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. 

RMNP--Day One

Rocky Mountain National Park

• Day 1--Arrive at Denver at 10:20 am. Rent car, drive to Estes Park.
• Day 2--Split day between time in park and time in town.
• Day 3--Same.
• Day 4--Leave Estes Park and head to Denver; rent car and stay at hotel near airport. 
• Day 5--leave at 5 am from Denver. 

Day 1

At some point on the plane, it occurred to me that I have never individually rented a car before. By the time I was old enough to rent a car, I had been with JK for years, and I typically handled flights and he handled car rental. It turned out to be a breeze--I showed up on the shuttle from the Denver airport, my name was on the board, they told me to grab any car I wanted, and so I did. I joked with my mom that it felt like I had just stolen a car, but I guess that's how rental agencies do it these days. 

I enjoy that drive from Denver to Estes Park. It's so flat on one side, and then abruptly skyrockets on the other. For awhile, you're just racing along the side of the mountains and then slowly, you're turning yourself into them. Their fingers and then their arms wrap around you and pull you in, and you're surrounded by stone, reaching above you. You lose cell service. You lose time. Your ears pop. And then Estes Park bursts out from around the bend, laid out in front of you, with mountains towering over it. 

We stopped in town first--parked the car, walked around the streets, and got some lunch. Dinner? Brunch? Who knows, it was all very confusing at that point about what time it was, between the time zone change and the actual daylight savings time change. Warmed up, and with full bellies, we went over to YMCA of Rockies, where I've been wanting to stay for about two years now.

It did not disappoint.

The check in lodge had roaring fireplaces, and check in was a breeze. Our cabin was close and on the main campus, so it was very easy to locate and a great location for what we were doing. It was a two bedroom, sleeps 5 cabin--a queen bed and a room with a twin and two bunkbeds. It would be great for our family to stay in. A decent sized living room with a couch and coffee table, kitchen table, and small but perfectly adequate kitchen was all we needed. No TVs, though, but that was a welcome relief. The huge porch wrapped around half the cabin, and right out the front door was Longs Peak. It was too cloudy the first day to see it, though, so that was a nice sunrise surprise later on.

We drove into the park, stopping at some pullouts for the views. 

I took Mom over to the Alluvial Fan, figuring it's always a fan (see what I did there?) favorite, and also a very gentle elevation change walk. It was indeed a hit, with Mom taking so many pictures of it all that she filled up her ipad. 

The sun had sunk behind the mountains, so we bundled back into the car and drove out through the Fall River exit. On the way out, we spotted a herd of elk by Sheep Lakes, so we parked and watched them for a bit.

Circling through town, we grabbed some light groceries and went back to the YMCA. We had hot chocolate, summer sausage, cheese, and pretzels for dinner, and promptly went to bed. 

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. 

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.