For a second post, I wanted to take a look at the camp sites in Dolly Sods – at least in the areas we explored along Red Creek. As I mentioned yesterday, the original plan for this visit was for us to backpack in, camp overnight, and then backpack out.
We were approximately 1.5 miles into the hike, looking for a significant stream crossing, when I noticed a series of stepping stones set into Red Creek. Despite the change in direction, from heading west to heading north, we decided to explore the crossing anyway. It turned out to be a small island surrounded by a small split of Red Creek. The campsites on the island were quite elaborate and noteworthy.
For example, there is the one in the photo that opens this post. We nicknamed this one “the divan” because of its shape like a little couch before the fire pit. Here’s a picture of me sitting on one of the “sections.” There were other sites in this area, including one that Chris called the “French Bistro” because someone had put together a little table out of the red sandstone in the area.
Later as we continued on into the canyon, there were numerous great campsites – the Hiking Upward reviews actually state that these areas can be quite crowded, and it’s easy to understand why after you experience the natural beauty of the place and consider how lovely a summer evening beside this little stream could be. Here’s a photo of Chris at yet another of the camp sites in this area.
For the final campsite photo, here is one further downstream. Although we didn’t notice any major construction at this location, I did want to take the photograph to illustrate this food storage method – meant to keep their stuff out of reach of bears. I didn’t hear of any sightings in the park, but kudos to these guys for their precaution.
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