A few years ago Ken Burns produced a documentary on the
National Park System, which aired on PBS.
The series was made up of four episodes, which were two hours in
length. After watching them, I was
inspired to start visiting the National Parks, and had made great plans (in my
head). Not long after that we transferred
to Houston, then moved to Oklahoma City.
After a few years of waiting, having the kids get older, and purchasing
the camping gear needed, I finally made it.
We stayed for five nights in the Rocky Mountain National Park, and it
was great.
Of course getting up there I had the truck loaded up with
supplies, tent, stoves, fuel, food, clothes, and other equipment.
We camped at the Moraine Park Campground, with ~ 200 other families
and campers. I will say that the behavior
of the folks in camp was great, it was nothing like the behavior I have seen on
display at some state parks. It was a relief to find the campsite and get the tent set up. I had assumed that the truck would be parked next to the tent, however, upon arrival I found that the tent pad was 100 yard from where the truck was parked. Since it is also bear country, I left all of the food, and stoves in the truck, so when it was breakfast or dinner time, I made may a trip back and forth. We were fortunate that I was able to borrow the Kodiak tent from my dad for the trip, it was in its element, not really a 2 day tent, or a hot weather tent, it fit right in at the campground.
Ella claimed this deer as her friend, and he was in camp almost
everyday.
Aside from the deer, the kids
also saw lots of chipmunks, and we did several hikes. I even made two loops around bear lake on the same
day, once with Cap in the morning, and once with Ella in the afternoon.
Here is Cap on his hike around Bear Lake.
Here is Ella, in the afternoon, during her hike around bear lake.
Of course we went over to the Alluvial Falls and the kids got to play in the water, Amy got her feet wet as well. I stayed busy hopping from boulder to boulder taking pictures.
Ella and I made a hike up past Nymph lake, when it was time to turn around, Ella wanted a little break, and got comfortable on the side of the trail.
One afternoon we drove up to the Alpine Visitor Center. Cap did not like the altitude, and Ella wanted to climb the trail to the top, which did not look long from the parking lot. The hike was longer than anticipated, however, the reward was the view at that height.
The best picture I snapped of the Dynamic Duo.
Last but not least, the family picture as we were departing the park, heading back to the flatlands of eastern Colorado, Kansas, and Oklahoma. If you want to plan a trip, plan early and reserve a campsite.
