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.

Elkhorn Lodge

We scrambled for a last minute place to stay in Estes Park without a reservation and ended up at Elkhorn Lodge.

It was right next to downtown, yet out of town and kind of in the hills, and it was rustic and scenic.

We did not know it was "Elk Days" in Estes Park, so we were fortunate to find somewhere to stay.

Moose Shy

There was a great big traffic jam and scramble when we left Estes Park and headed up toward the entrance to the national park. There was a big moose just 30 feet off the road in some pines, but he stayed mostly hidden until making a dash for greener pastures.

Animal Jammin'

We started seeing the wildlife before we even got to Estes Park. Here is a herd of Bighorn Sheep in Big Thompson canyon.

The other pictures were at the visitor center when you first get into Estes Park. I think this is the Rocky Mountain National Park equivalent of the Wal-Mart Greeter.

Lake Rocks

Zach, not realizing how much his parents despised the area and were dying to get out, found something he truly loves. Rocks + Water = heaven. He could have sat there throwing rocks into the water all day.

Red Feather Lakes

We decided to try something new. We'd been to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park, and thought it would be nice to see some of the primitive areas nearby. We saw an area called Red Feather Lakes north of the park, and found a cabin online called Hilltop General Store.

Big Mistake.

First, the region just an hour's drive north of the park was more like the crappiest parts of Wyoming than the typically beautiful mountains of Colorado. The area reminded me of the Wichita "Mountains" in Oklahoma. This would have been tolerable, except that we had travelled so far and such beauty was nearby, but out of reach.

Then we get to the cabin we reserved, and it's on a lake that was drained. Nothing like a crappy old cabin in a gravel parking lot next to a drained lake.

We abandoned our deposit and left for Estes Park.

Fort Collins Wal-Mart

They do everything right in Colorado. Even the Wal-Mart did not have that trashy impoverished feel that most Wal-Marts have. This one had nice landscaping out front, complete with a retaining wall that had a little Zach sized sidewalk top on it.

While quite pleased to be walking back and forth on his own personal raised walkway, he really loved to throw the rocks in the bed around the bushes. Plenty of rocks to throw in Colorado!

Green Valley Ranch

We stayed in Green Valley Ranch in Henderson Nevada for a sales conference. I couldn't help but wonder, since the resort didn't seem that old, how they got so many perfect enormous palms? Did they buy them fully grown?