After an orientation session for online school in the morning, we went to the Manitou Cliff Dwellings today. I remember going to Mesa Verda when I was a kid, and being amazed that anyone could build on the side of a cliff. I wanted the boys to get an idea of these dwellings, but Mesa Verde was way out of our way (like 6 hours one way). I found the Manitou Cliff Dwellings while searching for things to do online.
According to their website, the dwellings were originally in McElmo Canyon. To help preserve the ruins, they moved them to their new location and reassembled the structures. They used a concrete mixture to reassemble so that people could walk through the buildings.
Entrance was $33.08 for the three of us. It doesn’t take a long time to walk through the dwellings, maybe an hour. Although they are amazing, they won’t take your breath away quite as much as Mesa Verde. However, if you can’t make it to Mesa Verde, these are still historical ruins and a great history lesson. The boys actually enjoyed it and Nick read a few of the signs.
There is an inside museum, as well, in the visitor center. The boys read about baskets, water containers, weapons, and pottery. Nick liked learning that they smothered the fire in the kiln with horse manure to get the black color on the pottery.
We ran to Walmart for a few items.Once back at the campground, we did a load of laundry and went swimming in the evening. It was amazing because we had the pool all to ourselves! We discovered that Will has finally passed me up. The beginning of summer, I still had a little height on him, but it looks like he finally eeked past me a little bit.
I have a YouTube video of our walkthrough at the Cliff dwellings.
We woke up a little early so we could drive up to Pikes Peak. I still felt dehydrated from yesterday.
Ben and Nick packed a lunch for us and we were off.
There was construction at the peak, so you can drive to mile marker 13 or 16, park and then take a shuttle up to the top.
I drove on the way up. There are some amazing views! It’s beautiful. (Ben drove on the way down so I could take pictures! 🙂 ). There is a video of the drive up on the You Tube Channel. Right now I can only post 15 minute videos, so I tried to grab the best parts of the drives up and down the mountain. (I had 2 hours of footage!) There are a few things to see besides the mountains in the video, so I have a Video Scavenger Hunt if you want to try it: Bigfoot/Sasquatch Crossing, Scariest Portalet, Tutus, Marmot Sunning, Overheated Car, Injured Biker, Race Cars, Santa.
On the way up, we saw several groups of bicyclers and also a lot of trucks with trailers. Apparently on 8/30, there is a race to the top of Pikes Peak (the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb) and the cars were doing test runs that morning. We saw all kinds of cars coming down the mountain! That must be one scary race. There were no guard rails on a lot of the edges!
We parked at mile marker 16. Parking was frustrating. The two attendants didn’t communicate very well. The one had me turn down a lane that was full. The other attendant told me to wait and then forgot about me for 10 minutes. When I finally started backing up, then he directed me to a new parking area.
We got in line for the shuttles. The upper restrooms were locked, but the lower ones were open. The line moved relatively quickly thanks to all the shuttle buses they had working.
We caught a shuttle up to the top and walked to the visitor center/gift shop. We wandered around looking at the items. Ben and Will headed out and Nick and I got in line for donuts, coffee, and hot chocolate. We all walked over to the rocky area near the end of Devil’s Playground trail (aka Crags Trail). We walked/climbed towards the middle to enjoy our treats. When we were done eating, we moved closer to the edge. The views were incredible. We saw a plane flying by and we were higher than the plane!
The normal viewing platforms were closed, as was the train. I would definitely recommend walking towards Devil’s Playground trail area for better views. It was hazy (later heard it was due to wild fire smoke from our bus driver down), and you couldn’t see much of anything besides construction equipment at the viewing area in the back of the gift shop area. It is a bit of a climb and harder to get to, but the views are definitely worth it near the rocky area.
We saw a few marmots on our drive up and back. They were sunning on the rocks. There were a few birds around as well. Unfortunately, we did not see any of the Big Horn Sheep. Our driver down said she normally sees them on her trips, but hadn’t yet today. She thought maybe the test driving scared them away this morning. She did have a tip though for spotting them, as they blend in with the rocks. Look for white moving objects. It will be their tail end, but she said it’s the easiest way to spot them. Also on the way back down, she pointed out Cheyenne Mountain and NORAD.
After getting back into our truck, we headed back down. (You need to use lower gear to drive down and Ben took advantage of the truck’s awesome exhaust brake.) We had a couple of stops on the way to the bottom. They stop you at mile 13 to do a brake temperature check. If your brakes are too warm, they make you park and let them cool off for 30-45 minutes. Our first stop was the Halfway Picnic area. We found a table in the shade with some nice views. We saw a ground squirrel sunning on a rock nearby.
It’s been a few days, maybe even a week, since an injury! Our streak came to an end when Nick decided to take a “short-cut” over a drainage ditch and didn’t quite make it. Now, it wasn’t a large dip, just very rocky. He scrapped his leg up pretty good. I didn’t have any of the really large band-aids, so used gauze instead.
After lunch and a little first aid, we continued our descent and stopped at the Crystal Reservoir. There was a wood statue of Bigfoot, a gift shop, and nice views of the reservoir.
Toward the bottom of the mountain is the North Pole. It’s a Christmas themed amusement park. Admission is free, although it does cost money to ride the rides. There were only 3 or 4 rides running when we were there (not sure if due to social distancing restrictions or not) and the wrist band costs $10. We didn’t ride any rides, but did enjoy walking around and shopping. It was a cute area with several neat little shops. We picked up a couple of things for Christmas. It’s a cute place, especially with free admission, so don’t pass it up on your way down from Pike’s Peak!
Once home, Ben made us breakfast for dinner with the new double sided cast iron griddle we bought at Cabela’s. It was the first time we had used it, but it worked amazingly with the bacon. It is the Chef Camp Reversible Cast Iron Griddle*. We found the 14″ at Cabela’s and Amazon has the 16″.
We decided to drive back to Garden of the Gods. Not for hiking, nope not ready for that again. I am still thirsty from yesterday. This time we just drove through and enjoyed the sunset. The landscape and the colors changed in the setting sun. The sunset behind the rocks was amazing. The sunset also brought out several mule deer in the park.
We worked on laundry in the morning. There is a breakfast food stand/truck in the campground, so once we got the washers going, we walked over and enjoyed pancakes and breakfast burritos. Nick ran a burrito back to Ben so he could enjoy it while he was working.
We spent a little time playing in the arcade after folding the laundry.
We decided to drive to Garden of the Gods. We decided to take a hike around the park. After 2.5 miles, the kids were done. It was hot and very, very sunny, not a lot of shade. We took a shortcut back and ended up with a 2.8 mile hike.
Family picture and Kissing Camels (the rocks, not us)
We were all dehydrated by the end, even with the water we brought.
We drove to Manitou springs and walked around. It was about 5:30pm when we got there, and the summer hours posted showed most of the town closed at 6:00.
We found a couple of the spring fountains that Manitou is known for. Each spring is supposed to have a slightly different flavor. We only tried one today, and it tasted just like fizzy (carbonated) water! The fountains are located throughout town and are free for use. There were people walking around filling up their water bottles to try the different waters.
We ordered a pizza from Hell’s Kitchen to bring back to the RV for dinner. It was a long wait for the pizza, but the taste was pretty good! It had a nice crust, not heavy on the sauce.
Manitou Springs had several more large objects for Will as well, so those pictures will be coming soon! 🙂
Saturday we went to Rocky Mountain National Park. The park is requiring reservation times for admission. The later afternoon ones are easier to get. I tried several times to get a morning/early afternoon time, but was unsuccessful. They sell out really quickly. There is a $2 charge, even if you have the Annual Pass. If you do not have an annual or day pass, you can buy it when you make your reservation.
Our time started at 3:00 and it was about 1 1/2 hour drive there from our campground. We decided to spend the day in Estes Park, which is right outside the park, until our time opened up.
Estes Park is really pretty and is a nice walkable town. There is a nice walking path next to the creek. We got ice cream at Sunday Saloon. They made square ice cream cones! Although very neat looking and definitely different, there is a downfall to square scoops. They fall off easily. I lost my ice cream after only a few licks. Ben bought me another ice cream later, and I learned my lesson and got it in a cup!
We went into a few stores, got some more postcards, coffee, and a slice of pie.
It was finally time to head into the park. We had perfect timing and got there right as our entrance time started. Within 10 minutes we saw a bunch of cars pulled over in a pull off. I looked over and there was a moose in the pond! We pulled in and went to look. Ben grabbed the binoculars. The moose was up to his shoulders in the water and was eating plants out of the pond. It was really neat to see.
We kept driving around the main road in the park. We saw Lava Cliffs, one of the highest, or maybe the highest point on the road. It was hard to tell based on the sign. There was a snow/glacier area there. It was beautiful with a little pond at the bottom.
Our next stop was at another Tundra area. We saw 2 marmots, which look a little like our groundhogs. They sleep up to 8 months and have to double their weight in the summer to prepare for hibernation. They ate most of the time when we were there, occasionally looking up at the tourists. The tundra area takes a long time to grow, the sign said it can take centuries for plant areas to mature.
There were signs and explanations everywhere not to walk on the tundra, to stay on the path. We saw several people walking right past to get their glamor shots and selfies. There was plenty of path to get amazing pictures at without walking all over the areas that said “Stay Off” or “Tundra Closed”. There were even just signs with pictures signaling to stay off. I just don’t understand people.
Anyway, enough of the ranting. We kept on driving up to the Alpine Visitor Center. We stopped at the visitor center first and wandered around their shop. I got a new mask (looks like a bear snoot) and an ornament for Christmas. There is a trail up the hill next to the visitor center. The peak of the hill is at 12, 005 feet above sea level! The altitude definitely makes it harder to go up the hill. It wasn’t a huge change in elevation, maybe 500 feet and there were stairs for most of it. I had to take a couple of breaks to adjust, but we all made it to the top. It had some amazing views, definitely worth the walk up!
We made it back to the car and enjoyed a nice picnic dinner that Ben had packed. It was a really nice treat.
We continued on the road and stopped at the Continental Divide. We also saw a deer at a picnic spot nearby.
We stayed on the same road to get out of the park. It’s not a loop road, so if you want to leave through the same entrance you came into, you need to turn around. We decided to just drive out of the park and take a different way back home. This drive had a lot of switchbacks, but amazing views of the mountains.
We had the dash cam up, so we have some video of our drive. I compiled clips into about a 14 minute video on our YouTube channel.
I am glad we got to see Rocky Mountain National Park and the marmots and moose. I will say that I still like Yellowstone better. Rocky Mountain was great with the glacier/tundra areas, but the landscape was mostly pine trees and mountains (which are beautiful). Yellowstone’s landscape frequently changes when you drive through, so it’s always something new to look at.
After working all day, Ben wanted to unwind and explore a little bit. We didn’t want a huge drive, so after some Google searching, we settled on Idaho Springs. I think during non-Covid times, this would be a really cute town to walk around in. They had a pizza place that looked amazing (unfortunately we had already eaten), several cute stores, and some brewery type restaurants. Unfortunately, a lot of the stores were closed even on a Friday evening.
We (I may have pushed it a little bit since we were so close) decided to drive to Saint Mary’s Glacier. (Thank you Allison for the idea!) I found the path on my trail app, put in the directions, and we were off. The road goes up the mountain (as you might expect) and ends in a private drive. The road gets pretty twisty and turny in some spots. There were two parking lots off the side of the road (on the left when going up). The lots were $5 to park (cash only and you paid via envelope in a box). There were a few port-a-lets there, and while they were not full, they hadn’t been serviced in a while. The air was cooler, but not too bad even in shorts.
Now, this was spur of the moment and we were rushing to hike before we lost daylight. The trail app said it was a 1.9 mile trail and that the “trail up is mostly rocks but not terribly difficult”, so I figured it was on the harder side of easy to an easy-ish moderate trail. We didn’t have our hiking boots, although we did thankfully have our walking sticks/hiking poles (thanks Dad!). I also did not bring a water or our spray with us on the hike. Yeah, not my best moment.
The hike was not easy. Nope. Not even a little bit easy in the beginning.
The trail up is steeper and definitely covered in various sizes of rocks. Our lungs are also not quite used to the altitude here yet, so that may have made it harder as well. It also could be I am in worse shape than I thought. Trails out here are not the same as back home! The path branches off in several spots, some going towards a private property, so I was glad I had the trail app to stay on course.
I had to stop several times to let my lungs acclimate and calm down. Luckily I didn’t need my inhaler this time. The hiking poles helped a lot on the rocky areas.
There were a few other groups there, but it definitely wasn’t crowded. We saw what looked like a small wedding finishing up when we got to the lake. Someone else had a snowboard on his backpack.
It was beautiful. The lake has a small beach and we saw a few people with swim suits in their bags, so I’m not sure if they went swimming or not. I would think it would have been very cold water, as the air was quite a bit chillier than down in town.
You can hike right up to the glacier. It was amazing. I haven’t been that close to a glacier before…well I haven’t seen a glacier before either.
It was a great experience, although I do need to plan these out a little better!
We ended up rushing back down because the sun was starting to set and we didn’t want to still be on the trail when it got dark. Although we were stressed at the end to get back to the truck before dark and get down the mountain once the sun set, it was still an amazing experience. How many people can say they touched a glacier?
Yesterday we arrived at our new campground and got set up. We ran into town and stopped at Ben’s favorite store (Costco) for some groceries. We also stopped at Kings Soopers for the rest of our groceries. Nick had been wanting to see the new Scooby Doo movie, so we rented it from Redbox at the store. We all really enjoyed the movie and it was nice to have a relaxing evening. I’ve loved Scooby for years (and years…let’s not count the number of years) and now the boys do too.
Ben took the day off of work so he could explore Denver with us. Our first venture out (besides grocery stores) was to downtown Denver. We decided to walk the 16th Street Mall. It is a street that has a lot of shops and food options. We browsed, window shopped, saw Union Station, and picked up some postcards.
There were a lot of food options on this street. We ended up trying a few different items. We tried a new flavor of cupcake (Raspberry Almond Poppy Seed), a spicy breakfast burrito, and Will tried a Korean BBQ cup.
All in all, it was a great way to spend the afternoon.
We were walking around town and strolled on down to see the Roosevelt Arch. It is a pretty neat piece of architecture. Ben especially loved the doors.
As we were walking back towards where we parked the truck, we heard high pitched animal calls. We looked towards the park and we saw three baby elk running towards the Arch. We heard an answering call and saw two momma elk strolling out from a side parking area, relatively close to us. We backed up to give them room.
One of the babies met his/her mom in front of us. The baby must have been very, very hungry because they about tackled the mom to nurse.
Yesterday was a stay in the RV and do budget/bills/etc. kind of day. When Ben was finished with work, he came out and announced he wanted to go see the Grand Tetons.
Ok…great. It’s just a 3.5-4 hour road trip (each way). So, we buckled up and started driving. To get there, you basically drive through Yellowstone, which was packed. I haven’t seen so many people since we’ve been here. I’m glad we saw most of the sights last week! It’s been really helpful to get up early and see things before lunch time, which is when it seems more people come into the park.
It rained on us for part of the drive. We got to see the Continental Divide in two different elevations during our drive, which was a nice learning opportunity.
Once at the Grand Tetons park, we went to Signal Mountain and drove to the top to the overlook. Of course, it started raining again, with thunder and some lightening. We did get some views of the Tetons, but it was cloudy.
After carefully driving back down (strangely enough there were less people going up the mountain in the rain), we saw an adult male elk with large antlers. Around Yellowstone we had only seen young males with smaller antlers. It was pretty cool!
We stopped at the visitor center to try to get a better view of the mountains as it had cleared up a little bit. It was pretty late by this time, so we stopped at their restaurant/cafe for some food. It was all take out, with ordering and pick up outside. Word of advice: bring your own food! The food was ok (not great, not even on the better side of good, but just ok), but I think this was the most expensive meal we’ve had so far. $9 for a hot dog (did come with vegetable side). They were the only option we saw though, so if you don’t bring your own food, you don’t have a lot of options.
The Grand Tetons were pretty and they have some large lakes there as well which would probably be great for boating and fishing. However, I am glad we spent most of our time in Yellowstone. I loved seeing the geysers and hot springs, plus there are so many trails. We didn’t get to check out Tetons’ trails though because it started raining on us again and it was another 4 hour drive back home.
We read in our National Parks book a little about the Tetons. They got their name from French trappers/explorers and were named “trois tetons”, or the three nipples. The boys found this extremely funny.
The boys and I headed up towards Old Faithful this morning. There was some traffic due to construction, so it took a little longer than the 1.5 hours I thought it would. We finally saw our first bear! I think it was an adolescent black bear. He’s been the only bear so far that we have seen.
We saw the Crested Pool, Sawmill Geyser, Old Tardy Geyser, Churn Geyser, Grand Geyser, and Castle Geyser. We didn’t know before we arrived, but Castle Geyser was due to erupt within the hour, so we sat and waited.
It was amazing. There were a few small bursts and puffs of steam before the large eruption. It can last up to 20 minutes and goes off about every 14 hours. We only saw about 10 minutes of it before Nick got too antsy after waiting for so long and sitting in the sun. As we were driving away to make sure we made it back in time for guitar lessons, it was still erupting!
I could have sat there the entire time watching. The Yellowstone National Park Service app has a geyser eruption time prediction (+/- 45 minutes) which would have been smart of me to check beforehand. It was an amazing thing to see and I liked it better than Old Faithful. There is one side that is smooth, while the other side is a little rougher and looks like it has steps. It changes the appearance of the water flow depending on which side you view it from.
If you are up by Old Faithful, I would definitely try to time it so you can see Castle Geyser erupt. If you are by the North Entrance heading into the park, go early in the morning. The steam from the hot springs and geysers is multiplied in the cooler air and is really neat to see.
Ben wanted to go on a fairly easy hike, mostly flat, under 5 miles.
I found one on AllTrails that looked like it could work. It was 5 miles and listed as moderate, which most of the ones around here were. The only easy listed trails nearby were ones we had already one near attractions in the park. The reviews made it seem like the hill in the beginning is what made it moderate, so I thought it would be fine if it evened out later. Nope! I should not be allowed to pick the trails we do in the parks. At home I did ok, but I clearly haven’t adjusted to here yet. 3 hours and 39 minutes later we make it back to overlook the parking lot.
It was a bit more strenuous than I had been expecting. There were several flat areas, some next to a large drop down. A few small bridges. No wildlife other than some feather remains and butterflies. At one of the ponds, we did see what may have been a dam, but no beavers. It was a bit of a let down in terms of hikes.
By the end, everyone was exhausted and a little cranky. The best part was that by pure circumstance, the trail dumped us pretty close to where we had parked the truck!
We were all so tired and sore when we got back to the truck. We stopped at the creek to dip our feet in and the numbing cold water felt amazing. Driving back into town, we stopped at Scoop! There It Is ice cream trailer and got some huckleberry ice cream.
Later that night we drove to the park and stopped to look at the stars! There were so many more than what we get to see at home!
