Day 2 - Travel and Arrival Day

Day 2 has been a day with an easier mission to accomplish....continue west to our final destination at Sheep Park Lodge.  We were up at 5:30, and after breakfast and conversation with other hunters in the dining area, we headed to the local Walmart to pickup our hunting licenses. No issues with credit cards being declined...so we are all now officially licensed for the hunt. 

We then headed west again to Carbondale for lunch. Unbelievable scenery on the way! We found a great local diner in Carbondale, Village Smithy's.  Good food, good service. Great mountain town...could be worth revisiting someday.  We continued south and made a final stop in Redstone...a "don't blink or you'll miss it" town with a few shops, a one room museum, and a general store with beer, wine, and ice.  After we made friends with the shopkeepers, we filled a cooler with a few beers and ice, and got back in the truck for the final 45 minute ride.

And wow!...some of the best scenery I've seen in Colorado! The pictures herein do not do it justice. Coming through McClure Pass was a bit unnerving with the tight two lane road and steep drop-offs, but Josh navigated like a pro and we made it. The final 12 miles to the lodge were gravel road. Gravel road of diminishing quality the further we drove.  Roger Cesario and his Camp Jack greeting us at his gate, and we followed him into the lodge.

We spent the rest of the day getting organized, meeting the four other hunters in camp (Larry, Larry, Justin, and ?), most of the guides, and Joni, the camp cook. Speaking of camp cook...we enjoyed a steak dinner, potato and salad sides, and apple pie. A great indication of the food to come the rest of our stay.

Great star-lit tonight...heading to bed soon now. And speaking of bed, Dad and Tom have a room in the lodge, and Josh and I agreed to take the wall tent in the photo shown. All good.

Hopefully tomorrow's update includes an elk harvest story!