I have so many fond memories of Rocky Mountain National Park growing up. It was one of the national parks that I had visited many times as a kid with my parents. We had done hiking, backpacking, and camping. It was also my first park that I got a Junior Ranger badge. So it’s only natural that I would want to share this special place with my husband and daughter, and also with my friends: Amber, Beth, and her husband, Hunter, and their son Colt.
For the week we were there we stayed at a cabin that was close to the entrance of the national park on the Estes Park side. It had what we called the big house and studio, so there was enough room for all of us. The cabin was great for Lizzy and Colt since there were many games, toys, and even a playground.
These are just some of our highlights from our trip:
Alberta Falls
To begin our hike, we got on board the hikers' shuttle located at the Estes Park Visitor Center. The hikers' shuttle has only one stop and that’s the Park & Ride located in the park. From there we got on another bus for the Bear Lake route. We road up the mountain and got off at the Bear Lake Trailhead. I decided that we would skip hiking around Bear Lake since it was a hike we would do for another day.
This hike is super beautiful as you cut through pine forest and aspen groves. We lunched a few yards below the falls, close to Glacier Creek where we got to touch and enjoy the running water. After lunch we got to see the 30-foot waterfall thundering down the narrow gorge.
Alberta Falls is named after Alberta Sprague, wife of Abner Sprague. Sprague was one of the first settlers in the Estes Park area, he had built his homestead in Moraine Park in 1874. Sprague was also the first visitor to pay an entrance fee for Rocky Mountain National Park in 1939.
After admiring the falls, we hiked down and caught the shuttle back to the Park & Ride from the Glacier Gorge trailhead.
Girls Night Out
Amber, Beth, and I had a girls night out where we explored two fun places in Estes Park.
Snow Peaks Winery
Snowy Peaks Winery was our first stop. We were warmly welcomed into the winery and seated in their large tasting room. We each got a tasting of wine or mead. I assisted Beth in what wine she might enjoy. I recommended things more on the sweet side such as their Traminette. Though she mainly preferred their selection of meads. One thing I thoroughly enjoyed was their variety of Rieslings. They had three different types a dry, semi-sweet, and sweet. Amber got the sweet Riesling. I tasted the other two. The dry and sweet were very refreshing and I very much enjoyed them. I felt like the semi-sweet was lacking something the other two had.
Stanley Hotel
After our tasting we had dinner at Claire’s and then we were on our way to the Stanley Hotel. This iconic hotel started when Freelan Oscar Stanley visited Estes Park on recommendation to help with his tuberculosis since he only had a few months to a few years to live, the mountain air helped him fully recover. He was so overjoyed with his restored health that he vowed to return every summer. So, he built the beautiful grand hotel which opened in 1909.
However, by the 1970s the hotel’s splendor was fading and it would have probably shut down if it was not for author Stephen King who stayed only one night. That one night inspired him to write The Shining.
We came to the Stanley Hotel for their Ghost Tour. Now I had been to the hotel in the past. As a kid I was terrified of the restroom because of the 1997 tv-mini-series, The Shining. As we waited for the tour, we used the restroom where I oddly had Beth take a picture of me so I could send to my mom to prove to her that I conquered my fear.
On our Ghost Tour we were taking to various parts of the hotel and grounds. Our tour guide was great and even had pictures of various areas that people on her tour captured something that couldn’t be explained. We started in the concert hall. We were given time to walk around and explore and try to see if we could capture any photos of the supernatural. We then travelled down below the concert hall to two other rooms. Our last place we explored was underneath the hotel. The tour was only 60 minutes and honestly, I wish it was longer. We explored the grounds and traversed the hedge maze that was built in 2015 because guests kept asking the hotel where the hedge maze was due to the movie.
Lily Lake
For another hike we did the Lily Lake Loop. Lily Lake and surrounding area was purchased by the national park in 1992 and five years later with funding it was made a handicapped accessible trail. This loop walks around the lake where you can view of the two highest peaks in Rocky Mountain National Park, Mt. Meeker and Longs Peak. We spied many ducks along our hike.
We had a small lunch and then we walked across the lot to a nearby geocache. To obtain Colt’s first cache!!
Bear Lake and Nymph Lake
For our last hike we did Bear Lake Loop. This trail circles around the subalpine lake as it passes through forest of spruce, fir, lodgepole pine and aspen. As we hiked around, I noticed some lodgepole pine that were dead or dying. This is due to a mountain pine beetle infestation, that has greatly impacted the Rocky Mountains. It was sadly one of the reasons my family had stopped going to the national park and started going to other places for our July vacation (most Ely, MN...look for that post next year!). The views of the mountains along the hike are beautiful and we stopped on the far end for a snack.
After hiking fully around, Beth with Colt, and Michael, and me with Lizzy decided to go on towards Nymph Lake. From Bear Lake to Nymph Lake is a steady climb up. As you hike up you can catch glimpses of Longs Peak through the trees. This little lake is ringed by lilies. We stopped for a snack and a chance to enjoy the view. However, we had to quickly hike back down as it began to rain.
I was so thrilled to show off this beautiful national park to my friends and family. We all enjoyed ourselves and wished we could have stayed longer. We all left with new memories and a wish to come back again soon.
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