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. 

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! 

Ladders, Bridges, and Ravines: Turkey Run and Shades State Parks

I cannot even begin to describe how much I loved these hikes. Right here in Indiana, which you think of as flat and corn fields as far as the eye can see, you've got these two gems. 

We hiked an absurd amount, and I can't believe the kids and Hank held up for it. It's an hour drive from our house, so we geared up, and hit Turkey Run first. 

We started with trails 6, 7, and 11 as a warm-up hike. The kids were super excited when they realized we would be hiking through a ravine and a mostly dried up creek, jumping back and forth over the water. They also very much enjoyed the stairs and the little lookout spot. 

We then combined trails 1, 3, 5, and 10 to create a very wobbly loop around--and we even split up at some points because...

Ladders! Yes! We had to climb ladders! I! Love! This! Hike! What's not to love? Hiking through ravines, along creeks, through creeks, up ladders, past waterfalls, over a freaking suspension bridge... It was The Best. 

Alas, Hank could not hike up a ladder, so we took turns finding an alternate route with Hank, while the other person climbed with the kids. 

After that, which was a solid 5 miles at that point, we headed out to go home except WHOOPS maybe not, we decided to really quick go over to Shades State Park, which is only 15 minutes from Turkey Run. Because we are bananas, we then went on ANOTHER hike of trails 1 and 4, adding on 2 miles. 

JD passed out in the car on the ride back, and I am pretty sure EJ did too. Hank had only been with us for a week at that point, but he seemed thrilled with the entire thing.

Honestly, some of my favorite hiking. It was just wonderful. It was very easy to choose your own adventure--you could keep it easy, or you could make a really hard hike out of it. It's pretty critical here to have good hiking boots or shoes, because you're often doing some light rock scrambling, and the rocks can be slick. I saw more than one person wearing flip flops with blood running down their leg from a fall. 

Some of this was on the edge of JD's abilities--not because he couldn't do it, because he's a climber and loves danger, but because I needed him to listen and do as I said, when I said it. That's a harder skill for him, and he has not yet learned to assess the best path to take, so there were points where I needed to be behind him for safety (the ladders) but I knew when we got up the ladders, it was slick and he needed to choose carefully where to step. Luckily, EJ is quite excellent at finding the best path to take, so she went ahead and assessed things for us while we brought up the rear. 

Anyway, the kids loved it and were already asking to go back.

Travel Planning: Return to Rocky Mountain

Fingers crossed, universe willing, I will be back in the home of my soul, Rocky Mountain National Park, this fall or winter--other events depending. Even better (in some ways, though not all), this will be an ADULTS ONLY trip. That means the only limits we have are our own! We've got some tentative plans outlined, so here they are.

Stay--Part of the reason we are heading out there is because JK will be doing a guest lecture at a university in Colorado. So, part of our stay will be at least a night near the campus. After that, we will head to RMNP. The FUN (for me) part of the plan is to stay at YMCA of the Rockies. It's our favorite area of town to stay in, and I've seen the campus but not stayed there yet. I'm so excited to try it out. 

Hikes--any and all of these always depend on trail closures, road closures, weather, etc. Some are new hikes; some are favorites revisited. Although I really wanted to dig into the Grand Lake side of things, as far as trails went, many of the trails are still closed in order to let the ecosystems recover from the fires. It's going to depend on when we actually go--if it's dead of winter, some of these are going to be terrible ideas or even inaccessible. If it's fall, we can totally do it.

1. Moraine Park Loop--a starting hike, since its got very little elevation change. It'll be a nice starting hike. Technically an out and back trail, you can do it as a loop if you use the road. It's around 5 miles, and has only about 200 feet of elevation change. We can access this from YMCA of the Rockies--no car needed.
2. Sprague Lake from YMCA of the Rockies campus--again, fairly easy on the elevation gain, with only 600 ft of elevation gain. I can and do hike that in Indiana, and I've already hiked the hardest part of this trail.
3. Lake Haiyaha--this is a nice moderate option. 800 ft of elevation gain to see a real stunner of a lake. 
4. Lilly Mountain (This is in Theodore Roosevelt National Forest!)--I feel confident we could do this hike, and that it wouldn't be a stretch.  1200 feet of elevation gain and a peak elevation of 9800 ft. 
5. Twin Sisters Peak--if I am going to make a go of it on a hard stretch hike, it's this one. I really want to do it. 2500 ft. elevation gain, 7.5 miles. I would feel really confident doing it if I had more time to adjust to altitude, but since I know I won't, I want to try this, and be prepared to turn back if needed. It would be my first summit over 11,000 ft (though I know I can be as high as 12,000 without altitude sickness, given my recent tests of it)
6. Gianttrack Mountain (with possible stopping points at the earlier summits)--this one is maygbe a more moderate stretch, for distance and elevation gain (2800ft gain), though it tops out around 9500 ft for a peak elevation. That might make it easier than Twin Sisters.
7. Estes Cone--if I don't think I can do Twin Sisters, then this is my next choice. 2500 ft elevation gain and about 7 miles--I've done part of this trail before, so I feel like I might have a better shot at it. It's also just over 11,000 feet.
8. Sky Pond--this is a bucket list hike for me. 9 miles and 1700 ft of elevation gain, with a peak elevation of almost 11,000 ft. This would be an all day hike for us, starting early. 
9. Shelf Lake and Solitude Lake--my other bucket list lake hikes. 9 miles and 2200 ft of elevation gain, with a peak elevation of 11,500. This might be out of range for us on this trip.
10. A third lake bucket list hike is Chasm Lake, 9 miles, and 2500 ft of elevation gain. 
11. Ute trail--I want to hike at least part of this. I think it would be ideal for the point to point hike we want to do. 
12. Old Fall River Road--who wouldn't want to hike this when its closed to car traffic?!?

Some of these are absolutely hard hikes (for us flatlanders), so we would have to make a whole day of it, while also being aware that being above the treeline in the afternoon is generally a bad call. I also, as always, have to play my tendency towards altitude sickness by ear, and perhaps have to grudgingly acknowledge the fact that because this is a shorter trip, I won't have the amount of time I prefer to acclimate. We are also considering each parent having a day to themselves to go on a guided hike that's way more difficult, and the other parent stays with kiddos. 

We are hoping to maybe manage some big hikes by making them point to point instead of out and back, and seeing if we can utilize a local transport service for a pickup or a drop off. 

Other "to do" items are dependent on time of year. Maybe a fall or winter market; maybe a ranger program; maybe a climbing lesson. 

Lawrence Creek Trail - Fort Harrison State Park

We did one of our (the adults) favorite trails in Fort Harrison--Lawrence Creek. It's a mixed use trail, for hikers and mountain bikers. Part of why it's such a great trail is because of the mountain bikers--all the obstacles they set or leave for them also make great things for the kids to do too. Rocks, downed trees turned into wide balance beams or jumps, log mountains, curves, and more--it's a fun one to do. 

Here's Lawrence Creek Trail on All Trails. 

It's 4.5 miles, but we tacked on just a bit more to make it an even 5 miles. This was the longest single trail hike the kids have been on, so I was thrilled with their accomplishment. We've stacked hikes before--3 miles with 4 miles, etc.--but that usually involves a sitdown break and change of scenery. This was just, get on the trial and go, don't stop style, and they aced it. 

5 miles of hiking = 1 tired puppy. Hank did great on this hike, though he's got some leash learning to do.