@ChrisMunro, Bill Magee, Jeremiah, Jason and I met up at Circle K on North Broadway and headed up Sunshine Canyon through Gold Hill to then look for a camp spot, set up camp, and then come back to Gold Hill for dinner. Jeremiah actually stumbled upon a super sweet spot, not too far above Gold Hill that is tucked back in such a way that it made you feel like you were 50 miles from anywhere, but when you looked to the east, you could see the city lights on the horizon. The wildflowers are going crazy right now up high, and it was just a beautiful place to be, and absolutely dead quiet. Good for the head.
The plan was to grab dinner in Gold Hill after we set up camp, so we rolled down to the store only to find that they close early during the week. We walked over to the Gold Hill Inn, and while they were still open, their kitchen closed at 7:30; it was about 7:35 if I recall correctly. We had no choice but to roll back down into Boulder for dinner. We all had a good laugh at the absurdity of traversing sunshine Canyon multiple times, but wound up at the Hungry Toad for some vaguely British pub food. Jason decided to head home at this point because we are going to be riding in the dark - totally fair. I don’t like riding at night. At dinner, Chris was about six blocks from his house and his bed, but he somehow managed to head back up to the campsite with us after dinner. I’m not sure I would have made the same decision. 
We hung out for a couple hours at the campsite, and got to bed around 11pm. Everyone was up and packing by 6 AM, and we rolled our separate ways to start the day.
I love these little micro adventures because they reset my head, and it’s also a great way to practice for bigger trips and test and refine your gear choices. There’s something novel about riding back home down a canyon early in the morning in the middle of the week…
See y’all at the next one!
