Thirty summers in the forest

Ken and Karen Gisleson have been on-and-off campground hosts for the past 30 years throughout the Medicine Bow National Forest―and they wouldn’t change it for the world.

They are both from Washington, Ill., a medium-sized suburban town in central Illinois and worked in the education sector for most of their lives. They had every summer off, so they decided to spend it the best way they knew how―in the mountains.

They started off in 1963, casually camping for summers in places such as Colorado and New Mexico. This type of camping they did for a decade. With only a tent and a few kids, they expl...