Category Archives: Colorado

Happy Trails at Rocky Mountain National Park

  By placeswithkids | February 7, 2012 - 4:46 pm | , , , , , , ,
2 Comments
Glacier basin Rocky Mountain National Park

Near Glacier Basin RMNP

With its amazing jaw-dropping scenery, it’s not surprising that Rocky Mountain National Park made it onto Frommer’s 500 Places to Take Your Kids Before They Grow Up. What was a little unique was the WAY they recommended seeing it – on horseback.

We’d already spent the morning driving the Old Fall River Road to what felt like the top of the world (at least for height-phobic me) and for our afternoon at Rocky Mountain National Park, I’d planned a two-hour trail ride with Glacier Creek Stables at 1pm, leaving us plenty of time to drive into our hotel near the Denver Airport before it got too dark.

Sigh . . . you know what they always say about the best-laid plans . . .

As you might have noticed from the pictures, when we reached the Alpine Visitor Center at Rocky Mountain National Park we were at a seriously high elevation – as in 11,799 feet high.

Alpine Visitor Center rocky mountain NP

Alpine Visitor Center

To get to the Glacier Stables we needed to descend about 3000 feet over a very short distance, and somehow, going DOWN the mountain was more terrifying than going up. I crept down the mountain, my hands gripping the steering wheel so hard I was white-knuckled – because in my mind the next gust of wind was going to send us right over the edge of road.

How bad was it? So bad I refused to let my son open a bag of chips because the noise was distracting. Needless to say, we didn’t make the 1pm trail ride.

Thank goodness for cell phones. When it became obvious we weren’t going to make the ride, I pulled over, let them know we would be late and could we please get on their next ride at 3 pm?

The rest, as they say, is history . . .

Trail Ride in Rocky Mountain National Park

We had our trail ride in Rocky Mountain National Park later than expected (which the boys claimed wasn’t as exciting as their ride in Wyoming) and checked another item off our “500 List.”

Horse Ride Rocky Mountain national Park

Happy Trails

Seventy-three places visited, 427 to go!

 

Bighorn Sheep in Rocky Mountain National Park

  By placeswithkids | February 3, 2012 - 1:20 pm | , , , , ,
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Bighorn Sheep in Rocky Mountain NP

One of the amazing parts of our US Western trip was the variety of animals we saw – which for my zoologist-in-training was a slice of heaven. By the time we got to Colorado and Rocky Mountain National Park, we’d seen bison, moose, eagles, prairie dogs, and even a rattlesnake. Only one animal had eluded us – a bighorn sheep.

As I drove the last few miles in the late afternoon to our hotel in Estes Park, I told the guys that “wouldn’t it be nice if we could see a bighorn sheep?”

Ever the tween pessimist, my oldest said,”Yeah, but we probably won’t. Remember what the guy said? It’s too hot for them.” (The guy in question being Kurt, our naturalist guide at Grand Teton National Park).

He was probably right, but as we turned a corner, a car ahead had pulled over onto a turnout and the driver was waving frantically at us from beside his car. I pulled over, killed the engine, and looked to where he was pointing . . .

. . . that’s right, folks . . . not one, but TWO bighorn sheep. They lazily posed for pictures and then scampered off when a car passed by but didn’t stop.

We drove slowly to the hotel, a smile on my face as my zoologist now proclaimed that his favorite animal was the bighorn sheep (with his previous favorite, the bison a now distant second) – I’d seen my bighorn.

And just as a FYI – the ones we saw were teenagers out where they shouldn’t be (just like teenagers everywhere) because their horns, which grow their entire lives were small and hadn’t begun to curl.

Check out other photos at

Photo Friday

and

R We There Yet, Mom?

 

Rocky Mountain National Park – The Road Less Taken

  By placeswithkids | January 31, 2012 - 11:10 am | , , , , , , ,
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scenic views at rocky Mountain National Park

Scenic views from Old Fall River Rd.

The last few lines of Robert Frost’s wonderful poem “The Road Not Taken” completely summed up our last and final day on our US Western road trip which we spent at Rocky Mountain National Park:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

There are basically two ways to drive to the top of Fall River Pass and the Alpine Visitor Center – the paved, scenic byway known as Trail Ridge Road or the gravel-one-way-only-formerly-an-Indian-trail road known as Old Fall River Road. Guess which one we took?? And like Frost’s poem, it made all the difference.

When we stopped at the Fall River Visitor Center, the park ranger convinced me that taking the slower, less populated (as well as motorcycle free) road was worth the trip.

Old Fall River road - Rocky Mountain NP

Old Fall River Road

Driving slowly (as in 15 miles/hour), I slowly edged my way up, hugging the side of the mountain when I could because there was no guard rail. The views were amazing and we found ourselves stopping often.

Our first break was to explore a waterfall.Waterfall off Old Fall River RoadAs the boys scrambled up and over rocks, my oldest decided to get a little TOO up-close and personal and fell in. Shaking my head, I threw him the keys to our car and he changed into whatever clothes he could easily find in the suitcases before continuing his adventure.

Wet clothes after a dip

The road was steep and although we found ourselves gasping at the scenery, I didn’t feel comfortable pulling over until we reached a flatter area and a mountain meadow. I truly think it was impossible to take a bad picture in this people-free area.Rocky Mountain NP

Soon after, we entered into the alpine tundra zone where snow never melts – even in the heat of the summer.

Glacial snow field at Rocky Mountain NP

Glacial snow

We continued to inch our way up to the top, the Alpine Visitor Center within sight until finally . . . we were there.

As we searched for a spot in a parking lot crammed full of motorcycles, tour buses, cars, and RV trailers, I silently thanked the park ranger for her recommendation to take the “road less taken.”

Alpine Visitor Center rocky mountain NP

Alpine Visitor Center

[box]Both the Trail Ridge Road and Old Fall River Road are open seasonally. Check at park visitor centers to see whether they are open when you visit. [/box]

Next up: Our last stop on our US western road trip . . .