Rocky Mountain National Park - Trail Ridge Road - Estes Park, Colorado to Grand Lake, Colorado
Sunday, July 17th, 2016
Today our family set out on a cross-mountain adventure! Starting from Estes Park, we drove through Rocky Mountain National Park on Trail Ridge Road to the other side of the Rocky Mountains to the town of Grand Lake. The road takes a 48-mile journey that took us 2-3 hours to complete. Our trip started at around 8,000 feet, and at its highest point, we reached an altitude of 12,183 feet, almost two miles above sea level! It is actually considered the nation's highest continuous highway, with more than 8 miles above 11,000 feet.
Elevation map of Trail Ridge Road.
Map of Trail Ridge Road
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Our first stop on the trip was a quick pull off to take a picture of the Moraine Park area where we were camping.
Moraine Park as seen from Trail Ridge Road
Soon, our journey had us going up, up, up! My mom had a hard time deciding whether to look at the beautiful scenery or to look straight ahead and ignore the giant drop offs just feet from our car.
Our second stop was at Rainbow Curve (10,085 feet). This is a MUST STOP destination, especially because they have bathrooms. We had an amazing view of the Alluvial Fan, Beaver Ponds, and Horseshoe Park.
Hanging out at Rainbow Curve
Panoramic at Rainbow Curve.
We continued our upward trek into the mountains. Every 30 seconds gave new, awe inspiring views of the world above or the world below. Eventually, we had climbed high enough to reach the tundra. Long gone were all the trees, this was a barren world of rock, grass, and flowers. There was a bridge to protect the "fragile tundra" wildlife that led to a snowfield. So, what does a family do when they reach a snowfield in July? SNOWBALL FIGHT!
Alpine Tundra habitats are extremely fragile, so the NPS constructed a bridge to easily access the snowfield.
Snowball fight!
Look back at the snowfield and Trail Ridge Road.
Different species of flowers found in the Tundra.
We made a few more quick stops along Trail Ridge Road, but we were getting hungry and vowed to hit some of the bigger spots on the way back to Estes Park. We did stop and see some wildlife in a few different places. Up near the highest point of the trip, we saw a herd of Elk right off the roadway. We also spotted a moose down near the end of the journey close to Timber Creek Campground.
Herd of Elk laying in the snow right off of the road.
Moose hiding in the brush.
So, after 48 miles and about 2 hours of driving, we found ourselves in the small mountain town of Grand Lake, Colorado, and lucky us, we were in for a surprise.
As we drove into Grand Lakes, police officers were directing traffic away from the "downtown" area. Apparently, the 69th Annual Buffalo BBQ Parade was about to take place. We made our way to the end of the parade route and immediately found the best parade we've ever seen. The last few blocks of the parade are considered a "wet zone." Residents had squirt guns, water balloons, and anything else that would hold water. The parade goers would throw their balloons or squirt their guns at the parade floats, and in turn, the parade floats would try and soak the parade goers back with their own armada of water balloons and guns! By parades end, we were absolutely soaked! Thank you too many of the townsfolk who allowed our kids to use their balloons and water guns so they could participate in the festivities!
We dried off while playing in the park in the middle of town and had lunch at Grand Pizza. Finally, it was time to make our way back across the mountains to Estes Park and our campground.
Our first major stop was at the Kawuneeche Visitor's Center, the western entrance to RMNP. Here I earned my first Jr. Ranger Badge!
Our second major stop was at the Alpine Visitor Center (11,798 feet). Here we took a small trail (dubbed Huffer's Hill) up the mountain into the tundra. The climb was no easy task at over 2 miles above sea level!
View of the Alpine Visitors Center from the top of "Huffer's Hill"
I made it to 12,000 feet!
Glacier/Snowfield behind the Visitor's Center
We stopped at several other places along the way with amazing photo opportunities that had breathtaking views. It is probably one of the coolest experiences I have ever had, and almost all of it was from the backseat of my car!
Rocky Mountain National Park - Estes Park, Colorado
Saturday July 16th, 2016
Boy were we tired! This morning we slept in and got a late start to our day. Our plan was to go back to the Bear Lake Trailhead and head further into the mountains. We quickly realized that, since it was Saturday, the park was very busy and there was no way to drive up to the trailhead. After a few bus rides, we found ourselves back at Bear Lake. We headed up the trail to Nymph lake, a roughly 0.5 mile hike uphill, gaining about 245 feet in elevation. This was a lot harder than yesterday since pretty much the entire trail was uphill, but with frequent rests, we made it to Nymph lake without much trouble. Nymph lake gets its name from the many waterlilies that can be found all over the surface of this small lake.
Mom and Alorah taking pictures of Nymph Lake
View from the far side of Nymph Lake.
After Nymph lake, a 0.6 mile trail leads uphill to Dream lake. This trail climbed another 200 feet in elevation. Along the trail there were several places to stop and look at the tremendous scenery. Near the lake, there was a mountain stream that made a mini-waterfall that was refreshingly cold to the touch. Dream lake was a lot bigger than Nymph lake and had great views of the surrounding mountains.
Climbing along the trail.
Great view from the trail!
Refreshingly cool mountain stream!
Dream lake with Hallett Peak in full view.
Like I said in the video, Dream Lake was a great spot to sit and eat lunch. Around this time, the weather started to change. All of a sudden it got very windy and cool, and soon after it started to lightly rain. This is typical in the mountains. A ranger had told us to either go early or go late, not only to enjoy less crowded trails, but to also miss the potential rain or storms that arrive nearly daily in the mountains. We began our last ascent to Emerald Lake, a 0.7 mile hike with an elevation gain of about 150 feet, but because of the weather, we decided to turn around. Had we made it to Emerald Lake, we would have been at an elevation well over 10,000 feet above sea level. Just before we turned around, we got a special treat as a yellow-bellied marmot decided to join us on the trail. The hike back to the trailhead, about 1.2 miles downhill, was MUCH easier than go up. We only hiked around 2.5 miles, but it was a lot different than hiking in Kentucky, Illinois, or even the mountains of Tennessee, and we were exhausted by trails end.
A yellow-bellied marmot decided to hike with us!
After our hike, we drove back into Estes Park for the evening. We at dinner at the Estes Park Brewery and had a family outing playing putt-putt at my mom's favorite "Tiny Town." To end the evening, we enjoyed another ranger-led night program, this one on "bird brains." A great day!
Notes to parents, from parents: The trail to Nymph and Dream lakes is well maintained and in good condition. It is a very popular trail and sees heavy use. The elevation gain to the two lakes is about 500 feet, and at about 500ft/mile, it was similar in climb to our Ramsey Cascade hike in Tennessee. A big difference, though, is that you are at 9500-10000 feet above sea level. If you are coming from a "low" state, this may be more difficult than the milage shows. Take it slow and drink plenty of water! It is a very pretty hike. We had planned on hiking to either Emerald Lake (1.8 miles) or Lake Haiyaha (2 miles), but with three children and the weather, we decided to cut our hike short. If you are adventurous, a nice loop hike of about 6 miles would be to start at Bear Lake, hike up to Nymph and Dream Lakes, and then head to Lake Haiyaha. The hike from Dream Lake to Lake Hiayaha is (to a lowlander at least) fairly steep with several switchbacks, but it is gorgeous. From Lake Haiyaha, you can catch a less used trail to the Glacier Gorge area (initially head towards The Loch), which could take you eventually to Alberta Falls. Please be aware that there are several places with very steep drop offs and dangerous rock formations if you choose to climb them. Overall, however, the trail is rated as "easy" and is pretty family friendly.
Rocky Mountain National Park - Estes Park, Colorado
Friday July 15th
My family and I took the road trip of a lifetime, a 10 day cross country adventure to Colorado! After spending 16 hours overnight in the car, we arrived in Estes Park early Friday. We spent the morning and early afternoon shopping and having lunch in downtown Estes Park. We really loved the rock shop! After spending time downtown, we headed into nearby Rocky Mountain National Park. Since my brother and sister are both in 4th grade, we received a free pass because of the centennial celebration of the national parks! We made our way to Moraine Park Campground and set up camp. Our site was towards the back of the campground, but man, what a view!
View of our campsite!
After camp was set up, we headed up in the mountains to the Bear Lake Trailhead. We decided to take a short hike, less than 1 mile (about 0.8 miles) on the Bear Lake Loop Trail. This was a pretty simple hike, but one thing I wasn't prepared for was the elevation. The trail started a a whopping 9475 feet above sea level! We enjoyed the awesome views of the surrounding mountains and the beautifully clear water of Bear Lake.
Ranger Station at the Bear Lake Trailhead
Bear Lake Trail Map
Cheesin' with CJ, Alorah, and Mom
What a view!
View of Hallett Peak
After our hike, as mom was getting the campfire ready, the rest of us hiked down to the "park" down the hill from our campsite. A "park" is a mainly flat valley in the mountains that is mostly barren of trees. There was a nice stream flowing through the park. We learned at the Ranger program that we attended this evening that the fences were put up to keep wild elk from entering parts of the park, hopefully allowing the area to grow back so that beavers may come back and inhabit the area. At the end of the day, we were all extremely tired and ready for bed!
To parents, from parents: The trail at Bear Lake is very family friendly. As you can see in the picture of the trail above, the trail is a short loop around Bear Lake. Most of the trail is considered wheelchair accessible, so if you are looking to do an easy trail to get used to the elevation, this is a good starting hike. There is a ranger station at the trailhead as well as several vault toilets. The parking area at Bear Lake fills rather quickly. There is a shuttle from the "Park and Ride" area that is half-way to Bear Lake that is convenient if the Bear Lake parking lot is full. If you don't want to drive to the Park and Ride, you can get there by other shuttle buses, one from the Beaver Creek Visitors Center just outside of Estes Park, or another from the Moraine Park Campground area.
