I-70 Wind Farm

This wind farm just north of I-70 comes right up to the highway. I'm not sure why so many of them are placed so far away from the highways. They are fun to watch as you drive by. Zach called one an "airplane!"

Playground Break

Andrea figured out on the way out to Colorado that Zach travelled much better if you stopped every hour and a half and let him play in a local playground.

With her trusty iPhone, she was able to find the local parks in the small towns along I-70, and Zach appreciated the efforts.

He likes slides and can climb up the stairs in the elaborate structures you find in all playgrounds now, a cluster of slides and swings coming off a platform, most surfaces rubberized to minimize injuries.

We found something else new that he likes, the swing. I think he could sit one all day.

Goodbye Mountains

We got coffee and donuts at the Estes Park Safeway on the way out of town. The sun was rising behind a little mountain, and the rays were visible way up into the morning sky.

City Elk

On the way out of Estes Park, we saw a small harem of elk and their bull. He looked relaxed and comfortable in the parking lot of a store right on main street. Almost like he had been hired to pose for the Elk Days celebration.

Wild Basin

We found a more remote section of Rocky Mountain National Park called Wild Basin that we had to check out. The Ranger Station at the entrance was closed for the season, but the area was open. There were many hikers and a big network of trails going back into the basin.

We took a short hike that followed the beautiful boulder-strewn stream back to the Calypso Cascades. Zach stayed mostly in the backpack, and there were many aspens in the mixed groves we walked through. The cascades were interesting, but not that scenic.

Beaver Meadows

We found a secluded valley in the Rocky Mountain National Park that we could go to watch the elk during their active rut season.

We got within about 20' of a yearling buck, eating willow shrubs and totally ignoring us. On the other side of the road were a couple of older bulls fighting over a lone female. We listened to their antlers clacking and their occasional trumpeting from about 300 yards away.

Rocks

Zach loves rocks. He loves to throw them, he loves to put them in his pocket, but most of all, he loves to search for them.

The yard outside of the cabin had plenty of them. Andrea would help him find the best ones and cheer enthusiastically when he threw them. She would also make cairn stacks of rocks and Zach would either knock them over with his hand, or more impressively, throw a rock and knock them over.

Bear Lake

We had to go up to Bear Lake as the site of the start of our memorable 2005 hike. At that time, Andrea and I hiked from Bear Lake past the little Matterhorn and Odessa & Fern Lakes and came out in the glacial moraine valley. We saw a bear, and Andrea had an odoriferous sub sandwich in a backpack on her back. We figured out that we were violating the most basic anti-bear rule only after the bear had passed. You must never have stinky food. Andrea also twisted her ankle, and had to walk about 5 miles on it.

This time, we just walked around the lake and let Zach enjoy the scene.

Up to Bear Lake

This shot on the road up to Bear Lake says it all. Yellow and reddish aspens, the view of the mountain peaks on a winding mountain road, and two crazy bicyclists pumping their way up the grade. Colorado mountain bicyclists invoke a reaction in me that is one part envy and admiration and another part dread and disbelief. Wouldn't it be wonderful to be in such good shape that you decide a good way to spend Saturday afternoon would be to ride a bicycle up a steep grade for hours? The other thing that I always think is that the views must change so slowly at the rate you have to bike, but I suppose that's not a real problem. I'm sure the pace of bicycling teaches you to be patient and appreciate being able to take in a view rather than speeding past it.

Red Aspens

We saw patches of red in the aspens. At first we thought it was another species. Then we determined that they reddish trees were in the aspen groves, and probably aspens. I assumed it was a genetic mutation, but Andrea thought it might just be normal variation.

We never did get close to the red trees, but they were consistently in or near aspens, so I believe they were special red aspens.

On the other hand, there were some lovely golden ferns.

Jagged Peaks

I looked through the pictures from our Colorado trip and found that many of the peaks were quite striking.

Blowout

Tell me that doesn't look like an old volcano with the peak blown out.

Elk Jam

Big herds of elk were scattered throughout Rocky Mountain National Park. The herds of people that came to town for Elk Days flocked to the park and clogged the roads.

During rut, when all the elk mating for an entire year gets squeezed into a few short weeks, the elk become somewhat fearless. Bull elks lounge around with their harems, and don't seem to care or notice a long line of cars and a crowd of people with cameras only 20 feet away.

I did not get to see an enraged bull elk gore someone with a camera with a 2½ foot long lens, but I was sure it would happen. That's what they call collateral damage, and bonus watching material.

Private

There are private cabins in Rocky Mountain National Park. Without checking before I write this, I believe the cabins were private property prior to the establishment of the park, and have stayed in the hands of private individuals. If this is true, the cabins must have been passed down from the original owners to their children, because I can't imagine that the original owners are still alive.

So the question in my mind is whether or not some of them are still inhabitable, who lives in them, and for how much of the year.

This one has a "Private" sign on it, but shows every indication of being boarded up.

I believe there are some cabins in the park that you can rent to stay in for your visit.

If a bear doesn't eat you.

Alluvial Fan

We loved this place before when we visited a few years ago, and still do. The enormous field of boulders that was pushed down the hill make for a great playground to scramble around in. Zach loved throwing rocks in the stream and climbing on the boulders.

Changing Aspens

I had never been in Colorado or anywhere in the mountains when the aspen trees were changing like this before.

It was beautiful.

I noticed them on the way out. I flew to Denver, then took off for Las Vegas. This means we took off and were still pretty low when we flew over the Rockies. I got the same view flying back. I noticed that the aspens are not very thick anywhere. The evergreens mostly dominate, with aspen groves shot through them like veins of gold in a piece of ore.

I've always liked the sound the leaves on a grove of aspens makes in the wind. It sounds like ocean waves. I've looked at the leaves before and noticed that the leave is shaped a lot like a spade on a deck of cards, pointing down. In the wind, they twist back and forth. So when they hit each other, it's like a lot of little hands clapping.

When they are backlit by the sun, with that bright gold color that is already stunning to begin with, they shimmer in a magical way. It's like the whole tree becomes shimmering gold jewelry.

The Downside of Elkhorn

You're probably reading this in reverse order, so read the one below first.

As I said in the "previous" post that you haven't gotten to yet, we were quite fortunate to have found a place to stay.

Zach and I immediately took a walkabout to check it out. There were cool features, like the bonfire pit and the big stable and the horses, but there were signs that Elkhorn Lodge was past its prime.

There was the general need of a coat of paint on most surfaces, as an overall observation. The walk showed beat up old shuffleboard court and a playground with 40 year old equipment that had seen better days. The crown jewel of old decay was the swimming pool being used as a repository for mulch.

The cabin was lacking a decent shower, so we only bit the bullet and used it once during the two days. But all these things could be forgiven. What was unforgiven was early in the morning of the last night we were there, when the old propane fired heater (which didn't do much to keep the cabin warm to begin with) blew out and filled the cabin full of propane as we slept. Fortunately, I woke up, probably from the stench. I was able to shut the gas off and opened a door and turned on a fan and aired the place out. Zach got cold and kept waking up. He would let me cover him, and then go to sleep and eventually roll over and kick the covers off. I never really recovered and never got back to sleep. When we got up and started cleaning the place to depart, we discovered that mice or rats had broken into the potato chips and had a party in the night. I've never seen so many droppings on a counter before and hope I never do again.

All that said, it was a great adventure and great fun. I'd do it again.