Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Rocky Mountain National Park

So far over the last 3 weeks of travelling we have been really lucky. The weather has been awesome for us. It has rained a bit here and there but, for the most part, it has been perfect! Aka, we shouldn’t complain…




But it’s cold at night in the Rockies! And we woke up to a few intermittent showers… Booooooo.



Undaunted, or rather emboldened by our great luck so far, we packed up the RV, loaded up our hiking packs, and headed over to the hiking shuttle anyhow.



But today we were planning to hike a mountain!!



Flattop Mountain in Rocky Mountain National Park. 12,325 feet above sea level. 9 miles round trip. At least 20% to 30% grade the whole way. Half the hike above the tree line. Certainly no 13,000, or even 14,000 footer, but still, a pretty formidable mountain… So we figured we should talk to one of the volunteers about the weather.



According to the forecast, it isn’t supposed to rain until this evening, he says. But this is the Rockies… And he points out the small shower we are standing in.



This could be fun…



The lady at the trailhead was an even bigger help… Oh you’ll be fine, unless you are above the tree line and see a storm coming. Then you wanna get down fast. Don’t want to get struck by lightning…



No, we certainly do not…



At Bear Lake, Elevation 9,725 feet or so, we began our hike. Or, should I say, climb… I soon fell into a quick turnover walking rhythm which felt good. It also felt like we were walking ridiculously slow, but at least it was a pace that allowed us to hike a long ways without our legs immediately feeling tired... And we had all day to do it. So we stopped a bunch along the way to eat a snack or take in the views…







Along the way we would pass a few people and get passed by a few people. A couple ladies commented on the weather as we passed. (There hadn’t been a hint of rain since we started… Go figure) Another group was stopped at an overlook having lunch, which seemed pretty appetizing at the time.



As we reached the edge of the treeline, we came upon a couple who we’ll call Abigail & Jerome for the purpose of the story. Halfway through the hike, Jerome was hurting, taking a break on a rock, with Abigail a little bit farther up the trail, taking in the view. We said our standard hiker hellos and kept on going.



Farther up, we stopped for a few more views and lunch. We had to hike a little bit to find a spot on the mountain that wasn’t too windy. As soon as we were out of the cover of the trees, the winds gusts had gotten pretty heavy…





Towards the end of our lunch, Abigail and Jerome made their way past us. Another round of hellos. But we noticed that they stopped 100 yards or so further up to rest again.



We finished lunch and started on. And this last stretch turned out to be the most grueling of the hike. A steep grade, with cold wind blowing against us, the whole way up. One gentleman, on his way down, decided to be helpful and tell us that we were almost to the corner and then it was just a long straight to the top. Of course we later wanted to kill this man for making it seem like we were so much closer than we were…





Soon we passed Abigail and Jerome again. Laboring, but still making their way up the trail. Then a group of guys passed us on their way down, looking very pleased to be doing so. Then a group with one lady who decided to tell us that there were 40 mph winds at the top. Although she seemed kinda miffed when Megs only replied with a, thanks. I was only trying to warn you, she says. I guess Megs needs to work on her people skills?



Then, finally, we had reached the top, and found out why they call it Flattop Mountain…











And it was ridiculously windy. We battled the wind to get pictures, but then hunkered down behind some boulders to relax and I ate my second lunch. Megs attempted a little nap…





But there really wasn’t much protection to be had. So, having had our fill, we decided it was time to begin the long trek down. Except, we realized we hadn’t seen Abigail and Jerome yet… Got a little worried for them. We came over the crest of the summit and found them 100 yards or so down the slope. The weather ladies had already stopped to talk to them so we figured we’d do the same.



Abigail and Jerome were exhausted. Apparently this was their first day at elevation… So we commiserated with them, telling them about how our first day at the Great Sand Dunes had been rough on us as well. We assured them that they were indeed moments from the top and that it was definitely worth it. Said our goodbyes and continued down. Nice people. Glad they made it!



Of course, just as we left them and started down, we noticed a few snowflakes flurrying by in the wind… So we got to climb a mountain, and experience 4 seasons in one day! Bonus!







By the time we got back to Bear Lake, we were ready to be done with walking downhill. In some ways it’s tougher than going up… We were begging for some flat land, or even an uphill for that matter. But we made it and hopped on the shuttle. Back to the RV for a little relaxing.



Can’t stop, won’t stop! There was still another whole half of the park to check out! And, what was more, a long windy scenic road through the mountains to get there. Some amazing views of the mountains in the park. Made us feel good that we had just today hiked as high as a bunch of them. I was obviously concentrating on not driving us off the edge of the roads, but Megs was able to take a few pics…



Brakes smelling wonderful, sun setting, we pulled into the Big Timber Campground on the West side of the park. Although there wasn’t really any timber around to speak of… Unfortunately, this was the area hit the hardest by the beetle virus. But, a herd of caribou was ambling its way through the campground as we settled down at our site! We picked up some wood to have a fire, but by the time we had talked to significant others and the mother and had dinner, we agreed that we were exhausted and the fire could wait for some other time…



Plus the plan for the next day was another hike before heading out of the park towards Wyoming and South Dakota!

Monday, August 30, 2010

Rocky Mountain National Park

I don’t know how everyone else who is out of shape handles it… For me, being out of shape is just annoying. My heart and soul is still in “I can do anything” mode. Even if my brain knows the truth. But I can’t help it! I am used to being able to do whatever I want… I think back to high school and running 5 minute miles.




I remember how Mr. Rafferty used to make us do a mile during gym class. I’d run it in 6:30, just cause I could… Most of the class, obviously, was not so gung ho on sports. Many decided to be “rebels” and just walk it, finishing in 15 minutes or so.



So when Megs and I perused the possible trails to hike in Rocky Mountain National Park, this was the memory I fell back on… I neglected to remember that that mile had been on a flat track.



Megs and I slept in, got ourselves together, and left Greeley, CO for the RMNP. We arrived in the town of Estes Park, the gateway to the eastern half of the park, at about 12noon. We stopped there to get the gas and food we would need for the next couple days. But we also stopped there because Estes Park is home to the hotel where Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining” was filmed! And we found it, The Stanley, basically right in the middle of town. Not even close to the middle of nowhere way that it was portrayed in the movie…



But enough of civilization, bring me some mountains!



Rocky Mountain National Park is gorgeous. The Rockies are spectacular in their own right. Towering mountains with bald, rocky summits. A blanket of pine forests surrounding them, filled with deer, elk, caribou, and moose. Sadly, one type of pine has been decimated by a virus brought by a beetle that found its way over from China… The eastern half of the park is not hit as bad because it has a wide range of pine species. But the western half of the park was 90% covered by the doomed species… There is an expensive insecticide that they use in high traffic areas, but the only way to kill the beetles is either by fire or extreme cold. Obviously fire isn’t an option. And they just don’t get weeks of below zero temperatures anymore…



But the park itself is awesome. The trails are really well maintained. The campgrounds are $20 but are nice, even though most of their trees have died and been cut down… The roads, overlooks, and trailheads are great, however. And they even have a system of free shuttle buses that will take you from the campgrounds and park & rides, straight to the trailheads! No more hiking 2 or 3 miles before even starting the trail you had planned…



So we arrived at our campsite about 1pm. Had some lunch and decided our course of action for the next few days. Our plan was to hike that afternoon up as far as we could get towards a high mountain valley lake called Sky Pond. It was 4.5 miles up. 9 miles round trip. We’d be able to start hiking at about 2pm and would have to be back down to catch our bus by 7pm. Was that enough time? What was our pace going to be?



In the end we decided we’d just hike as far as we could until it was time for us to turn around. And so we began our first adventure! The first sight along the way was Alberta Falls…






Only about a mile in. Feeling good. Kept going. Started to see some awesome Rockies scenery…







At the 3 mile mark we reached a mountain lake called The Loch…







Pretty awesome already. Doing well on time. Keep going. More views…







See that waterfall there? At about 4 miles, the trail told us to basically climb straight up the side of it!! Grueling after coming so far already, but we made it to the top, and the Lake of Glass…







By now we’d come this far, we had to go on. We still hadn’t quite hit the two and a half hour mark. So a half mile further up to Sky Pond…









So cool. So high up! 11000 or so feet! Probably another 500 or so to the peaks above us. And those are indeed mini glaciers! Such an awesome introduction to the Rockies!!!



Then the long trek back down to the trailhead… After 9 miles of hiking, we arrived at the bus stop four and a half hours after starting. 30 minutes to spare! Not too bad. I guess I’m not in as bad of shape as I thought… But we were exhausted. And another big hiked loomed tomorrow. So we got back to the campsite, had dinner, and passed out.



Tomorrow we take on a mountain!

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Denver, CO

As most everyone is probably aware, I am not exactly what you would call a prototypical friend. I’d like to think that I perform admirably in most of the usual characteristics that are asked of friends. Save one… If you are someone who believes two people need to talk to each other regularly in order for there to be a legitimate friendship, then I am not the friend for you. Never have been. High School. College. DC.




Fortunately, I have surrounded myself with a large group of like-minded people. Or rather, friends who don’t mind too much if I make a disappearing act… In fact, many of my closest friends are folks who I may not connect with for months on end. If I am in DC or Maine for an extended period then, obviously, I spend the majority of social time with friends there. There will be a phone or internet conversation with people from time to time. But I am also, sadly, not the best on the phone… I am, however, great at traveling. So whenever I am planning to visit a place, I make it a point to get in touch with friends in the area to see if we can meet and reconnect.



One such friend is Susan. Susan and I became friends as Resident Advisors in adjacent Halls at Virginia Tech. I spent 3 years as an RA and enjoyed it, even if my philosophy and style for undertaking the position was often not the same as the administration… Susan, however, was what I would eventually come to dub, a “lifer”. After graduating she accepted a position to run one of the buildings for another year at VT. Then 2 years as in the graduate program at University of Denver and, finally, a full time post at UNC. Obviously not the tar heels, same initials though… It confused me too.



So when I knew that our trip was going to take us through the Denver area, who better to get in touch with than Suz! It worked out great because we really didn’t have anything specific we wanted to see in the city and Suz was really excited to be our gracious host and tour guide. Any time I either emailed or texted her, I got a reply or excited phone call almost immediately. Her car, however, was not excited about our arrival. It proceeded to begin having fits the same day we were due to arrive… But we have an RV so no worries!



After a night of catching up, we awoke early and headed into Denver! Suz showed us her old UD neighborhood before getting on the light rail towards downtown. Once there we took a great walking tour of the city which included an awesome old bookstore, lunch at Suz’s favorite spot, and both the City and State Capitol buildings…













We reached the mile high mark on the steps of the State Building…



Denver has a young and vibrant feel to it. Suz showed us her favorite museum buildings and outdoor art…













We continued our loop around the city and then jumped back on the light rail to head back to the RV. But the day wasn’t over! The one sight we really wanted to see was the Red Rocks park and amphitheater, just outside of Denver. There wasn’t a concert that night for us to see, but we still were able to walk around. Such a cool idea and design!









And we got to see some local wildlife too…



Suz also let us in on the secret. If you go to participating Colorado visitor centers and ask for it, they will give you a sweet Colorado trucker hat for free!! So of course we had to do it. When we went in to ask about them though, I panicked… It felt weird going into a visitor’s center and just asking for the free hat, so on the spur of the moment I asked the lady if she could also give us information on Rocky Mountain National Park, our next stop. Suz had already told us all about it and all the hikes that we should do… Oh well.



To get the free hat, you have to give them your email address and fill out a three question survey. I read the first question… “Was the free hat your reason for visiting today?” Ummm. I look at the nice lady and ask, “If I answer this question incorrectly, does that mean that I won’t get the hat??” She says no. So I proceed to answer, Yes. The next question… “Have you been to a Visitor Center before?” Yes. Last question… “After your visit today, will you be using other Visitor Centers in the future?” Yes. Although we stop at visitor centers all the time, so…



Awesome. The person who reads my survey will now know that I have been to Visitor Centers before and, therefore, will visit them again regardless. And the only reason I went to this specific one was because I heard I could get a free hat… Welp. There ya go.



Megs couldn’t believe I answered Yes to that question…



Hey, I cannot tell a lie… Sure I went all the way up there to see Red Rocks. But the only reason we stepped foot in the building was to get our sweet hats. It’s not my fault that their questions weren’t specific…



Good times. Back at Suz’s place. Another home cooked meal. Relaxing and watching the vastly underrated movie Stardust. Birthday cake ice cream. Showers in the morning…



Definitely a great way to get ready for two and a half days in the wild wilderness of Rocky Mountain National Park!