Twin Sisters

We had two cars up at camp.  This meant that as I took the girls home Saturday for their various birthday parties and friend engagements, Jeremy and Kelton had some flexibility to stick around at the park and play for a bit.  Jeremy employed the same strategy he did with Cambrie, "Want to hike up that mountain?"  They learned there was a trailhead for the chosen peak and started to climb.  

What they didn't know was that the trail took them around their original mountain to another peak far beyond and much taller than the first.  They didn't realize what had happened until they were fully committed.  They ultimately climbed up Twin Sisters.  It is considered a very strenuous 7.4 mile hike, and typically takes around seven hours.  They had not prepared for a hike like that at all.  They had water and sunscreen, but they only had a handful of Starbursts to share between them.  To keep their minds occupied as they trekked they listened to a book on tape which helped.  Jeremy said nearly all of the elevation was gained by huge steps in the mountainside.  The passed several resting hikers along the way and they couldn't believe that Kelton was still going.  He was like a machine and never slowed down.

  

They did the whole hike in just over four hours, which was very impressive.  It's a good thing the views were worth it.

Once they climbed down the were exhausted and famished.  Firehouse subs to the rescue.  I think they're going to need a nap.

Adams Falls

At Grand Lake we only had one hike on our agenda, and that was Adam Falls.  It was another quick and easy hike with fun views at the end.  This waterfall was so powerful.  My favorite part about it was that as it crashed it was colliding with a solid vertical wall before cascading down a deep ravine.  

Jeremy and the girls really wanted to do a cold plunge.  Well, it was not safe at the falls to get in, but that didn't stop them.  They hiked up a little farther and found an area where the river had flooded its banks creating a safer plunging zone.  The boys and I were not interested in getting wet, but the girls were. The water was only 48 degrees or so, and it was chilly.  McKenzie and Cambrie have skin of steel and they can outlast any of us in a plunge.  Jeremy climbed out after a minute but the girls lasted almost another two before we had them climb out.  They love how they feel after the cold plunges and I'm glad for them...I just don't think I'll join right now.  

But look how pretty this overflowing bank is right now!

Holzwarth Historic Site

On our last day we decided to drive back up and over Trail Ridge Road to access the Grand Lake side of the park.  We stopped at Holzwarth Historic Site to see what there was to see.  In the parking lot we began with a moose sighting, not bad.  

As we walked towards the historic cabins we ran into more rangers teaching fishing. These rangers, however, had fly fishing rods.  Well, we've never tried that before so let's give it a shot.  It took some practice as we tried to release the line in the river, and we never really got it right, but we hung out for awhile hoping for a bite.  

Once they were done we kept walking.  

Dandelion blowing.

The wind picked up and snatched Emma's fishing booklet from her hand and tossed it in the river.  Historic Jeremy leapt into the river not knowing what he was saving.  He soaked his shorts only to realize that it was a disposable pamphlet...that's ok.  He earned hero points for that.  

It turns out that the historic site used to be a fishing ranch back in the early 1900s. We checked out some of the sleeping cabins, the ice house, and the taxidermy shop.  It would have been a great place to stay.

Deer Mountain freestyle

I needed to take Nathan to the airport which meant that I missed the activities Thursday afternoon.  When I came back I learned that Jeremy and Cambrie had gone rogue.  They looked at the mountain next to our campsite and said, "Hey, want to climb that?"  And up they went.  There was no trail on this side and definitely no plan besides bushwhack up until they found the top.  It took them about 1:30 hours to make it, but they said it was so awesome.  From the top they had quite the view and found a couple of carvings from other hikers who had the same idea about fifty years ago.  

Had anyone been at camp they could have easily looked up and seen the two of them on the summit.  

I love the adventurous nature of these two crazy folk.  (Even if it means pushing a boulder down the hill that consequently smashes Cambrie's glasses to smithereens.)

Trail Ridge Road

Yesterday was a walking day, this was a more of a driving exploratory day.  I really wanted to drive up Trail Ridge Road because it is just so stunning.  As we drove we started finding snow.  So what did Jeremy and Cambrie immediately do?  Try to slide down it of course.  What made me laugh was that the danger sign had fallen over so it was easy to ignore that the mountain snow went down a long, long way to a lake at the bottom.  It was so windy up there on top.  Grandma Stratford got out of the car just long enough to worry that she was going to blow away and climbed right back in again.

Up at the top there is a visitor center where we got our requisite group photo.

From the visitor center there was a trail to a lookout higher up.  It was so windy!  It wasn't necessarily that cold, but that wind was intense!  We took a few fun hero poses up there before making our way back down to the cars.

My incredible fam.

On our way back down we stopped at a couple of other lookout points.  As much as I want to see the Alps, I have to admit that these are just as gorgeous.  

The next day Jeremy and I headed out of camp early so that we could bike up Trail Ridge Road.  We didn't know how far we would make it with the time we had, but we just wanted to ride.  This is the kind of riding that I enjoy, beautiful scenery without a lot of pressure to go fast.  As we climbed we could see the valley where we were camped.  We made it to the where the wind really started getting strong at the top of the ridge before deciding to turn back.  One day we'd like to go all the way up and over.  We'll need to plan for at least 2:30 hours just to summit, but if the weather is right that shouldn't be a problem.  One day we'll make it happen.  In the meantime we'll enjoy these jaunts.

 

Bear Lake

Bear Lake corridor is one of the most popular routes in the park.  Unfortunately that means it's hard to get parking and it's really crowded.  So we decided to use the fact that we're staying in the park to our advantage and went after dinner when the crowds were gone.  It was a little bit drizzly as we walked around Bear Lake but we didn't mind.  The littles started with jackets but eventually took them off as they saw their cool older cousins without them and obviously not freezing into popsicles.  

 

I can see why it's so popular, it was gorgeous.  

We chose the shortest loop, but I really wish we had time to hike all the way to Emerald Lake.  I might have to go back again just for that hike.  The rain clouds made it dark and moody, and I loved it!