We stopped by a small town called Meeker for lunch. It was a very cute little town which had two claims to fame. One was that they have a sheepdog championship every year and there was a botched bank robbery back during the wild west where the town shot and killed the robbers before they could get away with the loot. It was fun to walk around the town and read the history.
We had initially had a plan for a HH on our first night in Colorado on our way to Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP). Hanna had suggested that we stop at Rifle Falls State Park for a hike. She had not been there but had heard it was very pretty and it was on our way. I was very happy to find the scenery getting greener. The hills were still arid but there were more trees and grass the further into CO we went.
First Day in Colorado
I needed green so my eyes were happy. We pulled into Rifle Falls State Park and it was beautiful. It was right on a lake and out in the middle of nowhere. We decided that we were going to spend the night instead of just hiking and moving on and it was great!
We got settled and left to go on the Rifle Falls hike which was about 4 miles down the road. Our 2.4 mile hike ended up being about 3.5 miles and it was absolutely wonderful. The hike took us into forest (where we met a beautiful buck on the trail), across streams and several waterfalls. The temperature was comfortable and we had a fabulous time. We got back to our campsite and we met our neighbors and spent a fabulous evening cooking and sitting staring out at the landscape at this little but awesome State Park.
Cons and Pros of the Trip
It ended up being one of our favorite evenings and places to stay so far. We were tempted to stay another night but we were told that the park was fully booked for the weekend so we moved onto our HH slated for RMNP.
This was actually a Boondockers Welcome (BW) which is part of HH but is not a business. BW are just people who want to open up a space in their yard or driveway for people to stay for a night. This was our first BW. It was definitely a different experience. It was literally a driveway in the small neighborhood of Granby. Our host was not going to be there but told us to please go ahead and just use her driveway. We were able to back our little camper into the slot next to her other cars (just barely) and settled in.
Details of the Trip
We took a walk around the neighborhood and it was certainly a different vibe. Not bad – just different. The location, however, could not be beat! We were 20 minutes outside of RMNP and close to Grand Lake (a big vacation location at the bottom of RMNP). Since we did not have timed entry tickets we set our alarm to get up early and get in before the 9am deadline when the timed entry requirements began.
More about the Experience
The night went down to 34 degrees (from desert to frost!) but the day dawned sunny and beautiful. We put on our long johns and headed out to travel the Trail Ridge Road on the East Side of the Park. We had wanted to do a trail on the Bear Lake road but that required purchasing a pass which we could not get so we will just have to do that next time. The Trail Ridge Road (48 miles total) had a few stops along it for hiking and took us to Estes Park. The park was beautiful from the get go but I was surprised that the peaks did not have snow on them. At this elevation (10k+) the trees were starting to turn fall colors. The road promised to take us up to a 12k+ elevation! RMNP has the highest elevation paved road of any US National Park.
The ride was awe inspiring and the hiking definitely got more difficult as we gained elevation. Our lungs were laboring but the views were worth it. We stopped to have lunch that I packed at the peak. We could not have asked for a better day. Upon looking at the map we decided that we would drive the Old Fall River Road back from Estes Park to the peak to head our way back down the way we came. The Old Fall River Road was the original road through the park built in the 1920’s. It was an 11 mile one-way non-paved road but we had no concern since we had Gigi. It was a great choice. We were able to stop for a hike at the Chasm Falls and even stopped along the way to grab our chairs and sit in a meadow just to absorb the quiet. Gigi got us through no problem. We decided to stop by Grand Lake on our way back. We had spent 5.5 hours in the park and were not quite ready to head back to Sunny. The lake was beautiful and the town was a quaint tourist town. We played with the idea of maybe renting a kayak or boat but ultimately decided to head back to change and do some grocery shopping.
Conclusion of the Trip
For some reason, maybe it was the leaves turning falls colors and/or our discussion that morning that we were 45 days into our trip or being weary of planning places to stay for our next leg but that evening I got hit hard with homesickness. We both had had slight moments here and there but they were light and passed quickly. This was a full out bout of missing home. We decided to put any more future planning aside for the evening. We had already secured our HH for Denver and did not need to do anything right away.
I called my sister (which helped) and looking forward to seeing Hanna and Ben the next day. We had to plan around the fact that the Denver Broncos football team was playing in Denver so we wanted to make sure we were not going to hit game traffic. We got up and headed out as soon as we could to Lakewood (a neighborhood right outside of Denver) to our HH location (The Front Range Inn).
The drive was rough for poor Jonathan. It was a decline of over 6000 feet (We were at 11k and headed down to 5k) on highway roads which were not well maintained. It was about a 2 hour drive but it was a white knuckle one. We finally arrived, took a break and then had some lunch at the Inn. We are low on water so we have to be super conservative until tomorrow when we hope to find a place to top off. Luckily Hanna is able to provide us a place to shower. We are meeting up with her, Ben and Bens mom for dinner tonight. I am very much looking forward to it (and the shower ).
Not sure what our plans are for tomorrow but right now just looking to enjoy tonight. Tomorrow will take care of itself. The homesickness is passing but it was certainly a doozy. We will be moving on towards Santa Fe, New Mexico but not entirely sure of the details. Stay tuned to find out what happens next!
Rifle Falls State Park and Rifle and Rifle Falls Hike
Rocky Mountain National Park
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