Estes Park – Page 5 – rocky mountain tot

A Respectful Return to Estes Park, Colorado

There is good news coming from Colorful Colorado this week. Rocky Mountain National Park is scheduling a phased reopening starting on May 27th. We are thrilled to start planning a trip to visit the national park and stay in our cabin in Estes Park.

One of the reasons we are eager to visit soon is to check on our cabin and make sure it’s in great shape for renters this summer. We have a few minor things to fix. Most of our vacation will be spent at our cabin. I’m looking forward to sipping coffee on our back deck and reading books by the fireplace.

We also want to do our part to support local business owners who have been hit hard by the shut down. We plan to order carry out from some of our favorite restaurants, and I’m eager to try out a few new (to us) restaurants as well. Bird & Jim is on the top of my list. We also know that Estes Park will feel different. Face coverings are required for everyone over 2-years-old in downtown Estes Park through June 10 and the number of shoppers allowed in stores will be limited.

Within National Parks is room – glorious room – room in which to find ourselves, in which to think and hope, to dream and plan, to rest and resolve.
Enos Mills, ‘Father of Rocky Mountain National Park’

Of course the biggest draw is hiking in the mountains. We are closely watching what type of permits/registration we need to gain access to Rocky Mountain National Park. We know that RMNP operations will not be running like normal. Shuttles will be limited on the number of passengers that can ride. Camping is limited. Daily visitors to the park will be capped. Here is an article from Estes Park News with more details.

Along with reading all of the official news and guidelines, we’ve been trying to get a sense for how local full-time residents of Estes Park are feeling about the openings. Like everywhere, there are a lot of mixed opinions on the best ways to safely move forward. Besides our own health and safety, my biggest concern is to be respectful to everyone in town and in the national park.

congatulations to our favorite estes park photographer!

We recently put up our tent in our living room for an in-door camp out. Our daughters loved sleeping in the tent and they even had amazing mountain views thanks to our favorite landscape photographer, Erik Stensland.

Stensland recently won a Benjamin Franklin Award from the Independent Book Publishers Association for his essential hiking guide for Rocky Mountain National Park. We love his guide and his art. You can read more about the prestigious award on his site.

Indoor camping with Images of RMNP views

on my mind:road trip Essentials

A while back, I wrote a post about How to Survive a Long Family Road Trip. As we start travel again this summer, I’m interested to see how our old tips and tricks hold up. I know I’ll be very focused on sanitation during restroom breaks and we will generally avoid going into restaurants, hotels, and visitor centers (at least for now).

Thanks for following along our adventures!

Safer at Home – Colorado

when is rocky mountain national park going to reopen?

We are itching to get out to the serenity of the Rocky Mountains, but it looks like the Rocky Mountain National Park won’t be open for another month (at least). I’ve been reading through the Safer at Home guidelines that the Governor of Colorado put out earlier this week. The Executive Order restricts Colorado citizens to recreational travel that is no more than 10 miles from their places of residence.

Safer at Home orders will continue for 30 days from April 27, 2020 with the possibility of extension. For out-of-state travelers like us, it just not a good time to visit Colorado. You can learn more at www.colorado.com.

#thinkingofRMNP

In the meantime, Rocky Mountain National Park is featuring pictures on instagram that visitors have taken during previous trips. Tag your photos with #thinkingofRMNP for a chance to be featured by RMNP.

our favorite photos

We recently put together a slideshow on our home page with some of our favorite photos from Rocky Mountain National Park and Northwest Arkansas. I’ll also post some of our Colorado highlights right here. I’m not going to lie, going through all these photos and remembering the happy (normal) times, makes me a bit teary. Uncertainty is tough, but it’s comforting to know that the mountains aren’t going anywhere. I hope you all stay safe and healthy wherever home is to you!

Memorial Day in Rocky Mountain National Park

We just reserved our cabin for Memorial Day 2020 in Estes Park. Of course in the back of my mind, I’m thinking we might have to cancel it because we don’t know when Rocky Mountain National Park will reopen and the stay-at-home orders to protect us from getting and spreading Covid-19 will be lifted. Here are the official details.

Since the future is looking foggy, I’m going to take a look back at some of our favorite Memorial Day moments of the past 5 years. I’ve included tons of links to hikes we’ve done over Memorial Day weekend plus a list of the top hikes we recommend this time of year in Rocky Mountain National Park.

2015 – Rocky Mountain National Park with a baby

We took our now 5-year-old daughter to Rocky Mountain National Park for the first time. We hiked up Deer Mountain which is a great early season hike. You can read more here. When we weren’t hiking, we were looking at vacation properties and we ended up buying our first Colorado property which was a two bedroom condo at the historic Mary’s Lake Lodge. Since then, we’ve made countless family memories in our home away from home.

You will see new antlers growing on the elk in May

2016 – Rocky Mountain National Park with a Toddler

The next Memorial Day, our baby was a toddler and she could walk short distances on her own. One of our favorite early season short hikes is Sprague Lake. This loop is less than a mile. We wrote, Toddler Self-Guided Tour of Sprague Lake.

For longer hikes, we decided to graduate from our ergo baby carrier to a new kid carrier. We tried it out for the first time up to Gem Lake. We love the views on this hike. We wrote about it in, Riding High in New Kid Carrier.

But what would we do with the old baby carrier? On this trip we found out we were expecting baby #2.

family photos at sprague lake in rocky mountain national park

2017 – Family Adventures in Rocky Mountain national park

So the following Memorial Day we were back in Rocky Mountain National Park with two little girls. A highlight of our trip was spotting a moose in Sprague Lake. I wrote, Moose Spotting Makes for Memorable Morning Hike Around Sprague Lake.

We also visited the Wild Basin area of Rocky Mountain National Park. This is a less crowded area of the park which has beautiful waterfalls and wildflowers. We posted, Family Friendly Waterfall Hike in Wild Basin. Our baby gave it a thumbs up!

memorial day in estes park

In the town of Estes Park, we enjoyed a ride up the Aerial Tramway. May is also a great time of year to enjoy the restaurants and shops in downtown Estes Park. We have a list of our favorite restaurants here.

Our Trip on The Estes Park Aerial Tramway — Estes Park Aerial Tramway

2018 – buying a cabin in estes park, colorado

The following Memorial Day we picked up the keys to our new cabin. We enjoy having a free-standing property so we don’t have to worry quite so much about our noisy little family disturbing other guests. We can’t get enough of the mountain views, sitting by the fireplace, and home cooked meals on the back deck. It’s in the rental pool at Solitude Cabins, you can learn more about renting it here.

On this Memorial Day weekend the weather was warmer, so we were able to go on some wonderful hikes to Fern Falls and Dream Lake.

Snow hike in Rocky Mountain National Park — Hike to Dream Lake in late May with a few patches of slippery snow near the lake

2019 – Epic road trip to new mexico and colorado

Last year we made our way to Rocky Mountain National Park on Memorial Day weekend, but first we went to Santa Fe, New Mexico. I wrote about traveling with kids to Santa Fe here, and here. Our road trip continued with an afternoon at the Great Sand Dunes National Park which is located in southern Colorado. We spent the night in Buena Vista, Colorado (which was gorgeous) before heading up to lunch at a brewery in Boulder, Colorado and finally Estes Park. During our time in Estes, we hiked in the Upper Beaver Meadows and on a snowy stroll around Bear Lake. My husband enjoyed a solo hike on Hermit Park’s Kruger Rock trail.

Snowy hike around Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park

best Memorial Day HikES in Rocky Mountain National Park and Estes Park, colorado

> Deer Mountain – 6.2 miles roundtrip with great views.
> Sprague Lake – half mile loop with benches, views and wildlife.
> Bear Lake – half mile loop, higher (9,475 feet) elevation could mean snow
> Nymph Lake & Dream Lake – .5 miles to Nymph Lake, 1.1 miles to Dream.
> Gem Lake – 1.6 miles each way. The views on the way up are the highlight.
> The Pool & Fern Falls – 1.7 miles to the Pool and 2.6 miles to Fern Falls.
> Kruger Rock – 2 miles each way. Hermit Park has separate fee from RMNP.
> Copeland Falls & Calypso Cascades – short waterfall hikes in the Wild Basin.
> Upper Beaver Meadows – 1 mile hike in lower (8,437 feet) elevation.

tips for memorial day weekend in rocky mountain national park

> Scenic drives such as Trail Ridge Road are open seasonally based on weather conditions. Trail Ridge Road typically opens the last week of May. You can get up-to-date information by calling (970) 586-1222.
> Pack layers for changing weather. Higher elevations typically get chillier.
> Expect snow, ice, mud…really anything is possible. Waterproof gear and footwear are helpful. We’ve also used trekking poles to help navigate snow covered trails.
> Estes Park hosts an annual art festival on Memorial Day weekend, for more information about events check out visitestespark.com

The Keyhole – One Slow Step at a Time

9,500 people per year climb to Longs Peak. I am not one of them.

At 14,259 feet in elevation, Longs Peak is the highest summit in Rocky Mountain National Park. Years ago (7 to be exact), my husband and I took a trip out to Colorado with some of our best friends. We went on several amazing hikes during our vacation. The grand finale was our hike to the Keyhole. I wanted to see what the guys had been bragging about when they talked at length about their epic adventure up Longs Peak.

I started out in a cranky mood. I don’t like waking up early.

There are several routes of varying difficulties that lead to Longs Peak. The Keyhole is the most popular. The National Park Service recommends to start before 3 am in the morning. You will see a lot of head lamps heading up the mountain when you start that early. The average time to complete the summit and return trip is 10-15 hours. You have to start early so that you miss afternoon thunderstorms. (Longs Peak via keyhole route)

It’s only an adventure if you travel through a Goblin Forest… that’s what I always say.

Since we weren’t going to the summit, we had a little more flexibility with our start time, but we still had to start early because we would be above tree-line and more vulnerable to lightening for a large portion of our hiking day. The hike to the Keyhole is approximately 12 miles round trip. (add 1.5 miles/way to Longs Peak)

Once you arrive at the Boulder Field, the Keyhole is in sight. At this elevation, each step was slow. It took a lot of energy to keep moving and we had to be careful to choose our steps wisely to avoid turning an ankle.

Stepping over rocks soon turned into more of a scramble up them.

Finally, I climbed up the Keyhole and looked out over the vast views on the other side. It was beautiful! I could see the trail continuing on my left side. There were large bullet marks painted on rocks to help people stay on the trail. If you are politely wondering why I didn’t just go the extra 1.5 miles to the summit, the answer is I’m scared of the exposure. I have a lot of respect for everyone who ventures on after seeing the drop off. I was ready to turn back.

I’m writing about this hike 7 years later because I woke up this morning facing another day of being stuck at home because of the coronavirus. Living through this fear and uncertainty is something I never imagined. I started thinking of the tough things I’ve done in my life:

-The first few weeks of track practice in high school

-Running a half marathon

-Biking 150 miles for the MS 150

-Child birth

-Climbing to the Keyhole

I may be smiling, but this picture captured my relief from getting down from the Keyhole.

My list isn’t all that impressive or unique, but it helps me remember that I can do this. I can reflect back on when I purposely pushed myself to do more than I thought was possible. I think the ‘Keyhole lesson’ for me is trying to take one moment at a time, using the legitimate fear I’m feeling to take appropriate caution, relying on family and friends for pep talks (the people who still love me when I get cranky), and remembering to appreciate the beautiful moments too.

*I found information about the Keyhole route on the National Park Service’s website.