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.
Great Smoky Mountain National Park - Gatlinburg, TN
Monday July 20th - Wednesday July 22nd, 2015
Monday
Today my dad, my brother CJ, and our friend and neighbor Zach set out for Gatlinburg, TN and the Great Smoky Mountains. We had a 3 day, two night adventure planned, filled with hiking and camping. The drive there was really long, made worse by the car packed to the brim with hiking and camping gear. We finally made it to the park in the late afternoon. As I looked up from my Nintendo DS, I saw amazing views of the mountains, and eventually as we drove up the mountains, views of the valleys below. I stepped out of the car at Clingman's Dome parking lot, and enjoyed the afternoon sunshine and high 60s temperature.
CJ and I at Clingman's Dome parking lot, ready for a hike.
My dad had decided that we would hike the 0.5 miles up to the observation tower and do the 3.6 mile hike to Andrew's Bald. However, it was late when we got there, so we decided to start with the Andrew's Bald hike. This hike was 1.8 miles to a "bald" or mountain top without forested vegetation. At first I loved this hike because it was all downhill! After just a few minutes, we stopped to take this picture, and made sure we didn't go to the Appalachian trail (my dad said we wouldn't be back for a month had we turned right instead of left!).
Always go left!
After the sign, it was a great hike down. The trail had many stone steps and was fairly easy to navigate. After 1.1 miles, however, the trail changed, and we headed uphill.
Elevation change for our hike, courtesy of HikingtheSmokys.com
Just after we started uphill, it started raining! The trail was tree covered for most of the hike, but we still got pretty wet. By the time we made it to Andrew's Bald, it was pouring rain. Without trees at the bald, we had no protection from the rain, so we ran out on the bald, cheered that we made it, and ran for the tree cover of the trail behind us. We didn't get to see the views that my dad said were worth the hike.
While I enjoyed the hike to the bald, the way back to the car was horrible! I was soaking wet, and the trail was basically all uphill the last mile. My dad said we climbed about 600 feet in elevation in our last mile of hiking. I had never been so happy to be sitting in our car! Unfortunately, we did not get the chance to hike up to the observation tower at Clingman's dome since it was raining pretty hard and was getting late.
We left Clingman's dome and made the drive down the mountain to Elkmont Campground, our home for the next two nights. We set up camp, had dinner cooked on the fire, and then passed out!
Tuesday
We woke up having survived a night of rain and storms in our tent. We ate breakfast and set off for our next hike, an eight mile roundtrip trek to Ramsey Cascades. The furthest that I have ever hiked was about 4 miles (at Eagle Falls in Cumberland Falls State Park last spring), so I was apprehensive for this hike. After the drive, we arrived in the parking lot to a view of the river we would be hiking along our journey.
The view from our car at the trailhead to Ramsey Cascades.
The start of the trail. 4 miles isn't that bad, right???
The hike started off well enough. The trail was gravel and smooth in most parts with some occasional large rocks littered along the trail. The trail was mainly uphill, but it wasn't so bad...yet. We crossed over the river on a nice bridge, stopped at benches conveniently placed along the trail, and continued on.
CJ on the bridge.
View from the bridge of the river.
CJ and I (a little farther back!) at the begging section of the trail.
At the 1.5 mile mark, you get a nice view of the river again after having strayed away from it for a little while. We took a small break to climb down on the rocks.
CJ and Zach taking a break on the rocks.
After this point, the trail changed dramatically. Gone were the smooth gravel paths. The last 2.5 miles was a mixture of dirt/mud, large rocks, and exposed tree roots. Also, the trail was even more uphill at this point, with very little break from climbing.
Elevation change for our hike, courtesy of Hikingthesmokys.com
From here on the trail was very difficult. We had to make several rest stops to catch our breath as we headed uphill. We found some good rocks to sit on along the way. We saw some really huge trees (apparently some of the largest in the park) along the way.
CJ, my dad, and I taking a snack break on some rocks on the river.
There were some very narrow bridges along the way. I was brave, however, and we passed over them with no trouble.
The first narrow bridge. It was about 20 feet above the river, about 2 miles from the trailhead.
The 2nd narrow bridge. This was in the shape of a "V" and slightly wider than the first.
Along the way we had to crawl under a large tree that was down on the path. All the while, the trail continued uphill. With the trail again nearing the river and knowing we were getting close to the cascades, I picked up my pace. Little did I know that the last 1/3 mile was very steep with many slippery stone stairs between me and the waterfall. Finally, after 4 hours, we made it to the waterfall!
Climbing the last few rocks!
Finally here!
We ate lunch in the cool breeze from the waterfall. We spent 30 minutes at the waterfall, and then made our slow journey back to the car. I was excited that the return trip was pretty much ALL downhill, but it was still tiring. The hike back down took us about 3 hours, so counting lunch, we hiked for 7 1/2 hours today, by far the most I've ever done at one time. This was probably the hardest thing I have ever done, and my dad kept telling me how proud he was of me for never giving up.
After we finished hiking, we decided it best to head back to camp. I think now is a good time to talk a little about our camp. First off, we stayed both nights at Elkmont Campground. The campground was only 8 miles from Gatlinburg, and my dad told me it was the national park's most visited campground. We stayed in the "A" loop. Many sites at Elkmont border the Little River that runs through and along the campground. Unfortunately, we did not have a site on the river. However, our site was close enough to the river to be able to hear it at night as it rushed through, giving us a calming sound as we tried to sleep. Our site was also near a bathroom and the camp store. We were discouraged, however, when we could not call my mom on our cell phone, since there is no service (at least through Verizon) in the campground. The campground also did not have electricity available at the campsites, so we had to rely on car chargers for our electronics. Overall though, we loved this campground and would definitely go there again.
After we got to the campground, we ate dinner and get to bed early. We were all super tired after hiking 8 miles and gaining over 2000 feet in elevation. It was a tiring, stressful, but fun day in the Smokies.
Hanging out at camp!
Wednesday
We broke camp Wednesday morning and headed to Ober Gatlinburg. To get there, we took the Aerial Tramway that leaves from downtown Gatlinburg. We enjoyed the 2 mile trip on the tram and the amazing views of Gatlinburg and the surrounding mountains.
View from the tram. Mout LeConte can be seen in the background.
There was a ton of stuff to do once you got to the top. They had an indoor skating rink, restaurants, shopping, and a lot of activities. My brother and my dad decided they wanted to try the Alpine Slide. To get to the slide, they had to ride the chair lift. It looked really scary!
The Scenic Chair Lift.
CJ and my Dad starting their ride.
They had fun riding the alpine slide as I rode the swings. After those activities, we all played mini-golf on top of the mountain. CJ even had a hole-in-one on the 17th hole! We decided it was time to head back down, so we got on the tram one more time for the trip back to Gatlinburg. We ate lunch downtown, bought some fudge at one of the shops downtown, and started the long journey home. We had such a fun time, we can't wait to head back again!
This trip was amazing for many reasons, but there were many dangers to be aware of. First of all, if you decide to camp in the Smoky Mountains, be aware that wildlife, i.e. bears, frequent the campgrounds. Campers can be fined $75 for not leaving food in the provided "bear boxes" or in their vehicles when they aren't on site. We also so an abundance of poison ivy at the campground and along the trails. We always caution to stay on the trails, but it was more apparent here to heed this advice. Also, many of the areas we hiked had steep sections and drop offs that could cause serious injury or even death. I cannot stress enough, STAY ON THE TRAIL.
The Andrew's Bald trail starts off pretty easy, since you are hiking downhill for about 1.1 miles. From there you do go back uphill a bit until you reach the end of the trail. The trail is in pretty good shape but be careful on rocks that could be slippery when wet. The last 1.1 miles back to your car, however, are fairly difficult as you gain elevation steadily. It is rated as a "Moderate" hike, and at 3.6 miles, wasn't too difficult for our children (ages 7 and 8), even in the rain. In all I think we spent 2-2.5 hours on the trail. We did not get to see any of the picturesque views from the bald due to the heavy rain, but believe me, it is worth the trip.
The Ramsey Cascade trail is a different story. For the first 4 miles of the hike, you gain 500+ feet per mile. This is considered a moderately strenuous hike, and is definitely the hardest hike our sons have completed. The trail changes drastically at the 1.5 mile mark. When wet, the trail is muddy, and the many rocks and roots that you must climb could be slippery. We had to stop quite often to make the journey to the top. We probably saw every person who hiked to Ramsey Cascades the day we went, and our sons were the youngest on the trail. It is definitely not a kid friendly trail, but our kids did manage it. The rangers said to expect a 5-7 hour hike. We made it back to our car in approximately 7.5 hours. The trail had two narrow, one sided bridges that could deter many hikers across the river. The last 1/3 of a mile was steep and very rocky. However, the trek was well worth it, as the cascades were breathtaking. As you heard Logan say in one of the videos, there is a sign that warns that 4 people have died at the falls, and urges you to not be the next. It also says to keep an eye on children when at the falls. After being there, I can see why. One wrong step and you could be headed for a long fall down the river. If you attempt this hike with children, please allow more time than you think for this hike, bring plenty of water, and keep an eye on them at all times.
Ober Gatlinburg was an interesting change of pace from our previous two days. There were many people in line for the tram. You must pay to park on site, or find a free site some distance away and walk. Before getting on the tram, they take your picture like at many theme parks. The tram ride took about 8 minutes, and it swayed several times, though nothing too scary. Once up top you could view your picture, as well as buy tickets for all the activities on the mountain top. There are several things to do and they have all day passes available, or you can buy individual tickets. Prices were a little high, in my opinion, for the activities. Each "ticket" cost $3.50. The swings that Logan rode were one ticket. Mini-golf was one ticket. The alpine slide and chair lift were two tickets together. The had many other activities that we didn't do that could be fun, especially for younger children. In the winter time there are more snow-activities to do as well. It could be a fun place to spend part of a day if you are willing to spend some money doing it. Just getting up on the tram was expensive, $12 for an adult and $9.50 for children. We did learn, however, that your tram ticket was good for two days of unlimited riding, which we didn't take advantage of.
