Packed up and out the door by 8:10 a.m. The trailhead is 30 minutes from my home, and my mom and girlfriend, Corrie, were taking me to the trail. That was nice as I had pre-trail nerves kicking in. It also made it more difficult; starting meant literally walking away from those you love.

On the trail by 9 a.m., walking along the North Fork of the Big Thompson River and into Rocky Mountain National Park. After a few miles, I entered the burn scar of the Cameron Peak Fire (2020), the largest fire in Colorado's recent history and a burn scar I'll be backpacking through for the next three days.

Once off the North Fork Trail, the trail grade increased dramatically and launched me up to Stormy Peaks Pass (11,714 ft - 3,570 m), where I did get rained on, but there was no major lightning (except off in the distance).

It was a long, cruiser downhill to Pingree Park, where the CSU Mountain Campus is located. By the time I reached the road, I was dehydrated as I had run out of water 3 miles prior, which meant I wasn't interested in eating the heavy-ass pizza I had carried all day. I was exhausted and probably hypoxic.

So when I reached the Tom Bennett Campground, I forked over the $17 (cash/check) and grabbed a site. I was the only one there. This whole area had been ravaged by the 2020 Cameron Peak Fire, which closed a lot of these campgrounds for many years. This was the first time some had opened up, I believe. Still, my fire pit was taped off, telling campers not to use it.

I chugged some water, ate what food I could get down and dozed off to the sound of flowing water which was the end of a nearly flawless first day on trail.