Colorado Trip

On Monday we drove to Grand Lake Colorado for a 5 day vacation. It took until the last week of summer for all of us to be free to go on a trip. I guess there were some free weeks in June but Justin couldn't leave the office back-to-back with work trips or young men camps so August it was.

It is so flat and boring between here and there that even tornadoes could develop. Okay, maybe not tornadoes. Dust devils?

We arrived at Grand Lake that evening after we stopped at a grocery store and stocked up on the week's food. After cooking dinner in the cabin we rented, we had just enough sunlight to do the Adam's Falls hike on the north east side of Grand Lake.

A few hikers were heading down as we headed up on this short hike so we had the place to ourselves.

From the falls, we walked up stream a bit to a pond full of fallen trees and rocks.

It was pretty fun and a nice way to end a day of driving in the car.

We stopped at an ice cream place in town which had probably some of the best ice cream I've ever had and I've eaten at a LOT of ice cream places in my life. We walked across the street to the boardwalk in front of the lake to eat our treats. 

Tuesday we got up early, ate breakfast, packed sandwiches and headed into Rocky Mountain National Park. We have never been to this park before and it's been on my bucket list for a few years now.

We stopped to overlook the headwaters of the Colorado River. I always wondered where it started and even tried to find it on a map and here we are!

This was a crazy cool drive. At this point we were more than 12,000 feet above sea level.

We got to Sprague Lake and ate lunch. Eating lunch in a national park is my favorite thing to do. I have a core memory of eating lunch in Yellowstone when I was 5 years old. The misty fog among the trees, squirrels all around, getting stuff out of the cooler. I love every time we do this since so much.

Check out the air pressure in the bag of chips brought from the lowlands.

Someone made a teeter totter with a log between trees and my kids took full advantage, as kids should.

After we cleaned up lunch we took a nice leisurely stroll around Sprague Lake.

 

I have so many photos of James on rocks. He would get mad if we hiked too fast for him to stop and climb on rocks.

Do you like lakes? Glaciers? Trees? Cliffs? I have the place for you.

The kids tried not getting wet. Well, not Henry. He brought his swimming suit so he was all about it. The other kids tried to hold their shorts up but of course they stumbled on the loose rocks on the bottom of the lake and went in more than they planned. The running incentive to do things or find things was an extra scoop of ice cream "Extra scoop of ice cream if you find a bull elk" etc. Henry submerged himself in this glacial lake for more ice cream.

Below is a different lake. We left Sprague and headed farther up Bear Lake Road. We parked in the trailhead parking lot. There are a lot of trailheads here and we decided to take the route most popular up to a series of three lakes. It was pretty crowded but not in an annoying way. This is the first lake, Bear Lake.

Below is the second lake, Nymph Lake. It was small and shallow and full of lily pads but no frogs.

James on a rock.

Next is Dream Lake and my favorite of the 3. It was the most crowded but I managed to get a photo without people.

Picture taken by mistake but I kind of like it. Us girls and our hiking shoes.

And finally below is Emerald Lake

And then we walked back down. My favorite part of the hike is between Bear Lake and Nymph Lake so if you're short on time or energy or if I were to do it again, I would stop at Dream and not worry about Emerald. We ran out energy to go to Lake Haiyaya so if I ever go back, that's on my to-do list.

Here are some elk we saw on our drive out of the park. Other than squirrels and a marmot, that's all the wildlife we saw this day. (But just you wait!)

Wednesday was our better weather day of the week so we decided to stick around town so we could check out the lake. We decided to do Adam's Falls again in the day time so we could take our time, go farther, and see more since we had to leave our first night because it got dark.

I call this set "teen on phone in the wild"

James fell in the water multiple times so he was soaked from head to toe so we didn't go any farther than we did the first night. Oh well.

From there we went to town to the beach access to the lake. Erica and Henry changed into their swimming suits, (James didn't bring one but was already wet) and they played in the water. James found some boys playing 500 and went no further.

Henry and Erica sat on the dock for a bit before finally jumping in with Justin. No one stayed in the water long as the water was cold and the bottom of the lake was pretty pokey on their bare feet.

After our time at the lake we got burgers and ice cream then went back to the cabin. We had a relaxing afternoon. Sarah, Justin, and I did a puzzle we found without looking at the picture. It definitely made it more challenging!

After dinner we played Cranium and Hand and Foot. The boys and I lost at Cranium

But Sarah and James and I won at Hand and Foot.

Thursday morning we headed back into the park. We stopped first at the Coyote Valley trail. This is the Colorado River again.

When you're 9-year-old boy says, "Mom, want to go on an adventure?" you say yes and follow him.

He took me on this trail that went across Coyote Valley. I don't think it was an official trail and we only went part way across.

Put this boy in a hoodie and get him outside with a trekking pole and he is happy.

Back on the official trail. It was lightly raining and I loved it.

We got a tip about a female moose off the trail so we watched her and her baby for awhile.

After we left that area, we drove to the Lake Irene trail.

Look! A still water lake with an incredible reflection!

It looked and felt like Alaska and that's the highest compliment I can give.

Another mama moose and her calf!

And another lunch in the park. There were some very friendly squirrels at this spot.

After that, we went up up up to what I called the Cliffs of Insanity hike because that's what they reminded me of. We saw a pika! They are so fast and spazzy.

We were so high! Like more than 12k feet elevation.

If you walk too fast, you just about pass out. Well I'm just speaking for myself, I guess.

More James on a rock.

On top of the world!

Erica on rock.

Henry and Justin and I saw a marmot. So cute!

Then we stopped at Beaver Ponds. No beavers but here's an elk just right off the parking lot.

He wandered into the trees soon after we got there.

Fine. Whatever. We will just watch the moose 20 feet down the walkway for the next hour.

I took more than 100 photos of the moose. Here are the best ones.

It was so cool! He didn't even do much but we were so entertained. I kept thinking he would take off but he didn't care about us at all.

From there we began a journey on a road we hadn't been on before, the Old Fall River Road. It's a one-way road and the first part is paved. First stop was this river and waterfall that I don't remember the name of. When we got there it was raining and cold so we were all layered up and then the sun came out and we got hot real fast.

Henry hiked all the way to the top. All of them went up farther than I was comfortable with. I've learned to just look away and pray for the best since they don't seem to care that I'm fretting at the bottom.

I could look at this view all day.

After that waterfall stop, things got real. The road turned to dirt, the crowds were far behind us. It was just us and Old Fall River Road. 

We climbed and climbed and when we were lucky enough to catch a view through the trees, it never disappointed. 

The littles climbed onto the roof rack and enjoyed the 1 hour + ride with the best view of all. I popped my head up the sunroof to get some of the photos below.

Seriously. 

When the road was just about to the top where it meets the main Trail Ridge Road and the Alpine Visitor's center was in view, we spotted elk. 

So for the next hour, we watched elk. And a few moose.

At the visitor's center there is another hike that is short but steep. I elected not to go but Justin and the middles did it. The trail starts at 11,796 and the summit is 12,005. I took this photo from the car. That's Erica in the red coat on the rock.

And then we headed back down and out to Grand Lake. I loved our time there. I think the animals made it most special, then the views. 

I was pretty humbled by the thin air at these elevations. I didn't think it would affect me so much since home is pretty high (4700). But I was feeling it!

Friday

We packed up and headed home this day. The kids had ice cream for breakfast. Pretty much any food we can't take home with us is fair game for breakfast on the day we go home on every trip we go on. This isn't the first time or last we dole out ice cream on the last day of a trip.

We took a different way home (I-70). I didn't think we got to go through the Eisenhower tunnel this time but we did! I love this tunnel.

The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful and we made it home early evening. Just in time for the kids to unpack and skedaddle to their friends. Justin and I rode the motorcycle to get tacos and then I mowed the lawn.