As I mentioned in the last post, we were able to squeak in a second trip up to Estes Park before the baby. I attended the Yoga Journal Conference, and Andy squeezed in two hikes as his “retreat”. How could he be in Estes Park / Rocky Mountain National Park and not hike?? Especially at this beautiful time of year.
On Tuesday he found the Storm Pass Trailhead (in the Sprague Lake area). It only allows for three cars in the parking lot and he was lucky someone was pulling out when he approached. He hiked east along the trail til he reached a 5-point intersection about 1/2 mile in. Not a common type of intersection on trails – so he had a choice to make. He made the big decision to follow the Boulder Brook Trail. He’s been wanting to see water recently, so I think that was the driving factor.
He loved the trail: it followed the creek, he saw colorful aspens, it was a challenging steep trail that was rewarding and peaceful. He never saw another soul on his hike. It took him about 40 min to make it up, and 20 min to make it down.
Here are some of his pictures: (I think you can feel the serenity from these images – I was soooo jealous. I wanted to hike AND do my yoga!)
On Wednesday, he stayed on the YMCA property and hiked the Emerald Mountain Trail. The Yoga Journal Conference was at the YMCA of the Rockies – an incredible campus that we hadn’t seen before. The YMCA would be a great place for a family reunion or large get-together.
First he drove up to the trailhead and stopped at The Chapel at Mountainside Lodge.
Then he started up Emerald Mountain Trail. It was 0.9 mile one-way with a 600 ft elevation gain. He thinks it felt steeper than that, maybe because the last 1/3 mile was straight up with no switch backs. It was worth the effort.
The rains started to come, but it was only a steady drizzle. But he got to see a large rainbow, aspens lining the slopes, a view of one of the lakes down in the NP, and again – not another soul on the trail.
When I got out of my afternoon class, I noticed that the rains had become snow higher up and left a dusting on the mountain tops. (Even back at our house one of the mountains is now dusted with white. I love the fall here, but I am not thrilled about another cold winter coming yet! It would be great if Fall lasted for 6 months.)
Here are two bull elk that we got to see on the YMCA campus. We saw others around town, too. But I will always remember waking up this morning hearing elk bugling thru our open window. We had the window open for the cool fresh air and in the morning we turned on the gas fireplace as we laid under covers and waited for more sounds from the elk. Wish every morning started that way!
2 comments:
Wow! Looks like an amazing hike. Beautiful photos. I can see where you'd be a tad jealous with not being able to go. I found when I was pregnant (especially in the later months) that I was extremely jealous of people that could do the simple things in life. Getting out of bed, tying or putting on your own shoes..... lol!
{{hugs}}
I've experienced jealousy several times this pregnancy, but now knowing it's coming to an end I'm trying to just live in the moment and enjoy what's happening today. Several moms have told me that they miss feeling their babies inside them.
But isn't that the recurring theme of life? To "live in the moment"? We learned that while traveling - that each day was short and was offering a special opportunity that we may never experience again. It's harder to remember this message when in one place, working, caught up in a routine, etc. Funny, huh?
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