RMNP--Day 2

This was a glorious, glorious day.

Because of the various time changes and time zones, we were awake at 4:30 am--and when you're awake that early, why on earth WOULDN'T you go watch the sunrise?

My original hope had been a sunrise hike to Sprague Lake--but I was pretty sure my mom couldn't handle that, and it was honestly so dang cold that I was not sure how pleasant it would be. This ended up being the coldest day of our trip. So, we drove into the park while it was dark, slowly winding our way up the roads. They started off clear but as the elevation crept up, they acquired more snow and ice. I felt fine and comfortable, but my mom was really freaked out by the roads, which was endless amusing to me--we are both originally from Buffalo! Come on, now!

At some point, heading up to Bear Lake, the sun hit the top of Hallett Peak and its surrounding peaks. We pulled off to the side and just watched the sun travel down, lighting up everything in orange and pink. The wind was whipping the snow over the mountains in such a way as to make it look like someone was pulling a translucent sheet over them, all rosy with the sun's glow.

We made it to Bear Lake, and the parking lot was basically empty--and icy. We scooted over to the Bear Lake trail head, poles at the ready, and made our way around the lake. It's a short, flat hike, but oh damn was it COLD. the wind would whip across the ice and throw its daggers into your face. The beauty was unreal though--in many spots, we were the first people to cut a trail through the snow. The sun was just now starting to hit the lake and dance through the trees, and it was silent and lovely and empty. 

We scurried back to the car to warm up and eat a bagel, and drink some hot tea from a thermos I packed. This time, we strapped on microspikes, and headed out on to the Alberta Falls Trail. It was packed with snow and we were clearly the first people of the day on it. We traveled down the trail for about a mile, before my mom decided that she wanted to head back. So, we didn't get to see the falls, but we did have a nice two mile hike there. It was a really beautiful trail, packed with snow and silent, with pines towering overhead and glimpses of the glacier canyon beyond. Throughout this trip, I really encouraged her to just say when she was ready to head back--I didn't want to get in over her head and her abilities. So back we went to the car to warm up, and to head to Sprague Lake. 

Sprague Lake was so beautiful and possibly the coldest place of it all. It's so open and lovely, but that wind whips off the mountain with nothing to block it and just slams into you. The lake was frozen over, and in some spots, probably frozen enough to walk on, though we wisely decided not to test it yet. Around we went, marveling at the gorgeous views and how rapidly winter was closing in on the mountains. 

After a quick drive around Moraine Park--just so that I could show my mom where we were going to hike tomorrow--we headed back to our cabin for soup. We ate some food and slurped some soup and hot chocolate, warming up and relaxing. 

Because we are gluttons for cold punishment, we drove over to Lilly Lake. The flat path around the lake seemed ideal for Mom, plus it's got some great mountain views of Twin Sisters. So around we trundled, all bundled up, stopping for pictures and to throw ice onto the iced over lake and to sit on the benches and admire the view. I took far too many pictures of Twin Sisters and promised them I'd be back to see them specifically.

We headed back into town to pop in a few shops and browse. Mom found a taffy shop and bought salt water taffy--then we ordered barbeque from a restaurant and grabbed it as take out. We brought our glorious BBQ back to the cabin and ate like we were feral wolves, and watched The Bodyguard.

At some point, we realized how dark it was, and decided to drive to the end of the road and look at the stars. It's so incredibly dark that you can see the spiral arm of the Milky Way with your eyes.

I think we slept like rocks, exhausted from all the walking and hiking. 

Catch Up Preview

I have so much to say and catch up on that it's almost overwhelming! Here's a preview, mostly in pictures. 

We hiked all over Acadia National Park and thoroughly enjoyed it. 

Shortly after I returned from Acadia, my mom and I went to Rocky Mountain National Park. Magical doesn't quite cover it. 

Travel Planning: Acadia National Park

Plans are coming together for our October trip to Acadia National Park!

Traveling: We had originally planned to fly and rent a car, but ultimately decided that a road trip was the way to go. So the K Caravan will be heading across several states in our van, stuff and all! Our kids are good road trippers, we like being able to carry some of our stuff and gear we couldn't be able to bring easily on a plane, and lord, airports are SUCH a hassle with kids and stuff.

We plan to leave on a Friday and make it to Buffalo, where we can hang with my parents. The next day, we either leave super early in the morning and make it all the way to Acadia, or we decide to make a real road trip out of it and pick a random location before or around Boston to stop. Buffalo to Acadia is anywhere from 10-12 hours from my parents' house. Stopping just prior to Boston is one option, and hanging with JK's sister for the night; the other is a more winding route into some of the small towns in VT or NH. 

We are traveling with friends who will join our caravan in Buffalo. Their child lives out in Maine, so they are combining this with a visit to her.

Stay: We've got a place rented with a local company. We've got a whole house to ourselves, shortly after you get onto Mount Desert Island. I'm excited about this place, because it's got water views. We figured this was a good base for exploring all of MDI, while also giving us easy access to get off MDI and maybe check out parts of the park that are located elsewhere.

Hikes: I mean, as per usual, we have a whole list that we will adapt, depending on weather, kid participation, etc. EK has agreed to get up before sunrise and hike up Cadillac Mountain with me to see sunrise at the top--we shall see if she will do it. It might be JK and I, and our kids may hang with our friends. 

Other stuff: We've got plans for kayaks, renting bikes, a boat ride, time in Bar Harbor, seeing the lighthouse and other landmarks, and more. All weather depending, obviously. We also know that there's the chance to do some tidepooling and other things that will be wildly new experiences for us. 

Travel Planning: Rocky Mountain National Park

What's that, you say? You just posted a plan for this. For a snowy, winter visit, right? And also aren't you going to Acadia, like SOON and maybe you should plan that?

Yep! And those are still the plans!

My parents were here for a short visit, and my mom was talking about how she always wanted to go to Yosemite. After they left, I thought to myself, well, self, let's just take her there! So I told her, and planning commenced. She's had surgery recently, so she decided she was not up to Yosemite, her dream trip, and wanted to wait until she had recovered more. I suggested five other national parks I knew she had not been to, and she picked Rocky Mountain NP. 

I actually tried to talk her out of it, based on my own experience. But then, I did a search for easy hikes and easy walks, and looked at everything there was to do in town, and though, nah, this is PERFECT. I think she was nervous that I would want to do some big hikes, but there are lots of easy, gentle hikes I've never done because I thought they were too crowded. However, we're going in November, so crowds will be significantly less.

Stay: YMCA of the Rockies.

Hikes: (1) South Moraine Lateral Trail; (2) Sprague Lake (if she's up for it, from East Portal; if not, just around the lake and maybe down the trail a bit); (3) Bear Lake; (4) Dream Lake; (5) Nymph Lake; (6) Lily Lake; (7) Beaver Meadow; (8) Beaver Ponds; (9) Alluvial Fan; and (10) Hidden Valley. Look at those great, easy options! If she's feeling it, we could do harder hikes and just go real slow.

Other stuff: (1) Browsing Estes Park; (2) The Estes Park observatory; (3) activities at the YMCA of the Rockies. 

Day 1--Fly into Denver. We meet at the Denver airport, grab, the car, and head to Estes Park. We'll get there well before we can check in, so I'm thinking lunch in town and driving around RMNP. I'm going to pick a good spot for sunset, and we can watch the sunset.

Days 2 and 3--We are going to decide on the day or night before what we are doing. There will definitely be a sunrise viewing in the park, and hopefully a sunrise hike; driving around the park and small walks and hikes; more sunsets; shopping; dinner in town; and fingers crossed, a night at the observatory. 

Day 4 is going to be a morning in Estes Park and then either driving straight back to Denver or maybe driving around to Grand Lake, then Denver.

Day 5 is leaving at FIVE AM ugh. 

I can't wait! 

Indiana Dunes State and National Parks Picture Post

Our trip to Indiana Dunes was both delightful and frustrating--we were foiled by the weather, but we can't wait to go back.

It rained and sleeted the entire time we were there. It was always meant to be just a short trip--there in the early afternoon, hike, stay the night, get up and hike again, then head home. We saw the bad weather forecast, but at that point, we were stuck with the dates we had picked, and decided to just go and have as much fun as we could. 

We did indeed have fun--but it was wet, cold fun, and shorter than we would have liked. We heavily leaned on the visitors center, which was excellent. The informational videos were wonderful, the kids were engaged, and the ranger was just delighted that we were full of questions. 

We did short burst hikes around the dunes in both parks before we got totally soaked and frozen (this was back in March!) and had to call it. 

Picture Post: Canyonlands

If I had to pick one park from our Arches and Canyonlands trip, I would pick Canyonlands. The pictures at Arches were easy to take; the park speaks for itself. It's so hard to capture the vast beauty of Canyonlands on camera. It was stunning, and my tiny taste was not enough. I want more. 

You see this sign and then you keep driving and driving and driving...

Part of Shafer Trail--where you can drive your Jeep down that scary ass road. Yes, please, and thank you, I'll be doing that next time. 

Shafer Trail

Shafer Trail, look, it was just very cool, alright?

Most of my pictures are from the Grand View Point Trail. It was an easy hike, which we definitely needed at that point in our day.

In recent years, I've developed a bit of vertigo when getting close to cliff edges. I'm not afraid, but I do get dizzy. Rather than letting this hold me back, I've taken to getting on my butt to get out to the edge.

It's just canyons, as far as your eyes can see. It's amazing.

I loved this view so much, I did it twice with two different camera lenses.

Same spot on Grand View Point Trail, different camera lens.

This doesn't even really capture the gorgeous color of it all.

And it is SUCH a drop, just RIGHT THERE.

My sister is terrified of heights but I convinced her this would be an amazing picture and she would thank me later. I think she was swearing at me during this picture.

We stopped other places but I honestly don't know what I did with my pictures? I think I may not have offloaded them from my camera. Here, have another picture from Grand View Point Trail.