Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

On Friday, our last day in the park, we drove along the Trail Ridge Road to visit 'Rock Cut' in the northwest side of the park.   The road was being paved which led to some delays in getting to our destination.    We spent about an hour at Rock Cut, exploring the rocks and tundra at over 12,000 ft before stopping at the Hidden Valley picnic area to eat our lunch.   In the afternoon we split up.  One car went fly fishing, one went into town and the other went back to the house.  I had all intentions on going back out to hike to Mills Lake but in came a thunder storm that lasted a good part of the afternoon.   After a nice dinner at the house we had a party for Susan and Geoff who both turn the Big 5-0 next week (yes, they are very old).

**** NOTE: To zoom in on the pictures just single left click on them

One part of the rock formations at  Rock Cut

The interesting desrciption of how these mushroomed-shaped rocks were for formed

This marmot was not happy to be sharing Rock Cut with us - he was making a high-pitched noise 

Tina was supposed to be taking only my picture but Brad, inspired by a classic scene from The Shining, had other ideas

Tori and Elena trying (poorly) to be like Maria  from the Sound of Music

Happy Birthday to Geoff and Susan!

Glacial Snow or Bust

On Thursday a few of the parents set out for a day hike.   The goal was to try to get close to some glacial snow and have a scenic hike along the way.  So, Geoff, Tina, Tom and I set off for Andrews Glacier, a 10 mile round trip hike, which is not a long hike but at the high altitudes we weren't sure how difficult it would be.   About 3.5 hours later we made it!   The scenery along the way was stunning.  After taking the shuttle to Glacier Gorge Trailhead (9180 ft) we made our way past the Alberta Falls and The Loch to Andrews Glacier (11,680 ft).  Along the way we saw - up really close - two female elk and a pair of marmots.

Alberta Falls

The glacier from The Loch (to understand the scale, note the waterfall in the center of the picture!)

One of the elk we saw in the lush meadows near the glacier

Mr. Marmot (slightly longer than a woodchuck)

Climbing up the rock face of the glacier - note the stream

FINALLY getting towards the top - LOTS of loose rocks, stones and gravel to climb up (and then back down!)

FINALLY - making a glacial snowball

Geoff captured me in action on the way down

 In the evening most of us made it through watching 'The Shining' movie.  Steven King had based the hotel in his novel on The Stanley hotel in Estes Park where we were staying.   It was a little rough going to sleep that night!

On Top of the World

The day started out with gorgeous weather.  Here were a couple pictures I took from the deck of our house this morning:

Snow on the Rockies

Our 'neighborhood' on the mountain

We decided to take the upper Old Fall River Road to the Alpine Visitors Center (in the middle of the glacial area) then head down the West side of the park to see if we could see one of the 100 moose in the park.   On the way to the one-way dirt road we passed the remains of a huge flood in 1982, now called Alluvial Fan.  The views of the mountains and snow were incredible.   We ended up driving all the way down to the Southwest part of the park and had a coffee and snack at Grand Lake, a cute little town but lacking some of the character that Estes Park has.   Along the way we stopped a few times for pictures:

Alluvial Fan - you can see where the flood carved this path in the side of the mountain

The windy dirt road taking us to over 12,000 ft.

The valley we left behind

Jagged Mountain Tops

Alpine Visitors Center:  11,800 ft.

The Continental Divide!

Now at 2 miles above sea level

The day ended with a wet dish towel demonstration... the aftermath of the kids doing the dinner dishes.

Katy being a brave soul with Elena and Daniel going at it

 

Fish Tales

On Tuesday the kids and the three dads went fly fishing for six hours.  They were out of the house by 8:15am.  We were hoping the four girls were going to enjoy it because it was really the boys day out.   And... they all loved it!   Everyone caught a variety of trout with Elena leading the pack with 7!   Must have been beginners luck...

Elena hoping for the big one

Tori looking the part

Brad just having fun

Elena, Tori, Paige and Katy having a group hug in the rain

While the kids and dads were fishing the three moms went into the town of Estes Park and walked the four miles around Lake Estes and part of the Riverwalk.   It was so very grueling that we had to rest up at the local Mexican place and prevent scurvy.   I had a great, relaxing afternoon with two special girlfriends!  

Susan and Tina on the Estes Riverwalk

The crew (Tina is hiding) with Greg & Ingrid at Oscar's Brewery, Lyons

For dinner we drove to Lyons, the town on the way to Boulder, to meet up with Tina's cousin Greg and his wife Ingrid at a local brewery.   We loved learning about Greg's Computational Biology PhD and what he's doing now at the University of Colorado at Boulder.  

A Coyote of a Day

We were all a little slow this morning getting out of the house to head up to the park.   After packing up our lunches and drinks for the day we first stopped at the park headquarters.    We had planned on driving to Bear Lake and doing the 3.6 mile round trip hike to Emerald Lake, the most popular hike in the park, but the parking lot was full.  Thank goodness for their park shuttle system.   Our starting elevation at Bear Lake was 9475 ft and, with the change in elevation to Emerald Lake being 605 ft higher,we were going to be at just over 10,000 ft.  Although the hike was relatively short the presence of the high altitude was felt by everyone.   We all made sure to drink lots of water.

We passed by a couple of small lakes along the way.  One had beautiful yellow water lilies in bloom.     

    On the way to Emerald Lake

The scenery was stunning.  It was cool seeing the glacial ice.   It started to rain right when we made it to Emerald Lake and most of the way back to our starting point at Bear Lake.  

   

 Just as our family was getting into the car to head home we saw a coyote!  Brad spotted him first, in the brush near the side of the parking lot.  Then he casually walked across the parking lot down to the field where there was a heard of elk grazing.

Our coyote friend

I was able to get this nice picture of him.   Pulling into our neighborhood, which is on the side of a small mountain, we saw another coyote.... two in one day!

Sunset seen from the house

The day ended by seeing a beautiful sunset.






On Tuesday everyone but the three moms are going fly fishing for the day.   Can't wait to hear the stories about all the fish that got away!

Denver and Boulder

 Denver:

Our flight to Denver Saturday was fine.   Brad surprised us when we picked up our rental car by getting a tripped out Cadillac for the week.  The girls were very happy because the back seat is as big as a living room.  We met our friends at the Renaissance Inn and went with the Bulas to a concert at the Red Rocks Amphitheater.   The Helmers headed to a movie.   There are just three Helmers this year.   Perry says he is taking an organic chemistry class at UT but we all know he's taking "Scrabble: Game or Religion?".     Michael Franti was the performer at Red Rocks.   A few of us hadn't heard of him but apparently others had as the concert was sold out.  If there was ever a concert where you didn't know the artist or the words to the songs this would have been the concert for you - very simple phrases and lots of repeats.   As we were driving to the park we quickly realized what type of performer he was.  It was like we were back in Woodstock.   Lots of tie-dye, dreads and half-dressed people on the road and tailgating in the parking lot.  Red Rock was just as stunning as I thought it would be.   And.... sharing that experience with all those people brought the phrase 'Rocky Mountain High' to a whole new level, if you know what I mean...  Holy Moly.   I am glad none of our kids needed any drug testing done for a future employer the next day...  There was a three month old baby girl with pink head phones on (with her family) next to us.    I hope her brain wasn't damaged for life. 

Red Rocks Amphitheatre

Denver State Capital Building

On Sunday morning we toured around downtown Denver, around the capital building area.   It was beautiful.   We posed for a picture on the 13th step of the capital building that was marked 'One Mile Above Sea Level'.

Toasting to Beach Buddy Week (BBW) XVII

Boulder:

We stopped in Boulder on our journey to Estes Park.   We ate lunch along the open mall where there were tons of great shops and restaurants on Pearl Street.   Victoria would like to go back later in the week to see the University of Colorado at Boulder and check out their grad school.

Estes Park:

After some grocery shopping we made it to our rental house.   The town of Estes Park sits at 7500 feet.   Our house is even higher as it's on the side of a mountain.    It's past the town on the way to Rocky Mountain National Park.  The mountains are so close!   Can't wait to start exploring the park tomorrow...

Packing Up to Leave

Tonight we are packing up to head out first thing Saturday morning for Beach Buddy Week XVII.  Our flight leaves 10am Saturday morning from LaGuardia so we will shoot to leave the house by 6:30am.   Hopefully we will not have any delays with dignitaries coming in for the Chelsea Clinton wedding in Rhinebeck today. We have a layover in Dallas and arrive in Denver around 2pm Mountain Time.   We'll meet up Saturday afternoon with our good friends, the Bulas and the Helmers, then drive to the house in Estes Park on Sunday.

Here's some information on the house we will be renting:

Single Family Home
 Maximum Occupancy: 12  
 5 bedroom 3 1/2 bath
 2 fireplaces
 Bedding -1 King, 1 Queen, 2 Twins, 3 Twins/Rollaway, 
 4 Bunks 
 Sauna and Steam Shower in Master Bath,
 Pool Table in Lower Level Family Room, Satellite TV, 
 Gas Grill, WiFi Internet
 Maximum Number of Cars: 3