that I was convinced would take us to the top proved to be rougher terrain than anticipated and proved me wrong. As Edwin grumbled about his concern for the rough road ahead, I decided to keep mine inside hoping that the car wouldn’t fall apart, and trying to reassure him that “we could definitely make it another few miles, it will be such a cool view!” Luckily for me, my counterpart keeps my ideas in check, and made the executive decision to turn around and find a place to set up camp before our car combusted. As we started to drive back down the hill, we saw a few established campsites; something we did not expect to see given this land was advertised to be a dispersed campground. My inexperienced and afraid-to-break-the-rules mind convinced me that because there were established campsites that were kind of far apart, I had the incorrect notion of what dispersed camping really was. Instead of listening to my level-headed boyfriend, I decided hiking up a steep hill carrying all of our supplies, and dog in tow to find a spot where rangers couldn’t possibly find us was the most plausible next step. About half a mile up the ridiculous journey I forced upon my crew, I realized unless we went for about twenty more miles we were not going to find a flat spot to put up our tent, so down we went. Frustrated and tired we got back in the car to see if we had missed an open campsite. What we found was a small patch of dirt connected to another campsite that was occupied. We assumed it was free for the taking so set up camp. Relieved and moving past the stored up anger I provoked we played a few game of cards. About an hour later, the man who had set his tent up in the adjacent camp site, kindly asked us to find a new spot to set up camp because his friends were coming up to meet him that night. Slightly annoyed, but grateful that he confirmed dispersed camping meant what we thought it did originally we hauled our stuff into a dried up marsh land nearby. The view was beautiful and we were able to easily access the car parked on the service road about a quarter of a mile from our tent. What we didn’t realize until we had re-set up our tent was that the marsh land we were in was in direct sunlight from sunup to sun down, not the easiest thing to deal with for multiple days for the fair-skinned Swede I am dating or the intensely fluffy dog we love so much. So off we went again, this time on foot. We finally spotted a shaded outcropping in the trees that had an amazing view of the aspen trees just starting to change colors. Luckily the third time was the charm for us, and we finally settled into our home for the next three days. Once we had set up camp for the final time, we were able sit back, relax and enjoy nature. 

The Shooting Star That Made it All Worth it: 

With all the trouble we were going to have to face for the weekend behind us, we spent time exploring around Buffalo Pass and got to see some of the most beautiful landscape we’ve ever experienced. Mabel got to be off leash the entire weekend because of the distance between us and other campers, and we got to enjoy some much needed quality time after our unfortunately adventurous first day.  The skies were clear which made for unbelievable stargazing. On our last night after we had eaten dinner and it was getting dark, we decided to stay outside a while and watch the stars. About twenty minutes into our stargazing session we saw the brightest and longest lasting shooting star either of us had ever seen. It was blazing orange, and because of the lack of light pollution it seemed to light up the entire sky. Edwin and I realized at that moment that my overly eager nature and tendency to under-plan combined with his conservative and stable mentality lead us to what we believe to be the best spot in Buffalo Pass. Though the journey was trying, and somewhat comical when standing outside of the moment, the destination was absolutely worth it.