Rocky Mountain National Park (Part I)

Despite our disappointing accommodations, Rocky Mountain National Park turned out to be one of my favorite parks in terms of natural beauty. Everywhere you look is postcard scenery and the range of elevations lets you explore riparian, montane, subalpine and alpine tundra ecosystems. 

When arriving at a new park we generally head straight to a visitor center grab the Junior Ranger books, park map and brochures and then choose a short hike to get started.  The first visitor center we found was the Moraine Park Discovery Center because the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center was closed the first two days we were there for parking lot resurfacing.  We were thrilled when we found out that the Discovery Days event was just getting started and there were many stations that the kids could explore.  We spent all morning moving from station to station and learning about how the park was formed (glaciers), what sort of wildlife call it home, and how to be a good steward of the land.  

Another really great thing about this park was how many beautiful short hikes (around 1 mile) were available for exploring streams, lakes, cliffs, and alpine tundra!  Armed with the maps and brochures we chose a few short hikes.  The first was in Hidden Meadows - we had no idea Hidden Meadows is the Junior Ranger Headquarters for the park!  We had time for the hike and made it back just in time to join the Ranger talk which taught us about the connections between the various trees, animals, ecosystems, and fire cycles.  It was a great talk.  

If you have more than a day to spend at any National Park, it is a great idea to attend a Ranger talk and work on the Junior Ranger books early in your visit because it really orients you to the ecosystem and wildlife.  We were able to make observations based on the knowledge we gained from the visitor center/ranger talk/junior ranger books.  Next we hiked Sprague Lake another beautiful place where the fish jumped out of the lake to chase the colorful dragon flies that dashed over the surface of the water.  It was a great show.  

Our final hike that day was Bear Lake - it was one of our favorite hikes with many gorgeous lookouts and rock formations to climb upon and look out. 

By the end of the second day the kids earned their Junior Ranger badges as they are getting quite good at working on them during the drives between hikes and on snack breaks.  

The next morning when taking Husband "to work" we passed these beauties in front of a gas station in town.  We had also seen wild turkey, a snake, and many birds including a magpie who was hanging around our trailer.  Apparently there were also black bear in our campground, but I didn't see them.  

On our third excursion we drove to the top of the world via Trail Ridge Road - at least that is how it felt!  We explored the Alpine Tundra where the trees are sparse and snow lay in patches upon the ground.  Up and up and up we drove....when your kids are telling you "be careful mama, drive safe!"  It is a white-knuckle drive.  As I had to keep my eyes on the road, I didn't look down the steep slopes until we were parked at the Alpine Visitor Center.  

Then we hiked up the Alpine Ridge Trail to 12,005 feet above sea level.  In the middle of July when Phoenix is baking we were in a place with snow on the ground! At this elevation wildflowers and mosses grow from rock that shines in the sun.  

I think it is a 400 foot elevation change climb to the top...here is the view of the parking lot coming back down.

It was my first time being at that elevation and yes, the climb is difficult due to the thin air.  I had a similar sensation to the one I felt at Yellowstone - I felt I was in an alien land.  The ecosystem was so unfamiliar we were at such a great height.  It was an amazing experience one that we had to visit again before we left, but on that day we drove back down the Trail Ridge Road appreciating the beautiful change in ecosystems from Alpine Tundra, to Subalpine to Montane!

Spruce Lake RV Resort, Estes Park, CO

Perhaps my expectations were a little too high for this place - I mean, I had just come from a week of camping that cost $63 (granted without hook-ups) in a virtual secret garden and the next week cost a whopping $478.  For nearly $500/week one expects a lot.  Unfortunately it did not live up to my expectations or our needs.

Let's talk about the biggest problem - no cell, data or WiFi.  How is it that such a touristy place has a huge hole in the Verizon service?  Oh, and by the way, the Verizon coverage map for Estes Park shows solid coverage - I know this because I checked before making reservations.  The most crazy thing is that our phones showed 4G and 3-4 bars but we could barely make a phone call.  The first day Husband spend two hours on the phone with Verizon tech support.  Ultimately they admitted this is a "known problem" and that it was unlikely it would be fixed during the time we were in the area.  We also went to the Verizon store and were fed a line of BS having to do with how crowded the town was - the nonsense about that is that the most crowded part of town had excellent service, it just dropped off on the east part of town.  While Verizon is not the fault of Spruce Lake RV Resort, their shitty WiFi is.  Being in such a dead zone for Verizon it seems they would realize they need to step up the WiFi, but it was useless.  We could connect but it was slower than dial-up...we were getting around 56Kbps.  Husband could not work on the connection and neither could I. 

The second issue with this park is that it seemed they gave us a site too small for our rig.  We were parked along the very edge of the park.  The boundary fence lined the road.  We had a hell of a time backing the rig into the site without hitting the fence.  We went back and forth and back and forth trying to angle it in with the truck at approximately 90 degrees from the trailer.  Eventually we got it, but it was very difficult and I really don't think it had anything to do with our abilities, rather that the space was not deep enough for a 35' trailer.  The width of the site was adequate.  There was plenty of space to park the truck next to the trailer.  The other down side of the site was being under the power lines.  I wondered if that interfered with the WiFi...it certainly interfered with the view.

The park was packed - one morning after our neighbor behind us left I took a picture behind the rig to show how busy it was.

The third issue was with the town - Estes Park is overrated and a total tourist trap.  There were masses of people wandering the downtown each day.  The traffic was a nightmare and we wouldn't have had to deal with it, except that we had to commute to the library so that Husband could work.  With only one vehicle we had to all get up early and drive him to McDonald's where he could connect until the library opened.  Each day proceeded differently, but we got into a routine with going to McDonald's each morning.  Oh, and by the way this McDonald's is insanely busy.  Sometime there were no tables available and we would have to have the kids patrol the store and grab a table when a party got up to leave. 

Spruce Lake has a pool, but it is lack luster when compared to what we are used to in Arizona.  The biggest problem is that there is no bathroom nearby.  You have to walk your five-year-old to the middle of the campground to the public restrooms...so that just means the pool is full of urine.  After one day of swimming we didn't go back.

One positive was that there was a playground and there were lots of kids to play with.  The kids loved the playground and right next to the playground was the lake and a view of the Rocky Mountains.  I mean, that is why we were there!  So the best part of the park was the view from a bench next to the playground.

There was a small laundry room at the park, with an emphasis on small - I usually take pictures of the facilities, but there were always people in the room and I didn't want to put anyone on the spot.  Anyhow, it was crowded and inadequate for the size of the park.  The toilets and showers seemed clean, though I didn't use the showers. 

Closer to downtown I found a little pocket park near an residential area where the Verizon service was good.  On a couple of occasions I worked there while the kids played on the playground.  Husband said the library was nice except for one overzealous librarian.  However, the inconvenience posed by having to leave Husband downtown was disappointing.  A couple of days the kids and I went into the Rocky Mountain park in the AM and then came back and met Husband for lunch before heading back to the park for the afternoon.  More on Rocky Mountain National Park in the next post(s)!

Here is my summary:

Pros:

• 10 minutes from the entrance to the Rocky Mountain National Park
• Good view by the lake
• Full hook-ups & wide level site
• Playground and pool enjoyed by kids

Cons:

• Overpriced.  We paid the Good Sam weekly rate plus additional person fees per day.  
• Crowded
• Avoid Estes Park if you can - too touristy
• Terrible WiFi and in a dead zone for Verizon
• Small crowded laundry room
• too short of site for our rig
• no bathroom by the pool?  why do this?
• Working from home was not possible

Lewis Park, Wheatland, WY

The drive from Medicine Lodge to our next stop in Colorado took two days so we had to find an overnight spot to stop.  I used a couple of apps including RV Park Advisor and RV Parky to find a place.  We ended up with a jewel of a park - a city park with free electricity right off of the I25.  (There is a box where you can leave a donation if you feel so inclined)

This was a perfect place to stay and had very clean bathrooms with flush toilets.  I read there is a dump station, but we didn't need to use it so I didn't notice it first-hand.  There were tennis courts, a basketball court, and a skate park on the side of the park where we were parked.  I think there was more to the park if you walked past the bathrooms, but I didn't have time to explore.  Why don't more cities have these types of facilities?  It was so nice.

This is yet another confirmation of how amazing Wyoming is.  I am blown away!  I loved the state last summer and even more the second summer.  Thank you Wyoming!  Oh and by the way if you really want to know how amazing Wyoming is you should learn about how they fund public education.  This should be the model for the rest of the nation.

Medicine Lodge Archaeological Site State Park, Hyattville, WY

I hesitate to write about this park because I consider it our special find and I don't want it to become too populated.  We found this park during summer of 2018 when we were heading across Wyoming towards South Dakota.  At that time we decided against an unplanned visit to Yellowstone and instead sought out other Wyoming nature to explore.  We found this park and Boysen State Park on a blog about the unsung places of Wyoming.  They were right on both counts.  Medicine Lodge, however, has a special appeal and that is why we booked a week with my parents there this summer.

Most sites are first-come first served, but there are a couple reservable ones and we put our reservation in early because we knew we were staying the week of 4th of July.  According to park staff this is the busiest week of their season.  The group site was packed with people, but the layout of the park is so nice that we really didn't deal with the crowd at all.  Here are our two sites, relatively remote from the other parts of the campground.  The back of the sites are against the river pictured above so you can hear rushing water at all times when at the sites.  It is wonderful.  As you can see, there is also a lot of shade at these sites, but there are also patches of sun where we could set out our solar panel.

There are a number of paths through the park that take you through the various climate zones.  The deer trail is rather steep and takes you up to some fantastic views.  The best part of staying a week is that we got to hike this one a couple times.  

There is also a nature trail that take you along the river and over the various bridges.

The nature trail also takes you to the petroglyph cliff and the informational cabins that present the anthropological history of the area (that goes back to the time of mammoths).

There are two wonderful playgrounds (though they are near the parts of the campground that were full while we were there) and plenty of places to cast a fishing line.  Though much fishing was done, we didn't catch anything - I guess brown trout are the natural fish of these rivers.  (I don't really know anything about fishing, but my mom and dad were teaching the kids)

Regarding the amenities in this park - there are no hook-ups, but you can fill your fresh water tank.  There is no dump station, but they have the cleanest pit toilets I have ever seen - complete with air freshner!  We used our solar panel and got through the week just fine.  There is no Verizon service and no WiFi offered by the park so you must be ok with an unplugged stay.  This is a place to sit around, read, fish and walk in nature.  We even went to a star gazing party and got an amazing view of the night sky.  Husband commuted to the town of Worland to work from the library on three of the days we were booked there.

What I love about Medicine Lodge is that the camping and the nature around you are the attraction.  We didn't have to drive to see anything, we just walked out of our doors.  I enjoy this type of camping and if Husband didn't have to work we could have done more of it (like at Grand Teton). I am especially glad we got to share this time with my parents and we celebrated Sister's 5th BD here - so it was a special week on many counts.  If you go, please don't tell anyone else, because I want to go back again next year and I hope it is just the same. Last pictures - I am really proud of the river picture.  The monarch on milkweed was captured by my mom who should be proud of that one!

Edit: I forgot to mention one of the other huge pluses of this park - it is $9/night - $63/week.

But seriously - no hook ups and no dump station, so you probably should pass it by ;)

Yellowstone National Park (Part III)

I have SO many amazing pictures from Yellowstone.  I just have to share a few more and talk one final time about how special this National Park is....I mean....

I know you saw the video this week about the bison tossing the 9-year old girl after the tourists were all standing too close...this photo was taken by my mom from the car as we drove by this guy laying by the road.  We are very cognizant of the rules having completed so many Junior Ranger books - we don't approach the wildlife, but it is all around in Yellowstone.

Another amazing spot is Artist Point on the south rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.  When at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West I saw two outstanding paintings that I took pictures of, only to later realize that they were inspired by this spot.  First my best picture...

Then two paintings inspired by this awesome view...

On our final day in Yellowstone we set out to try to see a wolf - we heard the best chance of seeing them was driving to Lamar Valley.  Our plan was to drive through Lamar Valley and exit the park through the Northeast entrance and proceed via the Beartooth highway back to Cody.  This was a phenomenal drive.  We had quite an adventure.  Along the way we randomly stopped at a pull off, walked up a set of steps and were treated to this view that was completely obscured by the forest while driving!  I wish I could say exactly where this was...all I know is that a man in the parking lot told us when we pulled up that if we would have been there five minutes earlier, there was a wolf across the road!  We had just missed it.

Here is another classic Yellowstone scene - traffic was stopped and it was impossible to see what was going on up ahead.  As usual, there were a bunch of people getting out of their cars and walking along the road to try and get a glimpse.  When our vehicle finally inched forward enough to see what was going on we saw this:

Along the side of the road a woman who was walking along the road was asking the NPS law enforcement personnel, "Is there a bear?" The law enforcement personnel were visibly agitated by this woman and said, "no ma'am, we need you to get back in your car!" "But is there a bear?" she asked again clearly not getting the fact that she was out of line.  "Ma'am, everyone needs to be in their vehicle.  Please return to your vehicle!" they said with emphasis.  Disappointed that she was not getting the answer she wanted to hear, she kept walking towards the officer instead of back to her car.  The officers said, "you must return to your vehicle now!"  So she slowly started walking back but continued to crane her neck around to try and see a bear that didn't exist.  There was a bison in the road and the officers were trying to get people to drive around it, but everyone wanted to take a picture first.  Since the bison was only blocking one lane of traffic, he was trying to get the other lane to move forward.  It was a bit of a chaotic scene, but thankfully in this instance, while we were witnesses, no one was injured. 

This was not the only time we were stopped by bison in the road that day.  Later, when approaching Lamar Valley there was a huge herd complete with calves blocking traffic.  In this case people stayed in their cars, there was less traffic and we all were able to take our pictures and then drive through the herd.  Here are some of the cute calves:

Unfortunately we did not see a wolf BUT we did see a red fox!  We were able to observe it for a while from the car.  It was amazing that my mom spotted it as I was driving - she also took some amazing pictures.

But that was not all we saw on our amazing drive...we saw another black bear!  Our pictures didn't do it justice as it was moving and browsing....here is the best one, albeit out of focus.

We drove the Beartooth highway back to Cody at sunset and it was so beautiful.  At the top we pulled off and I took this picture that shows both the switchbacks in the road as well as the amazing sunset.

Yes, Yellowstone is crowded and huge and if I went back I would focus on the areas of the park that are less visited.  I also felt that we didn't get to do enough hiking as we were driving too much.  In the future I hope to camp in the park or near a different entrance so that I can explore other parts of this great wilderness.  I am glad we drove the Beartooth highway, but I would NOT want to drive this road with my trailer in tow!  Wyoming is amazing.  I think I need to go there every summer.

Yellowstone National Park (Part II)

A trip to Yellowstone is not complete without seeing Old Faithful!  We also targeted this area because Brother read about the Young Scientist program and this is one of the locations that offered that special youth experience.  The gist of the experience was that he checked out an explorer book bag with some scientific tools including an infrared thermometer.  The book walked him through a study of the geysers and hot springs.  This was above and beyond the Junior Ranger book and Sister was very disappointed that she could not participate as she was too young.  As it turned out she ended up being the "research assistant" and carried the book bag through the boardwalks and was ready to give a tool to Brother whenever he asked for it.  It was really quite cute.  She also insisted on walking right behind him so that she would be close and could help him make observations.  It took some time, but he did a great job and earned his Young Scientist patch which I sewed onto his vest!

The hike behind the Old Faithful Visitor Center was quite amazing.  There were many hot springs and smaller geysers - one of them unexpectedly erupted when mom was photographing it and she had to move back to avoid the hot water! It started out small and ended up shooting water 10+ feet high!

One thing I noted was that the boardwalk needs some repair or to be replaced in sections.  Every park we have visited (that was in operation in the 1930s) credits the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) for infrastructure improvements - it is obvious to me that we need another national CCC program to help our national parks keep their infrastructure functioning.  When you consider the CCC's work was completed in the 1930's is seems due time to invest in our natural national treasures.  At Yellowstone the boardwalks are crowded and they are creaky, which is not a great feeling when you are standing over hot springs with water temps in the 140+ degrees F.

The springs are beautiful with the microbial mats in multicolors surrounding them. 

The next stop, after predicting Old Faithful's next eruption (Brother and I were 100% in line with the NPS prediction), was the Grand Prismatic Spring and surrounding area.  Here the boardwalk it in better condition and they have thankfully made the walk one way (because it gets really crowded and hard to pass each other when everyone is trying to get the perfect selfie or picture).   

On the day we were there the wind was blowing.  As we walked the steam from Excelsior Geyser would surround us for a few seconds giving the illusion we were in a sauna before it would blow away and we could feel the ambient air.  The geyer is very large and a beautiful shade of blue.  The wind was so strong that many people lost their hats and the were stranded too far from the boardwalk for retrieval.  I wondered if the park rangers had a long tool to pick up the lost items from the fragile ground.  It is clear that walking off the path would be a terrible idea for fear of falling through the microbial mat into near boiling water. 

The Grand Prismatic Spring is so much larger than I imagined.  It is larger than a football field, and is generally photographed from above so one can see it in its entirety.  From our vantage point on the boardwalk (maybe 6 inches above the surface) it was massive and impossible to capture in a picture.  As we are walking toward it, you can see other onlookers trying to get a good shot!

Again, Yellowstone appears to offer landscapes that are otherworldly - here the "ground" appears to  be a colorful spongy mat floating upon and under a layer of hot spring water which is constantly washing over it.  The surface glistens.  In some places where the water rushes over it there are places that seem beach-like.

The other two amazing features on this walk, that would be astonishing on their own, but when compared to the other two seem to fall short are the opal pool...

...and the turquoise pool...

The water feature of the geyers basins are really amazing.  Yes, you are standing on an active volcano - but wow does a volcano make some beautiful landscapes.