6 September 2024 Bear Lake

We had been holding on to some hikes in anticipation that Cynthia and Felix would be flying in to join us. So, we made reservations for timed entry into RMNP on the 4^th, 6^th, 9^th and 11^th of September. After we found out Cynthia and Felix were not coming, we made new plans. The reservation of the 4^th we did not use since David had taken the truck to get the tailgate repaired. Today we decided to do an easy hike to acclimatize ourselves to hiking at high altitudes. The most scenic hike we could think of was around Bear Lake in RMNP. The trail is at 9,500 feet. We hit our timed entry at 12:30 and made our way to the Bear Lake parking lot. We were actually surprised to find we could get a parking spot given how many people were there to hike. The trail around bear lake is roughly 0.8 miles around the lake with 50 feet of elevation gain. We took the loop trail around the lake counter clockwise. It was a beautiful day with clear skies and cool temperatures. When we got back to the trail head, we decided to go back around clockwise this time for a total of 1.6 miles. We did not huff and puff too much during the hike so we were feeling good to try something more challenging in a couple of days. We then drove the Fall Creek one way Dirt Road up to the Alpine Visitor Center. We stopped at the Chasm Waterfall trail and walked down to the falls. We took the Trail Ridge road back to Elk Meadows. As we were pulling into the RV park there was a huge bull Elk in the field by the entrance! 

Bear Lake

Bear Lake

Bear Lake

Chasm Falls

Fall Creek Road

Bull Elk

4 September 2024 Tailgate Repair

 The replacement parts for the Behemoth’s tailgate latch mechanism came in at the dealer. David took the Behemoth back down into Loveland to the Loveland Ford Dealer to get the tailgate repaired. After they installed the new latch mechanism the tailgate now works properly. It wasn’t until he got back to Estes Park that he notice that the tailgate wasn’t aligning at the top. Further investigation showed that the Latch lock striker bolts were bent slightly. So rather than take the truck back to Loveland, he decided to order the parts on line and install them himself. 

2 September 2024 Labor Day Fly Fishing

 We were up early to arrive at Kirks Fly Shop by 07:45 to check in and suit up for our 4 hour guided fly fishing tour. We bought our day fishing license ($20 for a single day pass per person), climb into our waders and boots and meet our guide John Carey for the morning. We loaded up and drove over to where Lake Estes releases water into the Big Thompson River. There we set up and we fished in several different places along the river just down from the river. The trout were plentiful but are very used to fishermen, so they were pretty tricky to hook. Leslie landed this first fish of the day and 5 more nice rainbow trout, David landed the biggest fish and 7 more. Both of us had several fish on the hook we were reeling in and they wiggled their way off the hook before we got them in the net. We lost count of the number of missed opportunities to set the hook. We had a great time! We released all the fish since we really don’t like eating trout (too many bones in the filet). John did a great job of working with both of us and helping with the numerous tangles and snags. He told us that we had improved immensely as the day went on. After four hours, we were tired of casting and standing in the cold water fighting the current. We stopped at the Bird and Jim restaurant for a well earned lunch on the way home. 

Leslie with her first fish of the day

The couple that fish together stay together

David with his first fish of the day

Leslie working it in the river

David looking for that fish strike

Large Elk along the road back into town

1 September 2024 Downtown Estes Park

 There was another festival in the park in downtown this weekend. We again took the free shuttle into town to avoid having to park the Behemoth in the traffic downtown. We walked through the festival booths, many of which were the same people as the previous weekend. Then perused the downtown shops looking for Christmas Gifts. We stopped at the Grubsteak for a cold beer and ended up staying for dinner. 

27 August 2024 Tailgate Diagnosis

 David took the Behemoth to the Ford Dealer in Loveland and had the jammed tailgate inspected by the Ford Technicians. On the way down through the canyon he saw several elk near the road. The Ford technicians were able to get the tailgate to release manually and inspected the internal parts. They found the latch mechanism and the release rods bent. The electronic latch release tested ok. David had them order the replacement parts and will go back next week to have them installed. 

26 August 2024 Trail Ridge Rd RMNP

 Today we had reservations for a timed entry into Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) between 9 and 11AM. They started requiring timed entry reservations a couple of years ago due to overcrowding in the park. The passes cost $2 each. They open the reservations up a month ahead for the next month. There are two different entry passes, one that is a general park entry and one that is the park and the Bear Lake Road area (where most of the better hiking trails are located). Our pass for today was just a general park entry. We drove the Trail Ridge Road (US34) from the Bever Meadows Entrance all the way across to the Grand Lake Entrance which took us through the high alpine area of the park (over 11,000 feet in altitude) and over the continental divide. Our last time in RMNP was in May 2019 and Trail Ridge Road was closed since they had not been able to clear the snow off the road yet. We stopped and did two short hikes along the road. The first at Toll Memorial Trail(1.1 miles, 150ft elevation gain). The second was Alpine Ridge Trail (0.82 miles, 151 feet of elevation gain, 229 calories burned) which starts at the Alpine Visitor Center. We definitely felt the 11,900+ foot altitude (ie lack of oxygen)! But the views were worth it! We stopped at the Alpine Visitor Center to do some shopping and get a park passport stamp. We saw a large elk herd not too far from the road in the upper Tundra Areas, but there was no place to pull over to get good pictures. We had nice weather in the morning with temps in the upper 40s, but storms moved in in the early afternoon and we got rain and sleet as we were heading toward lower altitudes. We spent about 6 hours on the drive and loved it. 

Elk Herd

25 August 2024 Keira and the deer

 David took Keira out for her morning walk in the empty storage area of the RV park. The RV park butts up against Rocky Mountain NP on two sides. It is not unusual to see deer and elk in the park. While Keira was busy sniffing a ground mole hole, a deer walked out of the brush from behind us and walked past her and stopped about 15 feet away and stared at us. Keira did not notice the deer until it walked past her. She did not know what to do! She stood there and stared back at the deer and then let out a whine. The deer just walked away. Keira did not try to chase it or follow it. We think that was probably the first time she had ever seen a deer. Being right next to the park, the deer and elk have no fear of mankind and apparently not our dogs either.