The July heat in Denver had been insufferable for weeks. For days on end the mercury went into the high 90's by late morning. Without air conditioning in either our house or my trusty, but rusty, Jeep Wagoneer, Wendy and I just suffered through it. At least it cooled off by bedtime, but for the most part it was just plain hot.
Escaping from the city was the only relief available to us and as Friday afternoon rolled around, we skipped out of work early and headed for the cool of the high mountains. As we both worked downtown, we rendezvoused at the parking garage. The Jeep was packed, ready for a quick getaway. No need to waste time by going home first.
I wasn't about to drive west in my business suit and stripped down by the side of the truck. I was prepared and wore a pair of red jogging shorts under my suit pants. Wendy had a little more of a challenge, but managed to rid herself of her business clothes, changing into a green halter top and shorts, without flashing anyone but me. I sort of hoped someone would come by, but no one did before she was fully dressed.
Making our escape, we headed west, enjoying the wind blowing through the open windows. Passing the Dakota hogbacks, I looked over at Wendy, her long brown hair pulled back into a pony tail, the wind lifting her halter top and giving me a quick glimpse of the bare skin of her breasts.
"Keep your eyes on the road, Glen," she admonished me. "I don't want to be splattered across the roadside just because you wanna see a little tit."
"I can't help it Babe. I like your tits."
"Well, they'll still be here when we get to Mineral... if we get to Mineral."
Concentrating on the road ahead and ignoring my favorite set of boobs I mused, "Hope we can get there before anyone else does. I sure want that lowermost campsite this time."
Always the pragmatist Wendy replied, "I'll settle for any of the upper sites. It's so beautiful up there."
"Yeah, but sites above the falls have no privacy at all, and the one we stayed at last time, a great site for sure, has a little too much foot traffic coming down to the base of the upper falls. Remember what happened last time."
Wendy laughed remembering how embarrassed she was when three guys suddenly came trudging through our campsite, stumbling upon us in a state of martial coitus out in the wide open. Instead of just politely passing through, the three guys stopped and gawked a little too long. Didn't bother me enough to stop and I fucked Wendy to completion before pulling out of my wife. I stood up to confront our audience and as I did, the three profusely apologized and then hurriedly continued on their way. Safely away from me, the air filled with their hoots and laughter. I really didn't give a shit, but Wendy sure turned a deep shade of crimson.
I was a little annoyed at their rudeness, but I really couldn't blame them, as I have always found Wendy most appealing when she's nude and spread out, and its not everyday that you stumble across a couple fucking in outdoors. Unfortunately it spoiled the mood. After that, Wendy wouldn't screw out in the open for fear the threesome would return.
"Yes, we gave them quite a show," she lamented.
We climbed the grade and soon the air appreciably cooled several degrees. Long before we hit the Eisenhower Tunnel at the continental divide, it was appreciably cooler, requiring us to roll up the windows.
Wendy reached over and tweaked my erect nipple. "Getting cold?"
"Naw, it's just a bit cool," I replied pushing her hand lower towards my crotch.
"You sure you don't want to put a shirt on?"
"Naw, I'm okay."
"Good, because you look good shirtless. I like your nipples," she teased. "However," she said patting my tummy, "you need to start watching yourself. You're getting a little...pudgy."
"Pudgy?" I looked down. It was true, my rock hard abs were gone, having been replaced by a slight paunch. "Yeah, I look like hell!"
"It's not that bad Glen, but you need to get it under control. No more excuses as to why you can't get in workout on a regular basis. When was the last time you got any exercise?"
"Okay, okay. We've been really busy and..."
"You need to take care of yourself, Glen. Instead of eating at your desk, you need to get out, go to the club and work off some of the tension. You'll not only look better and feel better, but you'll also be more productive at the office."
"I know, but it's..."
"No buts! I love you too much to see you turn into a glob of flab, and I certainly don't want to be a young widow like my mother."
A glob of flab? Dead? That did it! I didn't give a damn what anyone else thought, but if Wendy thought I looked flabby, then I really needed to do something. No way was I going to allow myself to deteriorate into some sort of formless blob, not to mention the unpleasant consequences of an early death. "You think I'm flabby?" I asked suddenly wishing I had a shirt on.
"No, you're not flabby, but you've put on a few pounds and it's beginning to show."
"Well, thanks," I said peevishly. "How would you like it if I told you that..."
"What? That I'm fat? I wouldn't allow it!" she huffed. "When I'm fifty and dying my grey hair, I plan on having a dynamite body that you can't resist and I don't want you gasping for air while you try to satisfy me."
She had me there. She didn't have an ounce of excess fat on her lithe 5'8" frame and I couldn't imagine her overweight.
"Okay, I know you don't like the prospect of humping some old pot bellied pervert any more than I like the prospect of humping an old wrinkled sow, but we will both get old someday."
"Then let's take care of ourselves and grow old gracefully. I plan to and so should you; if not for yourself, then do it for me."
Wendy and I sat silent for a few minutes until she patted my tummy again saying, "Hey, it's really not that bad. Actually, it's kind of cute, but it's really not healthy."
When we stopped in Dillon for gas, I rummaged around and found a t-shirt more out of self-consciousness than in an attempt to stave off the slight chill in the air. Another hour later and we were heading up a one lane Jeep trail towards the ghost town of Mineral. Passing the dozen or so dilapidated shacks and buildings of Mineral, we turned left and followed Mineral Creek up a steep gorge.
I downshifted into low range and put it in the lowest gear ratio possible for the steep upward climb. Barely wide enough for my Wagoneer, the road was liberally strewn with rocks of various sizes. We progressed, lurching over rocks that would stop an ordinary vehicle. Wendy became increasingly nervous as the road climbed higher above the creek bed. The road was nothing more than a narrow ledge blasted out of the side of the mountain a hundred years ago for a narrow gauge railroad built to haul ore down from several mines to the mill at Mineral. According to lore, the mines played out just as the railroad was completed.
Wendy had the panoramic side, the view consisting of a shear drop off to the bottom the gorge several hundred feet below. I knew, but really couldn't see how close my tires were to the edge, but simply hugged the mountainside as best I could, losing my side mirror in the process. Each time the Wagoneer pitched and lurched sideways as I drove over a large rock, Wendy screamed.
At one point I encountered a rock too big to drive over. I didn't have room enough to open my door and exiting from one of the passenger side doors was too harrowing for my taste, forcing me to crawl over our gear to exit via roll-down rear window. I rummaged around without unpacking all of our gear, retrieving the long wreaking bar I keep in the Jeep for just such occasions. I guess I could have squeezed between the side of the truck and the outcropping rocks, but I chose the easier route of climbing over the top of the vehicle to reach the front. Fortunately the errant boulder was near the edge and with a little effort I manhandled the obstacle over the side.
"Don't get so close!" she admonished fearfully as I watched the big rock crash down the side of the chasm.
Once the boulder had smashed itself to smithereens, I climbed back over the top to reach the back of my Wagoneer. After stowing the wreaking bar, I crawled back over our stuff to reach the driver's seat.
"One thing is for sure," I said eagerly, "unless that rock fell within the past few minutes, there's no way that there's anyone is up here, unless they walked."
"Oh, god," groaned Wendy. "C'mon, let's go before another rock falls." That was good advice and we proceeded ahead at a blistering 5 miles per hour.
Finally after forty minutes of hair-raising travel, we caught sight of the lower falls. The sight was simply breath taking. A series of three falls, each with a drop of about fifty feet, they originated at the lip of a hanging valley carved by ice during the last glaciation. Soon we were abreast of the falls and the road widened suddenly. A few feet later we turned into the prized lowermost campsite.
The campsite was gorgeous, situated on a large pool of crystal clear water just above the first of the lower falls. It had a picturesque view of the smaller upper falls as well as a commanding view of the craggy alpine scenery of the surrounding cirque