Bear Lake Trailhead

On the first weekend in October we took the kids back to Rocky Mountain National Park to do some hiking starting at the Bear Lake Trailhead. We initially skipped over Bear Lake, which is just off the beginning of the trailhead, and headed straight for the trail that leads to Nymph Lake, Dream Lake, and Lake Haiyaha (there are at least several more lakes around along this trail, but these are just the ones we hit). We started out pretty early, and on the return trip realized what a good idea that had been, as once we got closer to the parking lot the trail started to feel a bit like walking the streets of a big city. Anyway, it was a beautiful hike. The kids did about 4.5 miles without too much trouble. The only problem we ran into was that Lake Haiyaha was completely unsuitable for children under the age of about 3.5-4. It was surrounded by very large boulders, and impossible for Muriel to walk around. Niamh did fine, though she was a little scared. Rowan thought it was great fun and pretended he was a great horn sheep climbing over the rocks. Oh, on the way back to the parking lot we did peek in at Bear Lake, but it was just too crowded at that point (somewhere around noon), so we didn't spend much time there.

More pictures on Flickr.

Rowan Makes it to the Rocky Mountains

Okay, so actually we all made it to the Rocky Mountains last weekend, but Rowan was the most excited about it. This is how the hour long car ride into the park went:

Rowan: Are these the Rocky Mountains?
Pat/Emily: No, these are just the foothills.

five minutes later
Rowan: Are these the Rocky Mountains?
Pat/Emily: No, these are still the foothills. It's going to take about sixty minutes to get there.

three minutes later
Rowan: Are these the Rocky Mountains? There are a lot of rocks!"
Pat/Emily: No, still the foothills, Rowan. We will tell you when we get to the Rocky Mountains okay?

two minutes later
Rowan: Are these the Rocky Mountains?

Needless to say, he was thrilled once we finally got there. Even though we were out of the house by 9am, it was very crowded by the time we got into the park, and finding a parking spot at a trail head was difficult.


We ended up doing a very short "hike" (walk) on the Alluvial Fan Trail. It was crowded, but the river was beautiful, regardless.




We even spotted some wildlife, though it wasn't the Bighorn Sheep Rowan is dying to see.

After our hike and a snack we decided to head back into Estes Park for some fishing at Trout Haven Ranch. We were completely unsuccessful despite the vast numbers of fish that could be seen swimming around the pond. The children, especially Rowan, were quite disappointed. Luckily we live close enough that we can go back often, perhaps on a day when the fish haven't already seen a gazillion worms.