29 May 2019 Moonshine

Today we decided to explore some of the other sights in the area. We visited McConkie Ranch, a private ranch northwest of Vernal, which has an extensive collection of Petroglyphs and Pictographs. The trail along the cliff face was not well done and was a scramble (Etta seemed to enjoy it) but the Petroglyphs and pictographs were amazing.

We then drove to the BLM land north of town and hiked to the Moonshine Arch. The trail is only 0.8 miles but the last half mile is a pretty steep uphill. Even Etta was panting for air. We arrived at the arch and started exploring the area and taking pictures when three ATVs pulled up and parked directly under the arch (ruining the picture opportunities)! The drivers did not seem to be in any hurry to leave, so we shot our photos and headed back to the truck. As we hiked back, the clouds closed in and it began to sprinkle. It was time to go.  

Welcome to Vernal

McConkie Ranch plaque

McConkie Ranch Petroglyph #1

McConkie Ranch Petroglyph #2

McConkie Ranch Petroglyph #3

McConkie Ranch Petroglyph #4

McConkie Ranch Petroglyph #5

Moonshine Arch

Moonshine Arch

28 May 2019 Happy Anniversary!

Today is the one year anniversary of our going full time in the Wanderer. One year ago, on Memorial Day, we moved out of our apartment and into the Wanderer. We are loving our new lifestyle and seeing the beauty of this great country.

David worked in the morning and early afternoon. Afterwards, we went back to the NM and visited the Quarry where the dinosaur bones were quarried from 1909-1923. The bones of over 400 individual dinosaurs were dug out from this quarry during this period. They then made an incredible wall of bones, with the bones of over 100 individual dinosaurs still in the rock as a display and a teaching tool. It is an incredible display.

We then made ourselves a wonderful grilled Filet Mignon for dinner. We had a bottle of wine we picked up in France (2011 Chateau Bel-Air Bordeaux) on one of our trips we have dragged around for the last year just for this occasion. We were a bit worried that the changing temperatures and vibration might have hurt it. But it was WONDERFUL. It was a very fitting dinner to celebrate a wonderful year.

The Fossil Quarry

One of the Dinos they recovered

The wall of bones!

27 May 2019 Harpers Corner

We got a late start today, being Memorial Day, after enjoying a slow morning wakeup. There were rain showers in the area but seemed to holding off. When we left the Wanderer, the temperatures were a very pleasant 66 degrees. So we headed out without jackets. As we headed up Harpers Corner Road, the temperature began to drop and the rain showers began to close in. So we decided to skip the planned hike and drove the road to the end stopping at the overlooks to gawk at the beautiful canyons. Below the road extended the Green River and Yamba River Gorges. The views from the road wetted our appetites to get closer in the following days. We then drove into Vernal to look for some beer and wine. Unfortunately, the only state run liqueur store (we are in Utah after all) was closed for the holiday. But the Vernal Brewery was open so we stopped to sample the local brew. We were pleasantly surprised at the quality of the beer (the food was disappointing) and picked up a six pack (they actually had to walk it out the side door because they could not let “heavy” beer go out the front door).

Entrance Sign for the Canyon section of the park

Green River and Yamba Canyons

26 May 2019 Dinosaur National Monument

After watching church and having Mexican Food Sunday at Betto’s in Vernal, we drove into the Fossil Bone Quarry entrance to the park. Being Memorial Day, the park was really busy. We stopped at the visitor center, collected our 35^thPassport Stamp, watched the park movie, did a little shopping at the gift store, and talked with the ranger to see what trails would be fun to hike and to check on the road conditions. The monument was first created in 1915 with 80 acres around the fossil bone quarry site. In 1938 it was expanded to include the Green River and Yamba River gorges. 

We decided to skip the Fossil Bone Quarry since, due to the crowds, you had to take a shuttle to the quarry exhibit and there were kids EVERYWHERE! So we drove down the Cub Creek Road on the Tilted Rocks Tour (we bought the tour book in the store). The first stop on the road is Swelter Shelter where they found stone tools dating back 7000 years old and some interesting, but younger, pictographs and petroglyphs from the Fremont period. We stopped at several of the overlooks to take in the scenery and drove on to the Josie Morris Ranch. Josie began homesteading here in 1914 at age 40. She was rumored to be a friend of  the outlaw Butch Cassidy (who’s Hole in the Wall gang would hideout in the nearby canyons). She lived a 19 century lifestyle in the twentieth century. She lived on the ranch until she passed away at age 86. After examining the ranch buildings, we hike up to the Box Canyon before heading back to the Wanderer for dinner. 

Entrance Sign

pictographs and petroglyphs from the Fremont period

pictographs and petroglyphs from the Fremont period

The Behemoth in Utah

Split Mountain

The wild flowers are starting to bloom

25 May 2019 Estes Park CO to Jenson UT.

Knowing we had a long drive today, we hit the road by 9am. We took I-25 north to Wyoming (since we had been in Wyoming last summer, it does not count as a new state), then I-80 west across southern Wyoming to US191. Southern Wyoming is really pretty with open plans, rolling hills, and interesting rock outcroppings. But it is also obvious that the winters are brutal. We took US191, the Flaming Gorge National Scenic Byway, south toward Vernal. The route had several long climbs, one really steep (9% grade) climb and several 6-10% descents. The truck handled the descents with aplomb. The engine breaks work fantastic and David generally did not have to use the breaks except going into curves. The climbs, for the most part were, were non-events. But the 10% grade did cause us to slow down to 30MPH at full throttle. The transmission started cycling between 2^ndand third gear at one point, throwing us back and forth (stuff was all over the place in the Wanderer!) until David let off the throttle. But we made the top without any other incident. We transitioned from Wyoming to Utah (state number 15) about halfway down the byway. 

We are staying at the Outlaw Trail RV Park ($25 per night, no discounts) in Jenson, Utah. It’s located right outside the Fossil Bone Quarry entrance to Dinosaur National Monument. Its an older park, at the sites are pretty tight, but the owners are trying to make improvements each year. The utilities are all good, the site is all gravel and the inside roads are paved but really narrow. Then had to bend back a young tree so we could put our galley slide out. Otherwise, it will work for ten days.

24 May 2019 We love Microtracks!

The snow finally stopped about 10Pm last night. Around 4Am, the wind crashed against the Wanderer and for the next seven hours the wind shook the Wanderer, the new awnings over the slide outs flapped, vibrated, and caused the whole rig to shudder like it was trying to take off. The winds were out of the south at 20-30MPH with gusts in the 40-50MPH range. So much for sleeping! But by noon the wind had dropped off and the temperatures climbed into the 50s. So we went back to RMNP and drove up to the Bear Lake parking lot. There was a line of cars waiting for parking spots. After about 15 minutes, we were able to get a parking spot and grabbed our hiking staffs and our new MicroTracks. At the start of the trail to Bear Lake we stopped and put our Microtracks on. The difference was incredible! At first we timidly stepped onto the hard packed snow, expecting to slip and slide like everyone around us. But the Microtracks dug in and we were walking on packed snow like it was not even there! By the time we were halfway around we were completely sold! It was amazing the number of people slipping, sliding, and falling on the trails that were wearing completely inappropriate street shoes and sneakers.  The trail was pretty much snow packed most of the way around the lake. The views of the snow-covered peaks were magnificent. It was clear that there had been significant snowfall at the higher elevations. Bear Lake was still frozen over. 

We had so much fun hiking around Bear Lake with our Microtracks, we decided to keep going and headed up to Nymph Lake. Again, the trail was mostly snow packed and slippery but we cruised along with complete confidence. The views from Nymph Lake up into the high peaks was magnificent. We were definitely feeling the altitude (9600ft). We felt good enough to keep going and we hiked up to Dream Lake. This was the high country that David really wanted Leslie to see. He had hiked this trail previously (but without the snow) by himself in the early 2000s. Leslie was definitely feeling the altitude now (10,000ft), so we decided to head back down. Again the Microtracks were incredible as we tramped down slopes that had everyone else falling, sliding or sitting down and scooting on their butts. All in all, a fantastic end to our time at this park. 

We had called to check on the status of Trail Ridge Road and found out it was still closed due to the heavy snow and high winds and would not likely open for a week. So we drove back into town, picked up some supplies (our next location is going to be pretty remote), topped up the fuel tank and then stopped at Smokin Dave’s for one more excellent BBQ dinner. 

Tomorrow we head for Utah and Dinosaur National Monument.

Bear Creek Trail

The High Country

Us at Dream Lake

Leslie at Nymph Lake

Bear Lake

21-23 May 2019 Dreary Days

It has snowed, sleeted and rained since the 19^th. We woke to 2-3 inches of snow on the ground Tuesday morning but just slightly higher in elevation, the accumulation was higher Snow up in the higher elevations was 2-3 feet. Just an elevation change of 100 feet made a big difference in how much snow accumulated. By noon it had mostly melted off and although it snowed most of the last three days, it has melted as soon as it hits the ground. David worked most of Tuesday and Thursday. On Wednesday, we drove down to Loveland to pick up some items we can’t get in Estes Park. We also went to Lazy Days RV to pick up a few things and look over their inventory. Lazy Days is featured on the TV show “Big Time RV”. On the way back, as we drove up through the canyon on US34, Leslie spotted a big horn sheep jumping the steep cliffs of the canyon above the road. We definitely enjoyed the drive through the canyon this time compared to our stressful drive up a couple of weeks ago. 

Tuesday afternoon a steady stream of Air Stream travel trailers began pulling into the park. There is an Air Stream RV rally going on through this weekend. Its fun to see so many people dedicated to the brand coming together. 

The weather forecast for tomorrow looks much better so we hope we can get back into the park for a hike. 

More Snow

Air Stream Rally

20 May 2019 Baby its Cold Outside!

We woke this morning to no snow on the ground. Looking at the hills around us, everything 100 ft or so higher in elevation was snow covered, but we were just wet in the RV park. Snow Warnings were out for today through Wednesday morning. The snow has been coming down, off and on, all day but so far is not sticking to the ground here in town. They are predicting 2-3 feet of snow in the mountains, which could spell the end of any hope of hiking to Emerald Lake or driving Trail Ridge Road from end to end before we have to leave Saturday. 

With the weather promising to be frightful, we decided it was a good day to catch up our diary and blog, do laundry and stay warm. Leslie made a quick run into town for some more supplies before the snow really started coming down (we can’t run out of wine and beer in the middle of a snow storm!!). Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

19 May 2019 Stanley Hotel

We woke to cloudy skies and cool temperatures. After watching our church service on YouTube, we headed out for our Sunday Mexican fix at Casa Grande. Leslie wanted to go to the Stanley Hotel, where parts of the Movie “The Shining” were filmed. It’s an elegant hotel that was built in 1914 with beautiful views of the mountains. We pulled up the driveway and stopped at the guard shack where we learned that it was cost us $10 per person to walk thorough the lobby and another $10 for parking. Ridiculous!! We decided we did not want to see it that bad and turned around. Since the hotel is along the US34 into the park, a different entrance than we had been through so far, we decided to take a drive into the park. The forewarned winter storm had not arrived yet, so we stopped off at Sheep Lake to look for Big Horn Sheep. They are seen more often on the rocky slopes above the lake than anywhere else in the park. But none were to be seen today. We continued on and took the side road to Falls Creek Road. Falls Creek Road was built just after the park was inaugurated, 1916-1918 and follows Fall Creek, one way, up to the continental divide and eventually runs into Trail Ridge road. But it does not open until early July due to snow. 

Along the open paved portion of the road, lies Alluvial Fan Falls. These falls were formed in 1982 when an old dam at Lawn Lake (built in 1903, before the park was formed) on the Roaring River collapsed during heavy rain sending a wall of 26 million gallons of water roaring down the canyon. Along the way the wall of water picked up huge boulders and tore out/snapped trees as it rushed down hill. When the torrent came to Horseshoe Park, the waters spread out and dropped its load of broken twisted trees, boulders and tons of sand in a fan shaped deposit. The water continued down hill killing three campers and roaring through town. The Olympic Dam at lake Estes stopped the flood from continuing down hill.  

There is currently an east and west trail up to the falls. But there is a project in work to tie them together in a wheel chair accessible trail. We hike the west trail as we went down the road to the Horseshoe park picnic area (lots of folks were parked there to go fishing on Falls Creek) and the east trail as we drove back out. As we came out of Falls Creek road, the snow started to come down in earnest and we decided to head for the Wanderer. It rained, sleeted, frozen rain and snowed most of the afternoon and night. 

 

Stanley Hotel with Elk Cows in front

Alluvial Fan Falls

18 May 2019 Fly Fishing the Big Thompson River

We were up early, eager to get out and catch some fish. The temperature was just above freezing when we left the Wanderer. Our layers of clothing kept us warm. We drove into town and went to Kirk’s Fly Shop to meet up with our guide, Steven. Steven got us suited up with waders, wading boots, and fishing license. The six hour tour/class cost $375, but included all the gear we would need and lunch. We piled into Stevens little Forester, which was a bit hazardous with flies and hooks everywhere. We drove through town to the golf course and Estes Lake. Big Thompson River flows through town and into the lake. After a few casting lessons (where we learned we were not trying to imitate Robert Redford in A River Runs Through It (That’s the old guy way of casting!)), we waded down into the river about halfway up our shins. Steven had rigged the $1000 fly rods up with an interesting fly set up. About 4 feet from the end o the leader was a white bobber, a foot down from that was a couple lead shot, then a foot down from that was a purple fuzzy worm thing with a small fly (with the only hook) about four inches down from the fuzzy worm. Steven explained that 90% of a trout’s food is caught under water and only 10% on the surface. So we were fishing with wet flies. Much different from what we had expected.

I don’t think we were in the water five minutes before Leslie pulled in her first fish. We changed locations four or five times. In some spots Leslie was hot, in others David was hot. Overall we caught, and released, over 20 fish (we started loosing count when they came in fast and furious) with a combination of Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout and Suckers (Colorado equivalent of Cat Fish). We had a blast! Steven was an excellent teacher and guide (he is all of 25 years old?). We found out it was his birthday today! We learned a lot about our casting technique, the different flies, fuzzy worms, roe and how to rig for stream fishing. When we got back to the shop, we picked up some of the fuzzy worms and flies that we had used during the day for our future fishing opportunities. Surprisingly, neither one of us fell while wading, our feet did not get horribly cold (yes they did get somewhat cold considering the water is 34 degrees) and our legs did not get cold either. The rain held off so we had good weather (could have been warmer) other than the wind was blowing hard which made casting a bit more difficult. 

Fly fishing for six hours took more out of us than that 6.3 mile hike and we had muscles aching we did not even know were there! Which of course was a prime excuse to stop off at Rock Cut Brewery again (not that we need one!) for a couple of muscle soothing brews! This is a great Rocky Mountain day!!!

Leslie fishing on the Big Thompson River.

17 May 2019 Shopping for Long Johns

David had some work to finish up in the morning before the weekend. Afterwards, we headed into town to find Leslie some long underwear. The first shop we stopped in had what she needed along with some glasses retainers (god forbid if our prescription glasses fall off into the water and get swept away) and David found some new sunglasses. Then we went on to town to pick up some groceries. Feeling thirsty, we decided to try another brewery and stopped at Rock Cut Brewery. It was an excellent choice and obviously the favorite of the locals. The beer was great and the atmosphere much more lively. David noticed a guy at the bar that he was certain worked at Lockheed but he could not remember his name. Since the man seemed to go out of his way not to notice us, he decided to not pester him.

16 May 2019 Maintenance Day

David worked most of the morning and spent the afternoon doing maintenance on the truck and Wanderer. He was able to clean the threads on the bolt that holds the footpad on the Big Foot stabilizer and thread the new nut on. That was a relief since we had been going with only three feet planted in the high winds over the last few days. The wanderer was a rockin’. He also drained the hot water system and removed the anode. We had gone for a year plus a few trips with the factory-installed anode and it was pretty much gone. There was an inch of crud from the old anode on the bottom of the tank. About then a park volunteer came around and informed him that they would be shutting down the park water supply due to a water leak but it would be back on soon. So David could not flush out the crude in the tank until they turned it back on (2 hours later). Once the park water was back on, all the crud from the old anode washed out, the new anode went in, and the tank is working noticeably better since. It was also time to check the house batteries, which were just fine. So all is well. 

Over morning caffeine (coffee for him, tea for her), we had decided to book a fly-fishing trip for Saturday since the weather reports had improved. It was still going to be cool (mid 30’s to mid 40’s and windy), but the rain probability had dropped to only 20%. So we dragged out our cold weather gear to see if we had what we would need with us (we had not planned on being out in cold weather when we packed). Leslie did not have any long johns and considering we would be standing in near freezing water for hours, she was definitely going to need some.  Otherwise we were set. 

15 May 2019 Critters Galore

After the Bierstadt Lake hike, we decided we needed something a bit longer, to stretch our legs. Based on the information we had gotten from the Ranger on Sunday, and since Leslie was not up for another trudge through the snow, we decided to do a loop which starts out on the Fern Lake trail to ‘The Pool” and then come back on the Cub Lake trail. When we got to the trailheads, we found most of the parking full, but we found a parking spot about halfway between the Fern Lake Trailhead and the Cub Lake Trailhead. We had to walk down the dirt road, dodging cars and trucks to the Fern Lake Trailhead. The Fern Lake trail follows a meandering Big Thompson River that was rushing pretty full and fast from the snow melting off. The temperatures were a perfect mid 60’s for hiking. The trail climbs all the way from the trailhead to “the Pool” but it is spread out over 2.5 miles so it was not difficult. The trail wandered into forest and open slopes and was quite pleasant. There were a fair number of people on this trail, but not enough to be annoying. We saw one fisherman walking back on the trail and he said the fishing had not been good because the creek was running too fast with runoff. 

When we got to the bridge that crosses the Big Thompson just below “the Pool”. The Pool was just a small waterfall with a small pool below it. Actually disappointing from what we had expected. We stopped there and had a snack. Leslie could not help herself, despite David’s warnings it was illegal, and fed nuts to the little chip monks that came snooping around for handouts. They were so tame, they would come up to her hand and take the nut out of her fingers. Obviously Leslie was not the only one who had fed them.

After feeding the critters, we headed out on Cub Lake trail. The first part of the hike was a climb through a dead forest. Some of the trees look like they might have died from beetles, others had obviously been through a forest fire. The climb was not very steep but it was enough to slow us down and make us stop to catch our breath at these high altitudes. Leslie began to question if there actually was a lake, and then we popped up over the ridge and there it was. Cub Lake is named after the bigger Bear Lake. It looks to be fairly shallow and we could see water lilies trying to recover from the winter freeze. Forest all the way around the lake had suffered the ravages of beetles and forest fire. But the beautiful snow capped peaks in the background still made it a pretty sight. It was apparent that the snow up on the peaks was melting off quickly and David held out hope that we still might be able to hike to Emerald Lake before we left. 

From Cub Lake, the trail descended steeply for ¾ of a mile. The trail was very rocky and had some big drop offs to descend. We could not decide if going down was worse than going up this portion of the trail. Then the trail leveled out into a gentle descent. A couple going up the trail whispered that there was some moose just around the curve. Sure enough as we came around the next curve in the trail, a meadow pond came into view and in the middle was a moose cow eating and closer to shore was a baby moose. Leslie had never seen a moose before. The mother was huge, standing in the middle of the pond, dipping her head into the water to pull up vegetation from the bottom. The baby was in shallower water making unsteady steps and imitating her mother. It was quite a scene! About this time Leslie’s cell phone battery died as she took photos (we must remember to put our phones in airplane mode on these hikes so the batteries don’t run down search for a cell signal). Once again the clouds began closing in and spitting rain as we dragged ourselves away from the Mother and Baby moose and wandered on down the trail. We had not gone very far when Leslie pointed up hill. Standing on a rocky knoll was a magnificent Bull Elk with a velvet covered rack of horns! Nearby was a wild turkey looking through the grass for its next meal. David snapped away worrying his cell battery would soon die and he would lose his trail recording. Around the next curve of the trail we came across another moose standing in a lake eating!!! This was critter central! As we continued down we came to a grassy area where two muskrats were climbing over rocks looking for food. And if it couldn’t get any better than that, just down the trail was a herd of Elk Cows grazing in a beautiful meadow! What a great ending to a wonderful hike. We definitely felt this hike a bit more than the previous hike (knees, feet, hips and muscles!), but  it was by far the best hike we have had since we started out on this journey. Hike statistics: 6.3 miles, 745 ft elevation, 1,827 calories burned, total time 4 hours and 30 minutes. Critter sights: Ducks, Elk, Moose, wild Turkey, Muskrats and cute Chipmonks.

Following our hike, we drove into town to pick up a few supplies for dinner. David popped into the hardware store and bought a socket that would fit the new nut for the Big Foot. We also needed some Whiskey to sooth away our aches and pains!

Leslie on Fern Lake Trail

David on Fern Lake Trail

Small boulders along the Fern Lake Trail

Leslie on the bridge over Big Thompson River

The Pool on Big Thompson River

Cute Chick Monks

Dead Forest on the Cub Lake Trail

Cub Lake

Mother Moose

Mother and Daughter Moose

Elk Cows in the meadow

Bull Elk on Cub Lake Trail

14 May 2019 Estes Park

David worked most of the morning and early afternoon. After his last telecon, we drove into Estes Park to walk the quaint downtown district. First stop was lunch at Casa Grande Mexican restaurant. We needed a good Mexican fix. We sat out on the patio and watched the Big Thompson River flowing by. The food was actually pretty good, so we had found our Mexican Food for the remainder of our stay. We found an outdoor shop, Kirk’s Fly Shop, around the corner and David purchased us some “Yak Tracks”, which are chains with spikes that you pull over your hiking boots to give you traction on snow and ice. So next time, we will be prepared. While we were there we also inquired about their guided fly-fishing classes. We liked what we heard, but held off making reservations to see how the weather was going to pan out. While wandering through the shops we found some tee shirts (the ones in the National Park store were pretty lame). The stores started closing around 4:30 so we headed off to find a local brewery. We had noticed one on the way to the RV park and ended up there, Estes Park Brewery, as our first choice. The beer was ok, but its not a very inviting layout or decor. We decided we won’t go back there.

13 May 2019 Trudging through the Snow

We woke to a beautiful Spring day. Watching the weather reports, we knew there was a good chance of bad weather next week and decided we better see what we could see this week. Based on what the ranger had told us yesterday, we knew all the high altitude hikes David hoped to do were still heavily snowed in. 

So we decided to do some of the lower altitude hikes that should be clear of most of the snow. Rocky Mountains had a heavy snow pack this year. We drove to Sprague Lake trailhead and did the short .8 mile hike around the lake to warm up. The views of the lake with the snow-covered mountains in the background were beautiful. There were a fair number of people on this trail, but not overly crowded. The trail is flat and for the most part was dry, but there was a couple of places where we had to walk around snow banks still on the trail. Critter sightings: Canadian Geese on the lake. A beautiful hawk or falcon swooped down to pluck a fish from the lake.  It was an thrilling sight!

Warmed up and ready to tackle something more challenging, we headed to the Bierstadt Lake trailhead. We got the last parking spot at the trailhead. Now I should warn you, David found a new application for his phone, AllTrails, which provided reviews of trails along with trail information (distance, altitude climbs, types of activities). But the best feature is the recording function that uses the phones GPS to track your progress on the trail, shows where you are on a topomap, and at the end of the hike summarizes your hike. So you can expect to see detailed hike summaries in our future entries. The first part of Bierstadt Lake trail is a fairly steep, 1 mile climb to the top of a ridge. The trail was dry and had nice views of the surrounding mountains, but it definitely challenged our lung capacity! Once at the top of the ridge, we plunged into a thick forest of pine trees and birch. There was still 2-3 feet of snow on the ground here. The trail from this point looped around the lake before coming back to the top of the ridge.

We had talked with some guys coming down the trail and they said that the snow was packed down and slippery, but they had “Yak Tracks” which helped them quite a bit. They had hiked one of the trails David had hoped to hike while we’re here called Emerald Lake trail. But they had slogged through the snow, repeatedly falling in up to their waists, for 8 miles. David knew there was no way he would get Leslie on that trail in those conditions. 

As we took our first tentative steps on the snow, it did not seem too bad. There were places where it was melted off here and there. So we decided to trudge on. Our hiking staffs came in very handy for helping us avoid falling. Leslie pretty much glided across the top of the snow where as David fell through repeatedly. But we made it to Bierstadt Lake and drank in the incredible views before heading back around the rest of the loop. After slipping and sliding through this section of the trail, we decided we need to investigate getting some “Yak Tracks” when we went into town, since we could expect many of the higher altitude trails to be similar to this. We were very happy to have our hiking staffs to steady us. Leslie did slip into deep snow and twist her bad knee enough to make it hurt but otherwise we did well. By now it was late afternoon and the clouds were building up with the threat of rain. We did get sprinkled on as we headed down the switchbacks, but not enough to worry about. We were surprised by the number of people just heading up the trail at 4:30 as we were headed down. And most of them did not have proper hiking shoes on, much less anything to go slogging through the snow with. One thing we noticed on the way down was that there had been a lot of snow melt in the surrounding mountain tops. Hike statistics: 3.4 miles, 597 ft elevation, 1,259 calories burned, total time 3 hours and 25 minutes. Critter sights: Ducks up on the lake was about all.

Later in the evening, a herd of deer came wandering through the RV park and surrounded the Wanderer. You could almost reach out and pet them! Etta was beside herself with these creatures being so close to her territory!

Sprague Lake

US on Bierstadt Trail

Leslie on the Switch backs

Trudging through the snow

Bierstadt Lake

Deer surrounding the Wanderer

Bierstadt Lake

12 May 2019 Rocky Mountain National Park

After the low fuel stress of yesterday, we let ourselves sleep late this morning and have a slow morning. David drove into town to find a replacement nut so we could put the stabilizer foot back on. He found a replacement only to figure out he did not have a wrench or socket big enough to put it on. Since it was Mothers Day, and downtown Estes Park, which he had to drive through to get to the hardware store, was crazy busy, he decided it could wait till another day. So we decided to drive into the park. We stopped at the Beavers Meadow visitor center, collected our 34^thPassport Stamp, watched the park movie, did a little shopping at the gift store, and talked with the ranger to see what trails were open. There is still a lot of snow in the higher altitudes, so many of the trails are still snow covered (like feet of snow) but the snow is melting fast so maybe next week some of the higher trails will be relatively snow free. The ranger pointed out some trails at lower altitudes that would be good to hike this week. Then we drove up the Trail Ridge Road to the point where it is still closed (it will be plowed all the way through by Memorial Day) before heading back down and then over to Bear Lake.  Leslie was surprised that with all the snow along the roadside pull offs not a single person attempted to build a snowman with the perfectly wet but stable snow. When we stopped down the mountain for a picture opportunity, Leslie also took the opportunity to fashion a snowman.  Although small, he had no arms, eyes or mouth.  It was hard for her to leave him disabled like that.  However, David reminded her that some body was just going to smash it down….ouch>  Although there were a fair number of people in the park being Mothers Day, we are hoping it will be quieter toward the middle of next week. The views from the road were beautiful with snow coating the high peaks. Critter sighting: We saw herds of Elk and Deer from the park road.

Entrance Sign

Longs Peak

Longs Peak

Leslie and her snowman

Behemoth with the mountains in the background

Elk in the Park

Deer in the park