A year ago, we had used the "Every Kid In a Park" Pass that gave us free entry to most national parks. This year, it behooved us to purchase a similar "America the Beautiful" pass for $80. This would help us save money in the long run as we would be visiting multiple national parks and monuments. To be even more cheap, we planned on not dining out for most of our meals. Last year, we were not impressed by the overpriced Xanterra-run restaurants within the national parks. But they are basically the only dining options when staying in the national park lodges. Furthermore, we also wanted to avoid as many fast-food places as possible. Unfortunately, when on the road, healthier sit-down restaurants take too long. Therefore, we planned on cooking most of our meals in our condos or hotel rooms. I planned on prepping alot of the food prior to the trip and keeping it frozen in our hotel fridges and a cooler in the car. In order to do all this, I packed along our Instant Pot as it is the perfect cooking apparatus to cook meals in limited time.
The first national park that we would be visiting was the Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) that was over 1,100 miles away. We set off early in the morning and drove for over twelve hours. During most of the journey, we listened to a podcast that The Wife had downloaded called The Walk. It is a thriller narrated with the listener as the hero of the story. It was okay--much better than all of her crappy beauty and cosmetic podcasts. I had planned ahead and downloaded several audiobooks and podcasts onto my iPhone. But I was going to wait a little later in the trip to play my stuff. We would have many, many hours of driving left on this vacation.
We stopped for the night at the Hampton Inn in Colby, Kansas. It was officially the middle of nowhere. For dinner, we ate ceviche that I had made at home and kept marinating in our cooler the entire day. It's a wonder that none of us got food poisoning.
*****
Saturday, July 21, 2018
*****
The next morning, we got up early and continued westward until we reached Estes Park, Colorado. This town at the foot of the Rocky Mountains is a popular launching spot for visitors to the national park. With all the visitors to the park, this small town has some big city traffic problems.
We stopped at Boss Burgers and Gyros for lunch. Their buffalo and elk burgers were good, but their fried zucchini, mushrooms, and pickles were addictive.
Since it was early in the afternoon, we headed to the nearby entrance to the RMNP. There are multiple hiking trails in the park. Just like the previous year, the REI National Parks App was invaluable before and during our hike. We parked near the Bear Lake trailhead and grabbed our hydration packs to do one of the most popular hikes.
At the start of the more popular hikes are ranger stations. This one had decent bathrooms and a water spigot to fill up water bottles and hydration packs. There was also a small display of animal horns that have been found in the park.
The trail forked almost immediately with one path going towards Bear Lake and the others going to farther lochs. We started with the latter. Not even a half of a mile in did we start hearing whining from The Girl that her feet hurt or her pack was uncomfortable.
The first landmark that we reached was Nymph Lake. It was merely a small pond albeit with some pretty lily pads. We didn't linger very long as we expected better sights ahead.
We continued our ascent, stopping for the occasional break and to take in the beautiful panoramic views around us. After awhile, The Girl rediscovered muscles that she hadn't used in the last year. The constant complaining turned into smiles. Soon, she and The Boy zoomed ahead of The Wife and I in a race to the next stop.
Eventually we reached Tyndall Creek and the path forked again. Some folks headed down the left-sided path presumably to do some trout fishing in the creek. We continues onward to the next lake.
After a mile of hiking, we reached Dream Lake. It was a gorgeous site with the relatively clear lake and the mountains in the backdrop. We could see some small trout swimming around. Several hikers also jumped into the lake, some wearing swimsuits, others in their hiking apparel. We weren't too hot, but taking a plunge in that lake looked very tempting. After a good, long pause, we continued on to our final destination of this hike.
After another half a mile up a steeper slope, we reached Emerald Lake which is at an altitude of 10,110 feet at around the tree line. The reflection of the mountain off the lake made for a picturesque scene. We took a 30 minute break here, relaxing on the rocks and admiring the view.
After we were fully rested, we made our way back to the Bear Lake trailhead. Overall, the hike was pretty easy at a little over three miles with a net altitude change of about 650 feet. On the way out, we did stop by Bear Lake. It is pretty large but it doesn't have the nice mountain scenery that we experienced with the higher lakes. There is a relatively flat trail that goes all the way around the lake, but we didn't see a point in walking it.
After we left the park, we proceeded to the Beaver Brook On the River where we had reservations for the next few nights. When we were planning our trip, I really wanted to stay at the historic Stanley Hotel. Many people are drawn to this 110 year-old lodging because of the claim that it is haunted. In fact, Stephen King stayed there for a night in 1973, and the supernatural presence inspired him to write "The Shining." The Wife has always been freaked out by the movie, so she refused to stay at the Stanley Hotel. A ghost ain't gonna scratch my back when it itches, so Beaver Brook On the River it is.
Our two story condo was spacious enough for a family of four. There was a full kitchen, washer and dryer, and two bedrooms and bathrooms. It would have been almost perfect except for the fact that it was sweltering inside. The unit did not have air-conditioning presumably because the weather never gets too hot in the Rockies. Unfortunately, inside air does not equal outside air. Even with the windows open, the stagnant air caused the top floor of the condo to be an oven. Ceiling fans would have helped, but those were not installed. We were forced to spend most of our time in the bedrooms on the bottom floor. Unfortunately, the WiFi signal in that area was terrible.
For dinner, we had pork carnitas tacos courtesy of the Instant Pot. It was also a good way to make use of the Taco Bell hot sauce packs that I have been hoarding over the last two years. That night, I felt slightly nauseous and had a splitting headache. Although Estes Park sits at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, it is still about 7,500 feet in elevation. As it has happened in the past, my body has a difficult time acclimating to any sort of altitude.
*****
Sunday, July 22, 2018
*****
I felt much better after a good, long sleep. After breakfast at our condo, we returned to RMNP to do more hiking. Instead of driving around looking for an open spot close to the trails, we dropped our car at the large parking area and took the shuttle bus down to the Glacier Gorge Trailhead. It was slightly cold when we started our trek, being that it was still relatively early in the morning. We warmed up quickly after hiking for a couple of minutes. At this point, the traffic was still pretty busy on this trail. Several early birds were even making their way back to the trailhead.
The first point of interest that we encountered was almost at the 1 mile mark. Alberta Falls is a quaint little waterfall that is part of Glacier Creek. It was named by Abner Sprague, an early explorer and settler in the area, after his wife of the same name. Many tourists make the easy trek here and turn back around. We continued along the path which became less crowded.
At times, Glacier Creek doesn't seem to be much of a stream. However, it's been significant enough to help cut a path through the mountains. The path continued along the high ledge with the creek below us.
After awhile, the combination of the steep climb, the hot sun, and the high altitude began to wear on us. Particularly demoralizing were the switchbacks. We would keep climbing but never seem to make any progress. However, it was all worth it as we finally reached The Loch after 2.75 miles of hiking. While not close to being huge, The Loch was significantly larger than Dream and Emerald Lakes from the previous day. Many families and couples had struck up hammocks and picnicked along the banks. We took a good break, ate our lunch, and enjoyed the area.
Eventually, we pressed on leaving The Loch behind. The path followed closely the Icy Brook which would lead us to Timberline Falls. After walking a little more than half a mile, it was apparent that we were all getting tired and hot. The Kids no longer had a bounce in their step. And frankly, the altitude was wearing me down again. Our plan had been to climb the cliff alongside Timberline Falls to reach our destinations The Lake of Glass and Sky Pond. However, we pow-wowed as a family and all agreed that there was no reason to kill ourselves just to see another alpine lake.
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| From a distance, we knew that we were just too tired to climb Timberline Falls |
Not surprisingly, the walk back down was much easier and faster. Along the way, we encountered some of the local residents who didn't seem fearful of us humans. We also passed several groups who were lugging up huge bouldering mats to do some climbing.
With a mile left before we got to the trailhead, The Boy and I both ran out of water. We both carried two liters of water in our hydration packs when we started. I underestimated how hot and sunny it would be compared to the day before. The Boy had been doing the sensible thing and drank incessantly during our hike (which also made him pee every 20 minutes). In retrospect, it had been a good decision not to press on and climb Timberline Falls. However, it was also a stupid decision not to fill up our hydration bladders to the maximum three liters when we started.
We decided to take the fork in the path that split off the Bear Lake trailhead that we had visited yesterday. We anticipated being thirsty from the incessant heat of the sun and the ranger station had water faucets to quench our thirst. It became a moot point, as we were suddenly drenched by a pretty heavy afternoon downpour. Luckily we all carried our raincoats so we were fine.
We took the shuttle bus back to our car and exited the park. We decided to drive to downtown Estes Park and see what this little town had to offer. The main area was just a bunch of shops that lined the main street. There were a plethora of outdoor recreation shops and the typical touristy T-shirt and knick-knack stores. We enjoyed some heaping scoops of ice cream from one of the many parlors in the area. Overall, the town was quaint and charming but not very useful for shopping. We did stop by the grocery store to restock on some of our groceries.
Later that night, we had shrimp pasta and sat outside on our condo balcony enjoying the cool night sky. The Rockies are amazing in the summertime.
*****
Monday, July 23, 2018
*****
After a hearty breakfast, we loaded all of our luggage into our car and checked out of our condo. We made the short drive back into RMNP. However, today, we wouldn't be doing any more hiking. We planned on driving navigating the Trail Ridge Road that bisects RMNP.
We made a small detour to the Sheep Lake Information Station. In the mornings, bighorn sheep can often be seen coming down from the mountain to drink at the nearby pond.
With a small crowd of other animal enthusiasts, we craned our heads up at the steep hills scanning for sheep. After 15 minutes of nothing, we were about to leave. Behind us, coming from the flat fields was not a bighorn sheep, but a moose a hundred yards away.
He trotting over to the drinking pond while thirty sets of eyes were locked onto him. The crowd shifted for a better viewing angle once he made it to the pond which was not visible from the station. A nearby ranger made sure that no overly excited kid got too close to this wild animal.
After several minutes of drinking, the moose had it's fill and trotted off in the direction from which it came from.
We hopped back in the car, and set off for the 48 mile drive on the Trail Ridge Road. The progress was pretty slow as the road predominately has only two lane. We always seemed to be stuck behind someone driving 10 miles under the speed limit. However, we weren't sweating it too much as we were busy taking in all of the scenery.
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| On the Trail Ridge Road, we were literally driving in the clouds. |
We made a couple of stops at some of the scenic overlooks. There are not many animals that live at this high an altitude. We did spot one such creature--the marmot. This little squirrel-like creature hibernates in their burrows during the winter and emerges in the summer time.
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| At this altitude, there were still pockets of ice and snow in the middle of the summer. |
After leaving the visitor center, we continued westward along the Trail Ridge Road. As we dropped in elevation, it began looking more and more like a normal summer environment.
After about two hours of driving, we reached the end of the park which culminated in the town of Grand Lake. From there we drove Northwest along some sparsely-populated highways until we crossed into Wyoming. We continued on until we reached the "big" town of Rock Springs. It was large enough to support a Starbucks, so The Wife was able to get her souvenir state mug there. Several hours later we arrived at the Jackson Hole area where we would be staying for the next few nights to visit the Grand Tetons and Snake River.
For dinner, we drove to the nearby town of Wilson to eat dinner at the Streetfood @ the Stagecoach restaurant. This is a non-fussy eatery where friends and family can chill out and eat really good food. We placed our orders and found a picnic table outside as the weather was perfect. Patrons were sprawled out on the grass, many enjoying glasses of beer. Several cyclists, still donning their helmets were also enjoying a snack while taking a break from their rides.
We enjoyed their take on Korean and Mexican comfort food. The Korean chicken wings and the chipotle cream shrimp quesadilla were surprisingly pretty spicy. The streetcorn fritters, bibimbap, Philly cheesteak, and lamb burgers were also good. The only food that was just okay were the truffle fries. I took several photos of the food on my iPhone--probably the best pictures I have ever snapped. However, it's hard to post them when they are underwater.
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