Upon deplaning in Denver the following day we drove to Boulder, but not before stopping at the “pharmacy” for some “medicine”. Six bags of Cheetos, 3 pizzas, a case of Coke and 4 hours later we had covered the 40 minute drive to Boulder.
Considering our status as lowlanders, we decided not to undertake too much on our first hike and drove to Indian Peaks Wilderness for the hike to Blue Lake. Maddie was great and spent quite a bit of time hiking once we fought off the hordes and actually got onto the trail. I guess when you visit a town known as an outdoor Mecca on July 4th weekend, you can’t exactly expect to have the trails to yourself. The food in Boulder was excellent and the beer selection...well, this is Colorado, you see and what takes up an entire grocery store cooler in Hawaii is relegated to the "cheap college-kid beer section". There were craft beers as far as the eye could see and angels were singing. Needless to say, I was thrilled and the girls had to drag me out of the store after half an hour.
Our next adventure near Boulder started above 10,000 feet so I was a bit slower with Maddie on my back than I would have liked. She helped us out by hiking a fair amount on her own and slowing us down when she did so that my lungs didn’t explode. Crystal skies, sunshine and cool temperatures complemented the already beautiful scenery at the alpine lakes and waterfalls.
After leaving Boulder, we drove to Estes Park, affectionately known by us as “Gatlinburg of the Rockies”. To anyone that’s been to Gatlinburg, no further explanation is necessary. On our way there, in an effort to escape the crowds, we visited one of the more remote areas of the park only to be greeted by a full parking lot and rangers directing traffic. The Wild Basin trail was a pretty streamside walk with some nice waterfall views including Copeland, Calypso and Ouzel. We retreated to the luxurious Holiday Inn at Estes Park for the discount rate of only $200 per night. Well worth the price to stay within “Gatlinburg of the Rockies” in a hotel updated about the year I was born. We did have some nice meals including some wild game selections.
Eager to see more people (I mean sights) we got an early start to grab one of the quickly-filled parking spots at Bear Lake trailhead. Known as one of the most beautiful and popular areas of Rocky Mountain National Park, it was bound to be crowded. It was quite crowded, but after traversing about 2 miles of trail, the people started to disappear and we found ourselves in a much more peaceful setting. We covered about 9 miles, many alpine lakes including Bear, Nymph, Emerald, Haiyaha and several waterfalls. Maddie covered about 3 miles on her own; not a small undertaking for a little hiker.
To change the pace from hiking, we took a boat ride on Estes Lake, though it did get cut short by thunder. Maddie’s a natural on the water.
After caffeination, we went for a drive the following morning through the park along Trail Ridge Road to catch some views and make our way over to the west side of the park. Trail Ridge Road is the highest continuous highway in the United States and offers some spectacular views of peaks and alpine lakes. Maddie was feeling a little under the weather so frequent whining often interrupted our attempts at short walks or viewing the scenery. She forgot her ailments when we got the opportunity to see several elk feeding nearby.
After arriving on the west side of RMNP and continuing on to Winter Park, we met up with Joe and Jennifer “Johnson” our former neighbors in Maryville, TN. It was great to see them again and we got a chance to check out their home that they’re building. The home will definitely be spectacular when complete. The following day I managed a breathless mountain bike ride on the trails of Winter Park. Afterward, we met with the Johnson family for lunch to catch up on the past few years.
From Winter Park we continued on to Leadville to visit our friends John and Carolyn. I worked with John during medical school when he was kind enough to host me for a month during a family practice rotation. They’re really fun, active people that we’ve kept in touch with for going on 10 years now – hard to believe it’s been that long.
Maddie got her first taste of whitewater rafting on the Arkansas River where she successfully ran all the rapids while avoiding all strainers, holes and undercut rocks. She’s got a little to learn though, since she was a upset when she got wet. She spent as much time worrying about her wet feet as she did enjoying the ride.
We drove from Leadville to catch our afternoon flight from Denver to Portland. All of us were excited to see Mike and Kaya and we grabbed a late dinner along with some beers at McMennamins. Also, Mike had the foresight to grab an excellent growler from Plew’s Brews, which we enjoyed together.
The following morning we drove to the Columbia River Gorge where Emily and I realized that we had hiked many of the trails, but were happy to share the experience with Maddie. That night, Mike prepared some stellar smoked ribs and brisket.
Maddie feeding the goats along the "Fruit Loop"
We punctuated our visit with a night of many, many high end craft beers, inane conversation and a conference call with Joe, Chelsae, Nate and Nicole who were sharing a hotel room in San Francisco at the start of their Napa trip. While we weren’t physically together, it felt just like old times. A fitting end to a great trip.
