Our Camping History 1963 to 1975

I do some of my best and favorite reading, late at night. That way no one is around and it is quiet, save for the raspy breathing of an old dog. As with any good read, you know it is going to come to an end. Maybe I was lucky tonight, not to discover your Journey’ until late, as I began reading it, I did not want it to end. Each photograph was such a treasure of detail and surprises, of time that is gone. There were so many of your photographs that carried me home, to a time that I had almost forgotten but not wanting to. Trucks, campers I would see traveling through my home town in Kansas, wondering where they were heading. Mitchell Campers were popular hunting and fishing campers then and I spent a few nights out on the prairie, in a tent, as some of the older guys slept in their Mitchells. We started camping in 1959, in Colorado and much of the scenery you have depicted seems so familiar now. Then we stopped in 1962, with a final trip to Lake George, in Colorado. After that it was just me, solo, in tents till my TC arrived in 09 and I began my adventure. Now I save, at least, 12 nights a year in a backcountry tent. I can only imagine the memories your three children, grown now, have from those years, but if they have the passion you and Margot have for life outdoors, they are truly lucky. Thank you for sharing Ron, I just hope this first installment is nothing more than a set of reports still to read and enjoy your wonderful photographs. I know I will be waiting.

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