Warner Lake Campground in the Manti LaSal Mountains of Southeastern Utah

       

Do you like the idea of spending a weekend here?
If so, read on.  If not, well, please read on anyway!

         Mention the words "girl's getaway" and these images may come to mind:  luxuriating with spa treatments and yoga at an Aspen ski lodge; sipping coffee and/or cocktails on the deck of a Key West villa; shopping and dining, then attending a play in New York City's theater district.

         Now compare the above scenarios with sleeping in a tent on the ground, cooking on a gas stove, eating at a picnic table, and using an outhouse.  That's how the girls—okay, middle-aged women—in my outdoor adventure group spent our end-of-June girl's getaway weekend.

         Warner Lake Campground is situated in an aspen grove in the Manti LaSal National Forest, southeast of Moab, Utah.  The 9,200 ft. elevation makes the campground cool in the evenings and comfortable during the days.  The group campsite—at the outer edge of the campground loop with views of the lake and surrounding mountains—is one of the prettiest mountain campsites I've been in.

        While the setting for this getaway was spectacular and the nine women on the campout shared an easy camaraderie, it was the perfect weather which made this vacation a resounding success.  Each morning we relaxed with coffee, then ate breakfast, hiked a mountain trail, took afternoon naps in the tents (for those who needed them), had wine and hors d' oeuvres in the late afternoon, cooked tasty dinners and, finally, relaxed around crackling campfires at night.

         I have nothing against Aspen, Key West, or New York City and I'm sure I would enjoy myself in any of those locales.  But this primitive alpine getaway to Warner Lake Campground proved as invigorating as a spa treatment, as relaxing as a day at the beach, and as enlightening as an evening in the Big Apple.  The perfect "girl's getaway".

Women of the Castle Country Canyoneers prepare for a morning hike.

View from the top of the appropriately named "Mountain View Trail".

"Dog-tired" after a morning hike.  Two girl dogs—Lucinda on the left and
Teva on the right—accompanied the women on this getaway.

Here's where we cooked and ate.
Can any NYC restaurant compare with this?

Evening campfire in the group campsite.

This is the view that greeted me from my tent each morning.
What a way to start the day.