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| A view from the road in the mountains! |
After leaving Great Sand Dunes National Park, I headed north
through the mountains. I think I have
made a significant amount of Colorado drivers quite annoyed due to the fact
that I tend to drive significantly under the speed limit partially due to the
fact I’m sneaking glances at the astounding scenery all around me and partially
because the tight curves through the mountains are fairly terrifying! It started raining pretty hard by the time I
got close to the parks I was aiming for, so I kept going to Colorado
Springs. I got some dinner and did some
writing. When I got back in my car, it
was raining even harder. I contemplated
heading to a park anyway because it’s rather cozy to be all snuggled in my sleeping
bag while listening to the rain on my tent, but in the end I opted for a
hotel. It was a good move since there
was tons of significant flooding in the area and even a few flash floods!
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| Garden of the Gods |
The next day, it was still drizzling and extremely
foggy! I ran some errands to kill time
and after I was finished, it was still foggy and drizzling. I heard my dad’s words, “You’re not so sweet
you’ll melt” echoing in the head, so I put on my rain coat and headed to the
Garden of the Gods. It was
incredible! The fact that it was so
foggy really added to the experience! It
felt as if I really was visiting the gods’ world! From a distance, I could only make out a
vague outline of part of a rock structure, but when I got closer, the entire
formation appeared clearly! I had a
grand time just wandering around in the mystical ambiance of the park for a
while.
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| Petrified tree stump at Florissant Fossil Beds |
My next adventure took me back up into the mountains. As I drove higher and higher the day got
clearer and brighter! It was quite a
beautiful day by the time I got to the Florissant Fossil Beds National
Monument. After talking to a most
friendly and helpful ranger, I headed straight for the fossil lab! They had a tent set up with various samples
of fossils and even had some of the more impressive ones set up under
microscopes! They were incredible! It was as if I was looking at the actual leaf
or bug! The best part though, was when
the ranger explained how he picks the rock apart to find the fossils. . .while
doing it! He even let me help! I did find a fossil (not a great one, but
sill. . .how many people can say they found a fossil of any quality!)! After making my ground breaking discovery, I
went on a hike to see the many petrified redwood tree stumps in the park. After my hike, I headed back to the ranger
station to check out the delicate fossils they had there. I had a lovely chat with two rangers. They were so friendly, helpful, and
knowledgeable. And, when they didn’t
know an answer (to a super random dinosaur question prompted by the interests
of a former student) they went way out of their way to try to find the
answer! One of the rangers even came and
found me before I left to give me a junior ranger pin! He also gave me a contact information for a
person that may be able to make me a full-fledged ranger in the future (or “an ambassador
of nature” as he put it)!
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| Mueller State Park |
After my totally enjoyable afternoon at the fossil beds, I
went to Mueller State Park. After
conferring with another incredible ranger (people in Colorado are exceptionally
friendly and good natured!) I headed for a walk-in tent site with a fantastic
view of the snow dusted mountains! After
setting up, I went back to another overlook.
After enjoying the spectacular view for a while, I was then treated to
front row seats to a thunder/hail storm!
After the hail subsided, I headed back to my private mountain view for
the evening.
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| Boyd Lake State Park |
The next morning, I headed to Rocky Mountain National
Park. I stopped at the visitor center to
get some tips. I spoke with. . .you
guessed it. . .the friendliest man ever!
He was a retired teacher from Ohio who had always dreamed of living out
west, so as soon as he retired, he and his wife moved to the mountains of
Colorado. He gave me some great
advice! I drove through the park for a
bit, but after determining that the campgrounds were full, I decided I needed
to figure out where I was sleeping for the night before I continued
adventuring. I ended up driving to
Loveland and camping by a lake there. It
was beautiful and it was also much warmer since it was much lower.
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| Rocky Mountain National Park |
The next morning I got up at sunrise . . .which was
extremely dramatic and beautiful over the lake!
I packed up my stuff and headed pack to Rocky Mountain National
Park. I head out on the trails towards
the mountain lakes that had been recommended to me. It was incredibly beautiful! The streams and waterfalls were especially
vibrant since the area had gotten so much rain lately! The views at the lakes were breathtaking! There were a few flowers, beautiful golden
leaves on the trees, magnificent snowcapped mountains, and a lake reflecting
all this beauty back to you! It was
totally spectacular! As if it couldn’t
get better, I made a friend on my way to the second lake of the day. While I’ve had meaningful and though
provoking conversations with friends and family along the way, it’s mostly been
over the phone (except in Texas). It was
very enjoyable to have good conversation with someone in person and even better
to have it occur on the trail! It truly
enhanced my experience! My new friend,
Steve, and I met another man along the way.
He was an older man from Tennessee, near the Smokey Mountains. He told us that he was on a trip to the park
with his hiking buddies. How fabulous is
that! I hope that someday I have hiking
buddies that I go gallivanting with!
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| Rocky Mountain National Park |
After saying good-bye to my hiking partner, I went to the
backcountry office to inquire about a backpacking loop. Again, an extremely helpful ranger was able
to give me just the help I needed. Our
conversation kept getting interrupted, but by the time it was my turn, he looked
at me and said, “I thought about it, and I don’t think you want anything too
easy.” He doesn’t even know how true
those words are! After brief reflection
on those words, I realized that I tend to seek out things that “aren’t too easy”
in most every area of my life! I really
do thrive on seeing how far I can push myself.
And, I generally find that I’m capable of much more than even I was
aware of (which is saying something since I have pretty high expectations for
myself!).
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