Backpack to Kelly Lake, CO State Forest August 2021

 Got my backpack trip in.  A 3 day 2 night trip to the CO state forest on the east side of North Park, the Kelly Lake trail.  George couldn’t go at the last minute so it was a 2 man trip with Brad.  16 miles RT, half with full backpackS, half with day packs…2400 feet of elevation gain.  Saw a 6 person horse group on our second day briefly at Kelly Lake, and a couple also on a day trip to the lake.  We did meet a very large group of veterans who were on an organized trip with “No Boundaries” , a veterans group based out of Ft. Collins.  There 13 of them.  They camped about 100 yards away the first night (it turns out we camped where they usually camp and they moved on just a bit farther up the valley so as not to right next to us).  We talked with one of the leaders (Afghanistan vet) the next day.  My take is most of the vets, who were from all over the country, had suffered from PTSD.  They were in for a 3 night shuttle trip.