Rocky Mountain High
Forgive the lack of effort on the title.
If you’re just here for the pictures (links to Flickr albums)
5.24.21 Kansas-Colorado
5.25.21 Red Rocks
5.25.21 Georgetown CO
5.25.21 Peaks to Peaks
YMCA of the Rockies
5.26.21 RMNP Estes Park
5.27.21 RMNP Estes Park
5.28.21 Estes Park
5.28.21 Pikes Peak Garden of the Gods
(I did not take all of these, this is a collection from all of us)
My oldest niece Brynleigh graduated from high school a few weeks ago, back in January when preparing to take the trek to Oklahoma, I had the bright idea to see if some of the family wanted to head over to Colorado the day after her graduation party.
It was probably a bit short sided on my part as my sister’s family had a lot going on with the last week of school, the graduation, and party for Brynleigh. However, anytime I take a trip anywhere my brain starts spinning trying to figure out the feasibility of bundling the travel. Our plans changed a little from the original plan, my dad and his wife Joan were planning on going but backed our due to Joan’s sister in-law having a rough time with Covid. They decided they did not want to be away from home longer than a few days. We missed them on our trip but respect their decision. I guess I did a decent sales job for the trip, because on Monday morning, May 24th, we rolled out and headed for Colorado.
We stopped in Salina, Kansas for lunch at a place called Spangles. You must respect a place that makes Elvis part of their décor. I was sold. The food was decent too.
We arrived in Burlington, Colorado before 5PM (Mountain time), the time zone changes just before you get to the Kansas/Colorado line if you were wondering.
I only stay at high-class establishments, so the Chapparal Inn was the choice, and it cost $60 a night. The owner Danny Patel is friendly, and his establishment is clean, and they are working on upgrading the property. We did get a kick out of the instructions for getting on the internet.
Tuesday, May 25, 2021
Burlington-Red Rocks-Georgetown-Estes Park
We left Burlington a little before 7 AM and kept heading west to Denver, for a quick stop by Red Rocks Amphitheatre. I am kind of a geek for the place, this was my third time to visit (once before to check it out, and in June 2018 with Gaylyna to see the Avett Brothers). I do not think the kids were as impressed as me, but I love the place.
Then we headed for Georgetown, CO, where he had tickets for the 2:25PM train ride on the Georgetown Loop Railroad. Before the train ride, we lunch at The Happy Cooker, and then walked across the street to the Georgetown Valley Candy Company for ice cream.
The gentlemen working the store were friendly, the ice cream was great, they told us to tell all our friends about them, so I have done my part. If you are not my friend and you are reading this, then, I have spread the word even further.
After exploring the main streets of the old mining town, we headed over to the Georgetown Loop Railroad. When I was planning the trip. I really had my dad in mind as I thought this would be something he would like. I think we all enjoyed it, the train ride itself is just an hour and fifteen minutes long. The track going up from the Devil’s Gate station to the Silver Plume station is only a few miles I believe. In the 1800’s it was used for mining, and tourists, and was considered an engineering marvel for the time given the mountainous terrain it covers. The highlight is going over the high truss bridge going out, and even higher one coming back. We enjoyed it and would recommend as something to do near Denver.
Now it was time for us to head to Estes Park where we would be staying for three nights. There is a quicker was to get to Estes Park, but we opted for the Peaks-to-Peaks Scenic Byway. It takes about two hours to go 80+ miles, through winding roads and a few little towns, but the views are worth it.
We made it to Estes Park about 6pm and went to eat at You Need Pie, we (Gaylyna’s family and I) ate there in June of 2018 during our one night stay in Estes Park (which was the inspiration for wanting to come back and spend more time). Even though they have a big variety of pies which are great, they also have a decent menu selection from breakfast to lunch and dinner. There is a grocery store right up the hill from the restaurant, before going to our lodging destination, Gaylyna got us stocked up for breakfast and lunch for the next few days.
Our home for three nights was a four-bedroom cabin at the YMCA of the Rockies. It is not your typical YMCA; this is a resort founded in 1907 with a wonderful view of the Rocky Mountains and Rocky Mountain National Park. Elk are in abundance on the property. As we were checking in, a whole herd was taking a rest on the fields near the registration building. We stayed in the Bald Eagle Cabin. The cabin is huge with two levels, lower level had a living room, bedroom, and bathroom. The top level has three bedrooms, living room, kitchen, and two bathrooms, with a huge wrap around porch. While we were able to get out and explore a lot, it was also nice just sitting at the cabin staring out at the mountains.
Wednesday, May 26, 2021
Rocky Mountain National Park-Estes Park
We were greeted by a bunch of mule deer outside the cabin, at one point a coyote came running by (I missed it, but Gaylyna and the kids saw it).
We went into the park a little before 9AM and the first stop was Hidden Valley. During the winter you can go sledding here, there used to be a ski resort. There was still some snow present, but not enough for sledding.
There were a few park rangers in the area and my nephew Caleb received a Junior Park Ranger badge. He (and us adults) took the Junior Park Ranger pledge. Basically, we are supposed to tell you to pick up your litter, leave only footprints, and take only pictures. I did not get a badge, so do not know if anyone would listen to me.
From there we went up as high as Trail Ridge Road was open which was Rainbow Curve about 11 miles inside the park. When open (it opened the morning, we left) you can take it all the way through out of the west side of the park, and back to Denver, we did this in June of 2018). They were still plowing out the snow at the top of the road. However, you could walk up 5 miles or so on Trail Ridge Road. Jonathan, Gaylyna, Addisyn, and Caleb walked a mile or so up the road. I walked about 100 feet past the gate, that high altitude was giving me some fits.
We had planned to have a picnic in the park but decided to go back to the cabin to eat lunch, it was windy. If the view from the cabin was not so great, we probably would have toughed it out for a picnic.
After an afternoon respite, we went into Estes Park to check out the downtown shops. This is the place to go for Colorado/Estes Park/Rocky Mountain NP themed t-shirts, hats, hoodies, stickers, etc. There are also plenty of places to buy ice cream, candy, caramel apples, caramel corn and about anything else you can think of sweets wise. However, if you come across a place that says they have fresh squeezed lemonade, take a hard pass! For $5 I received some water with lemon flavoring. The Country Time Lemonade mix tastes better!
For dinner we went to The Big Horn Restaurant. The reviews were good for the place. Our experience was somewhat mediocre, and I will just leave it at that.
Back to the cabin we went for the night.
Thursday, May 27, 2021
Rocky Mountain National -Estes Park
We were back in the park before 9AM, this time we opted to go out Bear Lake Road. We did not figure it out until we were out that way, but this is one of the most heavily trafficked areas of the park. Most of the trailhead parking lots were full, the Bear Lake parking lot was full, but we managed to get a decent parking spot. I brought a hiking pole, which seemed like overkill getting out of the car, but as we walked closer to the trailhead, we saw it was covered in snow and several people were stopping to put on spikes on their shoes. The trail to Bear Lake itself is only 256 feet or so, but there were plenty of opportunities to slip and fall on ice/snow. I managed to make it (up and back) without falling thanks to the assistance of my hiking pole. Bear lake was still partially frozen over, it was a beautiful site. People more equipped than us were hiking further up the trails, several people coming in and out wearing packs with camping supplies. We took our pictures of the lake and turned around. Jonathan and Caleb went up one of the trails about a mile while we waited outside the trailhead.
The next stop was the Sprague Lake area, the parking lot was crowded, but we found a spot and opted to go check out Glacier Creek instead of the lake. While there a couple of trail rides came through.
We stopped a few more times along Bear Lake Road, and then visited the Rocky Mountain Conservancy gift shop. One of the ladies there recommended with visit Sheep Lakes. She had seen several big horn sheep and a moose earlier in the week. We headed there next.
Along the way out Bear Lake Road, we saw several elk, at one point we thought we had spotted a moose, but the pictures did not prove us right.
There were no sheep at Sheep Lakes, but there was a lone coyote running across the meadow.
We headed back to the cabin for lunch.
After lunch Gaylyna, Jonathan, and Caleb decided to go to the Wild Basin Trailhead and hike to Ouzel Falls, it is a close to six-mile hike round trip. The nieces and I decided to relax at the cabin. They left about 2:30pm and were on the trail by 3:15. The original plan was for us to meet them in town for dinner, but they had no cell coverage where they were, so the nieces, and I went into town for dinner, texting them updates of where we were in case, they came back online. We finished dinner at 7:30 and still had not heard from them. I did not want to be a worry wart, but was a little concerned, so we drove out to the trailhead to make sure they did not have car trouble or something. It took about 40 minutes to get out to the trailhead and right when we pulled up, they were walking out. They were pretty worn out but had managed the hike just fine. Caleb had taken my hiking pole. I told him it was now his as he had earned it going on a six-mile hike with it. We arrived back at the cabin about 9pm.
Friday, May 28, 2021
Estes Park-Pikes Peak-Garden of the Gods-Burlington
Addisyn, Gaylyna, and I drove back into the RMNP about 6AM to see if there were any sheep at Sheep Lakes, there were not, but we did see several elk and deer.
We drove in a little further and turned off on Endovalley Road which takes you to the entrance of Old Fall River Road. It is still closed for the season. It usually opens mid-summer and if you have a high-profile vehicle can take it as a route up to meet with Trail Ridge Road at the top near the Alpine Visitor Center. During peak times, this area is crowded with people, but at 6:30AM we almost had the place to ourselves. This road also takes you through the Alluvial Fan area, Gaylyna got out and walked up near the cascading water coming down from Roaring River.
It was an impromptu trip into the park, but neat to be able to explore with no crowds. Then we returned to the cabin to pack up.
We had breakfast at You Need Pie, they might have the best biscuits and gravy I have ever had. The biscuits were so big that it may be the only time in my life I did not finish eating a biscuit. We reluctantly left Estes Park and headed south for Colorado Springs.
Getting through Boulder and Denver was not too bad traffic wise, but I-25 south of Denver to Colorado Springs was stop and go for most of the way. People familiar with Houston traffic would probably relate it to traffic on I-10 West.
Pikes Peak
Miles 16-19 of Pikes Peak are closed until mid-June, but we did go up to mile 16 where there was a big muddy parking lot, with lots of cars and people.
There was quite a lot of snow and if you were so inclined you could walk up higher on the mountain and play in the snow. We opted to get pictures and start the descent.
At mile 13 coming down they do stop vehicles and check to see if the brakes are too hot. We stopped and visited the gift shop before continuing back down the mountain. There was another gift shop at mile 6 we stopped at.
I had parked my car near the bottom, so we did not have to pay for two cars. After Pikes Peak we had lunch and then went to nearby Garden of the Gods.
Garden of the Gods
Garden of the Gods is free to visit, which means the best time to visit is probably not at 5PM on the Friday preceding a holiday weekend. There is a rather large overflow parking lot with plenty of parking, which also required a substantial hike to get to main features (big red rock structures), and if you were going to be spending the day there would well be worth it. We still had a few hours of driving to do, so were going for the fly by picture opportunities. Since we were traveling in two cars, it was hard to find two parking spaces together, so when I spotted one, I motioned for Jonathan and Gaylyna to park. They and the kids went and explored a little while I continued to drive around looking for a place to park. I ended up driving all through the park and did find a spot near balanced rock (quite a way away from where they had parked). I managed to get some pictures although one lady and her daughter monopolized balanced rock. Which means a lot of other visitors have the same girl in their pictures because she would not leave the rock.
I met back up with the family and we started our trek back east.
We arrived in Burlington, CO just before 8PM and Danny Patel was there to greet us at the Chapparal Inn.
We drove back to Gaylyna’s house in Skiatook, OK on Saturday, and I drove back to Texas on Sunday. The trip was great, and I hope the rest of the family enjoyed it like I did.
Returning from a trip always leaves me a bit melancholy for a few days, I may get tired of it at some point, but I really do think I could live out of a suitcase. Until I can figure out how to do that, I will be scheming the next trip for when time and money allows. Glacier National Park looks really nice…