Rocky Mountain National Park

09/18 – 09/24/22

The Journey East 2022 – Leg 2

Next stop is Fort Collins CO with a layover in Rawlins WY. We left Utah on I-84, picked up I-80 in Echo, UT and headed east. It was a GREAT travel day thru Wyoming. If you have ever driven across Wyoming, you know the winds are almost always blowing with gusts sometimes reaching 60MPH. Today, we were lucky and the weather was calm.

Boondocking in Wyoming

As I was planning the route I found a place to boondock outside of Rawlins along a reservoir on BLM land. When Bill and I were reviewing the route, we discovered that the reservoir was 12 miles (this I knew) down a dirt road (this I did not know). Neither of us were crazy about driving 12 miles on a dirt road. Back to the drawing board…

Bill found a place to stop a little further down just off the interstate. When we arrived, he got a wild hair up his you know where and wanted to explore a little further down this WY state highway. Now, I am not one that likes to deviate from the plan much, especially in a 40’ bus. In my opinion, there are times to be spontaneous and times to stick to the plan. But I am trying to step outside my comfort zone and decide to just let him “explore” with no idea where we are going or where we might be able to turn around.

The result was finding a huge pull out about 7 miles off the interstate. We were on top of a hill and had a lovely view of the countryside. Score! It was quiet with only a few cars passing every now and then. We saw a herd of elk and a herd of antelope with the occasional howl of a distant coyote . The star gazing was phenomenal! It was like being inside a planetarium! Way to go, Bill! And way to go, Erin! Putting your trust and faith in your husband and relinquishing your need to control the situation. LOL

Moochdocking in Colorado

The next day we had a short 2 ½ hour drive to Fort Collins, CO. Instead of going back to the interstate, we picked up US 287 just north of us and took it all the way down. We passed thru several small ghost towns, drove thru Laramie and even saw a coyote hanging out on the side of the road. I love travelling on the backroads, they provide a much different view of our beautiful country than what you get staying on the freeways.

Our home for the week is in Bill’s cousin’s front yard. They live on a dead-end street with a large area for us to park Theo. Yay us! It was a busy week for them and for Bill but we still managed to get a good visit in. Since we are trying to use the meat from our freezer, that no longer works, I was able to make us all dinners during the week. I think it helped them out some too. I mean who wants to come home from a busy day at work and cook? And besides, I didn’t have anything else to do 😉. We were all winners!

Fort Collins, CO

Fort Collins was founded in 1864 as a military outpost for the US Army and is now home to Colorado State University. It has a thriving downtown, known as “Old Town” where there are several restaurants, bars, bakeries, shops and boutiques to explore. We had dinner at The Still Whiskey Steaks. Their food was pretty amazing but their whiskey sour was a little skimpy. Bill was shocked when it was delivered in a small little champagne glass instead of a manly highball glass. LOL

After dinner we strolled around Old Town and before we left we ducked into Mary’s Mountain Cookies for dessert. OMG, these cookies are soooooooo good! They are huge, thick (but not too thick) and delicious. They offer a large variety and if you buy 6 you get 2 free! One cookie was big enough to share. Share??? Moi??? Well since we got 2 each, I guess we can share. 😉 We were all into trying our cookies that I failed to snap a picture. Womp Womp…

Last year when we were here, time did not allow us to explore Fort Collins. I am glad we had time this year to wander around. It is a nice area located along the front range of the Rockies and has a great vibe!

Rocky Mountain National Park

Located just over an hour away from Fort Collins is Rocky Mountain National Park. Again, we were not able to visit last year when we were in the area, so this year I made a point to extend our stay a little longer so we could really enjoy the area.

First things first, though. Rocky Mountain National Park is visited by over 4 million people each year and to keep overcrowding down, the park has implemented the Timed Entry Permit system. When I planned the trip, it was too early to get our permit. What do you think happened? If you guessed that I forgot about it, you are right! Insert head slap here. Fortunately, I did remember it one night while we were talking after dinner. Unfortunately, when I checked online that night, they were sold out. Fortunately, they hold back 25% of the permits to release the night before your entry date. Where do you think I was on Friday afternoon at 4:55 PM? If you guessed that I was online waiting for the tickets to be released, you are right. We lucked out and scored a pass for an 11:00 AM entry. Phew…

Here is my advice; if you are visiting any National Park, go to their website and always check out “Plan Your Visit”. It will contain all the information you will need to know before you get to the park. Many of the more popular parks have implemented this timed entry system. Then set a reminder on your calendar to remind you when to secure your pass. 😉

Fall River Road

Our day started at the Fall River Visitor Center and we decided we would start our visit driving the Fall River Road, which is a one-way dirt road, up to the Alpine Visitor Center. The road was built in 1913 and was the first route for cars into the park. It winds 11-miles through the forest up to an elevation of 11,796’, traveling from the subalpine to the alpine. The ride was nice and we stopped several times to take in the views.

Along the road is Chasm Falls. There is a short .2 mile round trip trail down to the falls. No problem for us since we’ve been walking 1 ½ miles almost every day now. Wrong… Walking down to the falls was no problem. Walking back up was a little more difficult. At 9,000′ the air is thinner making it harder to breathe and causing muscles to fatigue quicker. Were we struggling? Not really, but we could certainly feel it. I wouldn’t have wanted to do much more. Hahaha!

Alpine Visitor Center

It took about 1 ½ hours to get to Alpine Visitor Center, which by the way, is the highest elevation visitors center in the National Park System. We stopped and had some lunch, got the stamp for the passport book and a souvenir pin for our board. Across the parking lot we saw people walking up the Alpine Ridge trail, a short .6-mile round trip up to amazing views in all directions, or so said the guide. I was tempted to do it but at 11,796′ and an elevation gain of 162’… it wasn’t hard to talk myself out of it.

The alpine ecosystem is very different from the subalpine. The soil is extremely thin, UV light is stronger, it is windy and dry, and it is pretty cold. We went from 70° at the park entrance to approximately 50° at the Alpine Visitor Center. With the whipping wind, it was pretty chilly.

Trail Ridge Road

Leaving the Alpine Visitor Center we picked up the Trail Ridge Road and continued west for a few miles before turning around and heading back to Estes Park. Trail Ridge Road/US-34 is the main highway that travels through the park. It is 50 miles long and its highest point is 12,183′, making it the highest continuous paved highway in North America. Yes, just over 2 ¼ miles above sea level!

Before I start telling you about what we saw on the Trail Ridge Road, I have a question… Do you like listening to music when you are driving in scenic areas or do you like the peace and quiet? We have two camps in our vehicle, Bill prefers the peace and quiet and I enjoy music, so we compromise. Driving Fall River Road, it was peace and quiet but the Trail Ridge Road drive demanded a soundtrack. And who better to listen to than John Denver when you are driving though the Rockies? So now, imagine John singing Rocky Mountain High, Sweet Surrender or Mother Nature’s Son as you browse the photos. My soul was happy 😊

Passing Poudre Lake, headwaters for the scenic Poudre River, we crossed over the Continental Divide and stopped at Lake Irene for a quick walk around the lake. It was a nice place to stretch the legs. A few miles further down the road is a trail that leads to the headwaters of the Colorado River. Time was starting to tick away and we needed to head back towards Estes Park, so we turned around at Lake Irene.

We were treated to one fabulous view after another as we followed the Trail Ridge Road back to Horseshoe Park. As we made our way back down to the subalpine we got back into the forest and enjoyed seeing the beautiful aspens just beginning to show their fall colors. What an awesome drive and great opportunity to get up into the tundra of these higher elevations.

Alluvial Fan

On our way out of the park, we stopped at the Alluvial Fan. At 11,000’, the dam at Lawn Lake gave way in the early morning hours on July 15th, 1982 and the water came rushing down the Roaring River 3000′ into Horseshoe Park and eventually continued into the Fall River and ultimately flooded Estes Park. The surging water displaced all these rocks and boulders, some as heavy as 400 tons. Pretty amazing! I found this video on YouTube documenting the event. It is an interesting watch.

Wrap Up

All in all, I think it is safe to say Bill and I were just a little let down with this park. It feels crazy to say that. Like CRAZY! The park is beautiful but we just did not have any “Oh Wow!” moments. Have all the other National Parks we have been fortunate enough to visit, spoiled us? And we still have so many more to check off! We were talking about our top 5 National Parks we have seen so far, and this is our list:

1. Glacier National Park
2. Yellowstone National Park
3. Pictured Rocks National Seashore
4. Grand Canyon National Park
5. Crater Lake National Park

As for Colorado, I prefer the San Juan Range of the Rockies. If you want to read about our time in that area last year, click here. The Rockies are beautiful and I love it here, especially when there is a little snow capping the peaks. There are more areas in the Rockies that we still need to explore, so my views may change!

The Stanley Hotel

Leaving the park, we headed into Estes Park and The Stanley Hotel. The Stanley has connections to the movie “The Shining”, which is one of the creepiest movies I’ve ever seen. I cannot watch it without having nightmares. Somewhere along the way, several years ago, I heard about the Stanley Hotel and The Shining and how the interior was used for filming, while the exterior shots were filmed at Timberline Lodge in Oregon. I knew The Stanley was in Colorado but was not sure exactly where it was. When I started researching the area, I found it was right where we were going to be.

We pulled up to the parking lot and found it cost $10 to park and go in the hotel. That was a little shocking, but we decided, why not? We got a cool token that could be kept as a souvenir or traded in at the bar for $5 off of a beverage. The hotel opened in 1909 and was built by Freelan Stanley of Stanley Steamer. As we walked into the lobby and around the hotel, I quickly realized the movie was NOT filmed here. Oh Google… what I learned is that The Stanley served as inspiration for Stephen King’s book.

Stephen King, in an interview, said he and his wife stayed here one night, in room 217, late in the season and were the only guests that night.  They were served dinner in the empty dining room with canned orchestrated music being played in the background and the long empty corridors were eerie. Later that night he had a nightmare about his 3-year old son being chased through the corridors, looking back over his shoulder, eyes wide and screaming. He woke up and realized the had the bones of the book set in his mind.

The hotel really plays up the “The Shining” connection. They have a Shining Tour, Room 217 is “The Shining” room, they do a Shining Ball and even have a hedge maze out front.  Most of the drinks on their bar menu are even Shining themed. We stopped in the bar and had a couple of libations while we kept an eye out for Grady 😉.

Its definitely worth the stop. The hotel is elegant even though it is haunted and has been featured on “Ghost Hunters” and “Ghost Adventures”. The hotel leads monthly ghost hunts and offers daily 60-minute tours.

Refrigerator Update

We are still living out of our coolers. I was able to store most of the meat in Bill’s cousin’s deep freeze. The meat that had thawed became our dinners this week. So far, nothing has been wasted. Yay! We have just over 2 weeks until the fridge is rebuilt. Its tough planning meals daily and making grocery runs every few days for fresh produce and ice… uggg.

We had a GREAT time catching up with Bobby and Catherine, seeing Fort Collins and Rocky Mountain National Park. Off to our next adventure waiting in Nebraska!