Backpacking in the Rockies

After renting a bear canister, getting some dinner, and alerting my family that I would be immersed in the woods for the next three days, I went to find a campsite.  I found a site at the foot of Longs Peak, the tallest mountain in the park.  I set up my tent and settled in for the night.  It was extremely windy!  At one point, my tent tipped over, with me in it!  This made me a little concerned about how well I was going to do on my backpacking trip (but not enough to detour me from taking the trip of course!).  After finding the perfect way to angle my body across as much of the surface of the floor of the tent as possible, as a result it was a stable enough structure to allow me to get some rest. 

I got up early the next morning to get my gear packed into the backpack as compactly as possible.  Then, I headed to the trail head.  After pulling on my boots and strapping on my pack, I was off!  The first day didn’t require much mileage to get to the campground, so I took a detour around Bierstadt Lake.  I ate my lunch while gazing at the snowcapped mountains that were framed by some pine trees between me and the peaceful mountain lake.  There was a swift breeze coming off the lake that was both refreshing and frigid at the same time.  After a while, the frigid part gave me the motivation I needed to keep moving.  After walking around the perimeter of the lake, I headed up the trail to Miller Creek Basin.  My campsite was situated in a gorgeous mountain meadow!  I found the perfect perch on a fallen tree branch and soaked up the sun and the glorious tranquility of my private meadow in the middle of the Rockies for quite a while.  Then it was time to follow the signs to the privy.  When I got there, I found a compostable toilet (quite a cool concept) and a bin with woodchips to help with the composting process.  What I did not find were walls around said toilet.  I found the experience of going to the bathroom on a toilet while still totally exposed to nature, strangely enjoyable!  It was certainly the best view I’ve ever had while using the bathroom!

The next morning I hiked for a bit until I found the prefect rock with an outstanding view of Cub Lake, another idyllic mountain lake.  This one had a tremendous amount of lilly pads that formed a ring around the middle of the lake.  I met two extremely friendly hikers and chatted with them a bit.  As they left, they said they’d see me down the trail.  After a snack and some more hiking, I did in fact see them down the trail, and boy was I lucky I did!  The man saw me heading down the wrong trail (it seems as if this is a pattern on my solo backpacking trips).  He rushed to catch up to me and tell me of my mistake.  I’m so lucky he did otherwise I would have hiked 1.7 miles to the nearest parking lot and would have been 3.8 miles away from my campsite for the night.  What a kind gesture!  People tend to be so nice when they are in nature!  It’s as if the wilderness somehow brings out the civilized side of people! 

The next 2.1 miles were the miles I was most nervous about since I gained 1,130 feet of elevation during that stretch.  I guess I must be in better shape than I realized because it wasn’t terribly challenging.  Of course, it does help that I was distracted by magnificent waterfalls, and majestic mountains!  Before I knew it, I met a lady who asked me where I was headed and when I replied, “Fern Lake.” She replied, “You’re there.”  And, indeed, I was.  I set up camp in a lovely wooded nook, then took my significantly lighter backpack down to the lake.  I had a snack and boiled water for tea.  As I enjoyed my tea, I realized that there was a rock situated at the perfect angle for reclining.  Recline I did. For the next couple of hours!  It was glorious!  I was in a state somewhere between being alert and asleep.  It was the most relaxed a person can be and still be awake.  I watched the ripples in the water, the clouds moving by in the sky, the several birds flitting around until they found the perfect perch, and basked in the radiating warmth of the sun as it peaked out from the intermittent cloud cover.  After a while, I went back to camp.  There was a large rock by my site that was shaped rather like a couch!  I sprawled out on the rock sofa and read for another several hours.  When the sun had moved on to a different section of the park and my grumbling stomach became impossible to ignore, I went at least 200 feet away (bear safety) and found a great spot in the woods that was perfectly suited to become my kitchen/dining room for the evening.  There’s something so splendid about a day that both starts and ends in the wilderness without any interruption of civilization in between!      

The next morning, after a fairly steep climb, I got to yet another serene mountain lake.  This one was so clear I could see the fish swimming about!  I could also see the mountains reflected on the surface!  I plopped down to enjoy the moment.  Not long after I plopped, there appeared another hiker who plopped down right beside me and we started chatting away. . .nature sure does bring out the best in people!  It turns out he was a professor of psychology and social work!  I told him I was thinking about going back to school for social work and he proceeded to give me some tips as to good schools in the general region I was thinking about looking for programs!  Then, after a bit of hiking together, he said, “Enjoy your life kid.” and was off.  And let me tell you. . .I sure am enjoying my life of adventure! 

After hiking on random old trails (probably made by fishermen) by the stream that feeds into the lake, I realized that I needed to retrace my steps and find the main trail.  Although, it was an extremely lovely detour!  I continued to climb higher until I had an outstanding view of the mountains as well as the lake so far below!  At this point, I started seeing more day hikers.  I think many of them will go home and report, “No, we didn’t see any moose, but we did see this backpacker and she was all alone!”  It was funny. . .it really was as if they were sighting some kind of wild animal that they had heard of, but never seen, when they met me and confirmed that I had spent two nights in the backcountry.  Luckily, my backpack also attracted the interest/attention of a man who works in the information office for the park.  He told me to call him on a Sunday morning and he’d give me lots of insider tips for my next trip to the park.  He also turned out to be a retired psychologist and was very interested to talk about my potential switch to social work.  He assured me that Portland was the place where I should go to pursue this dream, so I guess I can’t finish my trip until I make it there!  After just a bit more hiking downhill, I was back in the parking lot.  I unloaded my backpack and freshened up in the visitor center bathroom. . .probably my most outstandingly homeless moment thus far!  Then it was time for my post backpacking trip ritual.  I found an all-you-can-eat situation and ate my body weight full of what they had to offer!

This particular all-you-can-eat affair was an inn situated in Rocky Mountain National Park (it must have been grandfathered in) that offered two types of soup, a salad bar, muffins, cornbread, honey wheat bread, and cubes of cheese.  I proceeded to eat three bowls of soup (one bowl of corn chowder and two of cowboy buffalo stew), two plates of salad, one slice of each kind of bread, a muffin, and several cubes of cheese!  It was all homemade and outstandingly delicious!  The experience was even better because I got to sit in the sun porch of that had a fabulous view of the Rockies! 

After stuffing as many totally delectable calories as I could into my stomach, I drove through the park on the outstandingly scenic Trail Ridge Road.  It didn't take long to get up to the section of the park that has an alpine tundra climate.  It was extraordinarily beautiful and cold!  It was snowing while I was hiking around!  There were odd and striking rock structures and view after breath-taking view of the snow covered mountains!  It was so harsh and majestic and beautiful!  As I drove down out of the mountains along the Colorado River, I had the good fortune of see several moose!  What large and odd looking, yet totally amazing creatures they are!