Rocky Mountain National Park #2

About a year after the first Rocky Mountain National Park road trip, I knew it was time to go again. This time I attempted to enlist my friends to join in the fun, and as usual, only one came through. That would be Clif. We were to leave on a Friday in early November; I was hoping to be on the road just after noon. Unfortunately Clif had to work, so he couldn't join me until later that evening. Meanwhile, I packed everything that I needed and loaded up the car. I brought a couple of hundred CDs, a bag with clothes, soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, a few other miscellaneous things, and a bottle of Jack Daniels.

Finally, around 7:00pm Clif dragged into town and met me in my dorm room. We promptly transferred his stuff into my car and took off. We stopped at an Arby's to grab some food before the trip, then we headed off into the night. Driving straight through the night wasn't difficult; we had enough music, conversation, and anticipation to keep us awake.

We drove into the park just as the sun was rising. There was no-one present at the gate, so we drove in and parked in a small gravel parking lot near of the main road. We were both tired by this time, so we decided to get a bit of sleep before our adventures. Clif and I tilted the good old Shadow bucket seats back as far as they would go, and slowly dozed off.

We awoke an hour or two later to blazing sunlight and hot air. The sun was so bright that the car was acting like a greenhouse. So we got outside into the 60 degree pine air and stretched. We needed to get some food before exploring, so we drove back into Estes Park to get supplies. Clif and I grabbed some crappy breakfast at the McDonalds (which has since become a ritual), and got some water bottles at the grocery store.

Since we didn't know how to start exploring the park, Clif and I stopped across the street from the McDonalds at a visitor center, and got some maps. We drove back into the park and eventually ended up at Bear Lake. We parked in the parking lot, grabbed our stuff, and started walking for the trailhead. We were only carrying water bottles, some maps, and other small items, but the walk up the slightly inclined parking lot left us winded. We had not been expecting the increased physical strain of the rarefied atmosphere at 9000+ feet altitude.

Nonetheless, we started walking along the Bear Lake Trail, which circles the beautiful blue lake. The Bear Lake area of the park is very popular, and we encountered many people while walking around the lake. When we got to the eastern side of the lake, about two thirds of the way along the trail, we met some excited young Japanese women. One particular woman was holding a camera, and though I couldn't understand what she was saying, I got the impression that she wanted me to take a picture of her with her friends. So I began walking towards her, saying "OK, I can take your picture," when she began gesturing that she did not in fact want me to take a picture of them. My confusion was relieved when her friends walked over to Clif and I and put their arms around us. "Oh, I get it. She wants to get a picture WITH us." Having our picture taken improptu with some cute strangers was fun and uplifting for Clif and I. After that short excitement, we headed back down the trail.

As we neared the end of the trail, we felt good from the clean air and beautiful natural surroundings, but we wanted more. Studying the map revealed a tributary trail branching out from our present course in a short distance. So we continued to the junction, and evaluated this new course. It didn't look too bad on the map, and it appeared to offer the promise of beautiful views of the mountain range. Despite the steep incline that was visible, we figured, yeah we can take it, and set off and up the trail.

The signs said that the trail extended 5 miles up to the continental divide, and Clif and I figured 5 miles wouldn't be too bad. We quickly found we were wrong. The steep slippery slope of the trail, the fact that we were not physically prepared for this trip, and the lack of oxygen forced us to rest frequently along the trail. We stopped at a beautiful vantage point which looked out over Emerald Lake, crystal clear, thousands of feet below us. We pressed on, above the timberline, to a rocky wind-whipped switchback trail clawing up the top of the mountain. At some point, after resting for several minutes and determined to beat this trail, I stood up to push on, but Clif remained. He told me that he needed to stay and rest longer. I was intent on reaching the end of the trail, however, and I felt that I needed to leave then or I would fail to reach the top. So I pushed on alone.

The terrain of the the trail was physically very strenuous throughout the entire length of the trail, and at this point it was not getting any easier. I stopped as infrequently as possible, pushing like a man possessed. Eventually the trail became increasingly covered with snow, until the only visible markings were small piles of rocks, scattered here and there. I made forward as best as I could in the conditions. It was extremely windy and cold, clearly below freezing. Clif and I had only been wearing light jackets when we started hiking, so I was cold. The wind hit me so strongly at one point that when I crouched down to keep from being pushed over, the wind pushed me in my tennis shoes several inches along the ice.

Finally, I saw a sign that said something that I couldn't read, and I lost all desire to go further. I was standing on a glacier, I think I may have been at the end of the trail, and I was done. So, I turned around, and started heading back, looking once again for the piles of rocks. Soon after starting back, lo and behold, I found Clif. Will and Determination Triumphs! Clif made it to the top. Looking at my watch, I saw that it had taken us four hours to reach the top. A glance at the darkening sky revealed that a big storm was brewing, and we needed to get off of that mountain.

We started chugging back down the trail, finally passing the end of the snow to the bare rocky dirt trail. We continued on, still resting frequently, until we were below the timberline. This had taken about an hour, and big clouds were passing over the mountain, dropping snow a few miles away. We soon encountered a guy who was going UP the mountain, with a small tent on his back. We conversed for a while, and he told us that he intended on spending the night on the mountain. We thought he was crazy, but wished him luck and continued down.

Not long after meeting this poor fellow, we met a group of cadets from the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. They were also heading up, very fast. We stopped, talked for a while, and they broke out cigarettes. So I loaded up a pipe with some sweet cherry tobacco and we smoked together. They soon continued up the mountain, and Clif and I kept on truckin down. About a half an hour later, they came from behind us, on their way down. They had seen what they wanted to see, and were going back. We tried to keep up for a while but they were going way faster than poor Clif or myself could manage, so we eventually lost them.

The funniest thing happened when we got to the bottom of the mountain. As we were nearing the end of the trail, probably 10 or 15 minutes away, it began snowing. We stopped in awe and wonder to watch the huge white flakes gliding to earth. I think it was one of the most beautiful scenes that I've ever seen. The air was crisp and fresh, and it was completely silent. It was as if nature took a collective sigh in that moment, and nothing dared to break the stillness.

Somewhat reluctantly, we jaunted down the last few hundred meters of the trail, eager for food and drink, for our water supply was exhausted on the way down the mountain. We finally made it to the parking lot, which was completely empty, in stark contrast to the bustling activity seen earlier. Our supply in the car offered meager drinks, and only a single bag of lousy Bugles, which did little to satiate our hunger. We drove into Estes Park on a mission, looking for food.

We eventually settled on a Mexican restaurant called Don Pablo's (which also became a ritual). The food was good and filling, and after leaving we drove around the small Colorado town until we were tired. Again lacking funds or desire to procure lodging, we parked the good old Shadow in the McDonald's parking lot and decided to sleep for the night. It was cold, so we huddled in blankets and sleeping bags. I broke out the bottle of JD, and decided to grab a drink. When I unscrewed and removed the plastic cap, I noticed that the small styrofoam circular insert from the cap was still on the top of the bottle. As I reached to remove it, the higher air pressure inside of the bottle caused the little styrofoam circle to fly off the bottle with a loud 'POP' and bounce around the car. I thought that was pretty funny as I took a swig from the bottle before re-capping it and drifting off to sleep.

I woke up around 5:00am, before the sun was up. It was freezing cold, and I needed to get some supplies before leaving, so I got out of the car to walk around and find a place that was open. I walked over to the closest gas station, which turned out to be closed, so I went back to the car and drove through the quite mountain town until I found an open gas station. I got some antifreeze and a drink at the store, then filled up the radiator in the Shadow before driving out of Estes Park. I had been worried about the car, as the coolant system had been leaking antifreeze, but I believd that we could make it home.

We stopped several minutes after leaving Estes Park at a roadside turnout next to a stream and cliffs. There we did some rock climbing, scrambling around on the cliffs for a while. Though we were sore, it was fun. After a few minutes of this interruption, we took off down the road once again. The ride back was pretty uneventful, until we got about a hundred miles from home. I had been adding antifreeze throughout the trip home, but all of a sudden the engine temperature went way up, and there was nothing I could do to bring it down. We kept on going, our fingers crossed, and miraculously made it home.

Soon after this trip, I drove the Shadow another 100 miles to my home town, to figure out how to fix the car. My father and I removed the valve cover, and watched the engine throw oil everywhere. So we removed the engine, which I dismantled to discover that the rings had been destroyed in Cylinder 1, and the piston melted. Several months later, I re-built the engine with new parts, and the Shadow was once again resurrected from the ashes.

Back to my Road Trip list