The Tipi Hike

I'm going to tell you the story of what our family has always called "The Tipi Hike".

It was the summer of 1998 and we were vacationing in one of our favorite states, Colorado. Kevin's parents used to RV full time and would get jobs as camp hosts. This was one of those times. Someone at the campground had told Ruth, Kevin's Mom, of a short little hike that led to a beautiful stream. There were some short legs and some older legs among us, so that sounded like a splendid idea!

We set out in the direction given, expecting to see a refreshing stream any moment now. Dana the Dalmatian with us, complete with freshly broken leg. But this post is not about my guilt....

We went on merrily for quite a while. After about an hour, we began to wonder what that person's definition of "short" meant. Our dogs were tired - not the canines, but our feet!
The views were beautiful along the way, I'll give it that. Even a cool old building.

The trail was easy in most places, a little rocky in others. After all, these were the Rockies!

See the storm clouds gathering? There's a saying in the mountains of Colorado: "If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes."

But on we trudged. We were going to find that stream!! After another half hour, we finally did.
And what a delight it was. Here we are, cooling off all "the dogs".
Hannah is the retriever mix (aka The Chewer). Bonnie is the Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier (aka The Thief). And you know Dana the Dalmatian. (Hannah and Bonnie have since left us.)

So, the feet were cooled. The dogs were refreshed. Time to head back. Remember the storm clouds?

Yeah. Thunder started to rumble. My mother-in-law uttered words I hadn't heard from her mouth before. You see, she knew the dangers of being in the mountains in a thunderstorm.

So we hurried along, going as fast as we could, dodging raindrops by now.

At this point, my daughter Valerie states,"You know... I saw a tipi on the way out. I think it's over that ridge."

A tipi?! Wait! Isn't this 1998?!

Okaaaay.

Kevin left us in the lowest spot we could find and scaled a steep incline to scout it out. Meanwhile, it was raining harder and we were getting cold. We were glad to hear the announcement that Valerie was right! Off we go....all of us scaling the steep incline now.

What a glorious sight! Shelter! We huddled inside the tipi and wondered what in the world it was doing out in the middle of the woods. It was so cold even the dogs were shivering. Hail started dropping into the tipi smoke hole.

"We're gonna die out here," I thought as I struggled to get warm.

Meanwhile, you know the effect running water has on your body, right? Exactly. We all had to go. So there we were, shivering and cold with very full bladders.

What a relief it was when the rain stopped! We peered outside and suddenly noticed something we hadn't seen before....a second tipi, though a log smaller! One of us went to investigate and was thrilled to find that it was a Peepee Tipi. Yes! I am not kidding! A chemical toilet, toilet paper, everything! Who knew?

After taking care of personal business, we headed back to "civilization" and discovered that we were on the property of a dude ranch! They used the tipi for wagon rides. They were glad that we had found shelter in the storm.

But, you know....sometimes I wonder if it was real. Or if God put it there just for us.