Day 6: Steamboat Springs to Flaming Gorge

This was my best night's sleep so far!  Julie slept great in her own sleeping bag.  After breakfast, we decide to take another shower just because we can.  This morning, we want to drive up to the ski resort to look around a bit, so we head back into town.  We drive up Steamboat Mountain and try to imagine everything covered in snow.

On our way back through town, we decide drive over to Howelsen Hill to look at the ski jump.  Howelsen Hill, which opened in 1913, is the oldest ski area in Colorado.  We parked by the river and went into an outdoor store, which is our habit when we see one.  We talked to the owner for a bit.  He asked us if we saw the skiers practicing on the hill earlier.  We hadn't, so we asked him how they practiced with no snow.  He said that they have artificial turf on the landing area and wet it down to make it slick.  He told us that we could walk over to get a closer look, so we did.  We walked around the landing area of the jump and into the Olympics training lodge.  We read that Steamboat has produced more Olympians than any other US city, 79 to be exact.

The ski lift was running, so we bought tickets to ride to the top.  At the top, we walked over to the top of the jump.  It was dizzying to look down to the bottom.  I can't believe people have actually learned to jump without killing themselves.  It's almost a vertical drop.

We left Steamboat around noon and headed west to Dinosaur National Monument.  There wasn't much in between.  I think the only excitement was a herd of sheep that had wandered onto the road.  The kids thought it was funny to watch the poor cowboy trying to herd them up.

We arrived in Dinosaur National Monument around 3:30, and it is hot!  We stopped in the visitor center to see what the park had to offer since we hadn't really planned to come here.  The tour book that I was reading said that the building that housed the fossils was closed due to dangerous conditions and no plans were in place to repair it.  We were told that we had to catch a shuttle to the quarry.  We sunscreened up and grabbed some water, thinking that the quarry would probably be out in the middle of the hot sun.  Imagine our surprise when we pulled up to this beautiful, air conditioned building.  The fossil wall was amazing.  It was absolutely full of dinosaur bones.  This wall was left intact when the area was excavated to take fossils to the Carnegie Museum in the early 1900s.

We decided we would camp in Flaming Gorge tonight.  We drove for awhile and stopped to have a picnic supper in Red Fleet State Park along the way.  We turned into the park and drove to the picnic area.  It was absolutely beautiful!

We drove for a couple more hours and decided to find somewhere to camp before it got too dark.  We weren't quite to Flaming Gorge yet, but we didn't want to drive through after dark and miss it.  We turned into Red Canyon Campground and drove over to the visitor center.  It sure didn't look like we were coming to a canyon, but when we walked over to the visitor center, we were met with a spectacular view.  This place rivaled the Grand Canyon.  The sun was setting, and the canyon walls were gorgeous red against the Green River below.

The campground was right on the rim of the canyon with the same spectacular views.  There was only one other tent in the campground, plus the campground hosts.  We had a hard time deciding which site to choose because they were all bumpy and rough.  We stopped to talk to the campground hosts for a minute, and Hunter was fascinated to learn that he did a little panning for gold.  He showed Hunter this tiny vial with a couple of flakes in it that he said was worth about $400.  We finally chose one and started setting up the tent.  We heard some really strange sounds behind our tent, and we couldn't figure out what it was.  By now, it was completely dark, so we couldn't see very far.




 We finished the tent, and Hunter and I were walking down to the entrance to deposit our fee when the campground host drove up in his truck.  He told us that a camper in a neighboring campground had seen a bear in the field behind our tent.  We debated whether to pack up and leave.  It was late, the kids were exhausted, and we were several miles from any other campground.  We decided to stay, but I don't think I slept all night.  Around sunrise, we heard a small bird.  After listening to the bird for a few minutes, we heard this loud grunt.  I was certain that the bird had awakened the bear.  Of course, we couldn't see out of the tent without unzipping the rain fly, so we lay there and listened for a few more minutes.  We heard the grunting several more times.  Eventually we heard this huge bird fly over.  I have no idea what kind of bird makes such a noise, but I was completely relieved.  Since I'm already wide awake, Michael and I decided to walk over to the canyon rim to watch the sunrise.
    

Day 5: RMNP to Steamboat Springs

This morning, we head back across Trail Ridge Road to the other side of the park.  We debated on spending another night in RMNP, but we decided that it doesn't really make sense to backtrack so much.  Just a few miles up Trail Ridge Road, we see this huge elk standing right next to the road.  He's so close we could almost reach out and touch him, but he seems oblivious to us snapping pictures of him.  We see several more elk along the way, including a mother with a baby.  We were hoping to see a moose in the Kawuneeche Valley, but no such luck!

We stop and admire the views of Grand Lake and Lake Granby.  Beautiful!  I don't think there's any scenery more beautiful that a lake with snow-capped mountains in the background.  We leave Rocky Mountain National Park and head toward Steamboat Springs.  Along the way, we stop in Hot Sulphur Springs to look at the hot springs.  The kids didn't want to swim because of the sulfur smell.  The scenery has quickly changed from the lush mountains to sandstone canyons and sage grass.  We drive along the Colorado River to Kremmling.  It seems impossible that this slow-flowing, meandering river could have carved the Grand Canyon.  We stop for lunch in Kremmling.  The only restaurant in town is a Subway, and it is filled with people getting ready to head out on a rafting trip.  Rafting must be big business in this town.  The Colorado River cuts through Gore Canyon and has some class V rapids.

We get into Steamboat early in the afternoon and check into a campground with a pool and showers!  The campsite is right on the Yampa river with a beautiful view of Steamboat Mountain in the background.  The kids are ready to swim, so Michael takes them to the pool while I hit the shower.

I mentioned in an earlier post that we all have Big Agnes sleeping bags.  Big Agnes is based in Steamboat Springs.  I also mentioned that Michael didn't bring a bag for Julie.  Guess who's been trying to sleep with Julie?  Yes, that would be me.  Michael called our sales rep at Big Agnes and arranged to pick up a new sleeping bag so that Julie would have her own.  We went downtown to pick it up and went to the grocery store.  Hunter is excited because this is the first time we've been allowed to use charcoal, and he can't wait to try our new dutch oven.  We cooked bacon and cheddar potatoes.  It was a good meal.  After we ate and cleaned up, we decided to go back into town to walk around a little bit.

I'm looking forward to a good night's sleep with Julie in her own sleeping bag.  She was so proud to snuggle down in it, and she went right to sleep.

Day 4: Rocky Mountain National Park

This morning is our first glimpse of the Rockies in daylight.  We packed up camp and headed to Rocky Mountain National Park along Hwy 119.  The scenery is breathtaking.  We stopped at a grocery store in Nederland.  Just down from the grocery store, Hunter spotted a mining museum with a Bucyrus 50-B steam shovel outside.  Twenty-five Bucyrus Model 50-B steam shovels were sent to the Panama Canal to build bridges, roads, and drains and remove the huge quantities of soil and rock cut from the canal bed.  All the shovels but one were scrapped at Panama.  The survivor was shipped back to California and then brought to Denver.  In the early 1950s it was transported to Rollinsville by Roy and Russell Durand, who operated it at the Lump Gulch Placer, until 1978. This steam shovel is the last operational Bucyrus Model 50-B.

From Nederland, we headed north on the Peak to Peak Scenic Byway to Estes Park.  We have been hearing about the wildfires in Fort Collins, and we are amazed at the number of dead pine trees.  It looks like almost half of all the forests are dead, we assume from pine beetles.  It is remarkable that there aren't more fires.

We arrive in Estes Park around lunchtime and decide to have a pizza at Cheesy Lees.  It was just outside the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park and off the busy main streets of Estes Park.  After lunch, we headed on into the park to try to get a campsite for the night.  On the way to the park entrance, we saw the destruction of a fire that burned 22 houses a day earlier.  Luckily, it was quickly extinguished before it spread to the park or surrounding mountains.

We stopped at the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center to find out if there were available campsites, and the ranger suggested we stay at the Moraine Park Campground, which was only about two miles from the entrance.  We found a site, pitched our tent, and decided to drive up to Alpine Visitor Center.  The kids are hoping to see some snow.  Along the way, Connor asked us if we had a carrot.  We were a little puzzled and asked why he needed a carrot.  He said he wanted to build a snowman.

We drove up along Old Fall River Road.  This is a one-way, uphill gravel road that winds up to the Alpine Visitor Center.  It is a beautiful but nerve-racking 11-mile drive.  There are no guardrails and steep drop-offs.

We arrived at the visitor center and took in the views for a few minutes.  There were a couple of small patches of snow but not what we'd expected.  Apparently the heat wave has not spared the highest elevations, as it was about 70 degrees here at almost 12,000 feet.  The treeline is about 11,500 feet, so this visitor center sits on the tundra.  The wind is harsh.  We could only imagine winter conditions at this elevation.  There were pictures in the visitor center of snow up to the roof. 

Alpine Visitor Center is in the background

We drove back down along Trail Ridge Road.  This is the highest paved road in the US, reaching 12,183 feet in elevation.  We saw our first elk along this road.  They were lying in a field soaking up the sunshine.

When we got back down, we got to have our first Wise backpacker meals.  There is a fire ban, so we couldn't use charcoal to cook.  Michael and Hunter fired up the Jetboil to boil some water for the backpacker meals.  They were actually quite tasty.






After eating, we drove into Estes Park to have some ice cream for dessert.  While we were in town, we planned to take showers.  There was no running water at all in Golden Gate Canyon, so we haven't showered since the Holiday Inn in Topeka.  The campgrounds in Rocky Mountain National Park have vault toilets and a water spigot for washing dishes but no sinks or showers.  We drove over to the laundry that has public showers, but they closed about 30 minutes before we arrived.  Another night of no showering!

Bear Lake

Bear Lake Road is closed during the day due to construction, so we thought we'd drive over to Bear Lake.  The sun doesn't set out here until about 9:30 MDT, or 10:30 CDT, so we had plenty of time to take the half mile hike around the lake.  Julie had to walk the entire way by herself.  I think she was just happy to be out of the carseat.  The water is like a mirror, reflecting the mountain peaks surrounding the lake.  It is gorgeous!















The campground has fine, black dust around the campsites, so our feet and legs were nasty.  It has cooled down outside enough that I'm wearing a sweatshirt, and the water from the spigot is like snow runoff.  We decided we had to clean up a little before climbing into our sleeping bags, so we boiled more water with the Jetboil and mixed it with the cold water from the spigot to wash our feet.  We have all washed our feet in this one dish tub full of water, and it is disgustingly black.  We happen to notice Michael rinsing Julie's toothbrush in it.  In his defense, it is dark by now, and possibly he couldn't tell how nasty the water was.  I'm not sure how he missed the fact that we all just washed our feet.  Anyway, we boil more water to clean her toothbrush.  This Jetboil is coming in very handy.

I think tonight is the first night that everyone has been awake when we got into the tent.  The kids all talk a while and finally settle down to sleep.  The moon is almost full, so we couldn't see the stars very well when we went to bed.  Michael got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and said he'd never seen the Milky Way so clearly.  Hunter and I were mad that he didn't wake us up, but there's a lot of dark sky area to go.  

Day 3: Topeka to Golden Gate Canyon State Park

We got a late start this morning after enjoying a terrific breakfast and playing on the waterslide.  It is HOT!  While driving across Kansas, the temperature inched up to 113 degrees.  We saw a couple of grass fires next to the interstate, and we sure felt sorry for the firefighters trying to battle the flames in this heat.  

Blockhouse at Fort Hays

Kansas is, well, Kansas.  There's not much to see, so we had a long day of driving.  We took a detour over to see Fort Hays, but it was too hot to get out of the car!  This Fort was made famous by "Dancing with Wolves."  General Custer and the 7th Calvary were stationed here.  Michael bravely stepped out for a minute to take a couple of pictures, and we headed back on our way.



 

Michael was determined to make it to the Rocky Mountains and, hopefully, cooler weather.  We decided we'd camp in Golden Gate Canyon State Park at Apsen Meadow Campground.  We arrived around midnight after snaking up a very steep, curvy road.  Taylor, Connor, and Julie were asleep, so Michael and Hunter set up the tent.  One thing that we couldn't have made it without on this trip was headlamps.  We used them almost every night to put up the tent or go to the bathhouse.  While they put up the tent, I sat by the car with the sleeping kids and marveled at how many stars I could see.  We weren't too far from Boulder and Denver, but the sky was very dark.  It was beautiful. 


The elevation of the state park is about 9000 feet, so it was much cooler.  Hunter watched the temperature drop like a rock as we ascended from Denver.  It was 95 degrees in Denver, and it was 54 degrees by the time we got to the campground about 30 miles west of Denver.  I had on shorts and flip flops when we got there, and I didn't put my socks on before I crawled into my sleeping bag.  I'm not sure what the low temperature was, but I was cold before morning in my 40-degree bag.

View of Longs Peak from Golden Gate Canyon

This is a beautiful state park.  The campground is full of granite boulders and aspen trees.  Connor couldn't believe the size of the rocks!  It has lots of hiking trails and some climbing opportunities.  We didn't spend much time, other than stopping to take a few photos.  We're off to Rocky Mountain National Park!

Day 2: Paducah to Topeka

We got an early start on Saturday morning.  We had been warned by a friend that there were constructions projects with long delays in Mt. Vernon, IL, and where I-64 and I-55 meet in St. Louis.  We decided to try to try to bypass this mess by heading over to I-55 near Cape Girardeau.  This route was a little longer, according to my phone, but it worked like a charm to avoid any construction delays.

We spent a few hours in St. Louis at the Gateway Arch.  We had a picnic lunch while we waited our turn to ride to the top.  The kids really enjoyed riding to the top and looking out.  They were particularly impressed to learn that there were swimming pools on the tops of some buildings.

Our trip was pretty uneventful for the remainder of the day.  We planned to camp at Clinton Lake State Park in Lawrence, KS.  Michael and I camped here years ago, and it was a nice park.  However, the heat made us decide it was in our best interest to find a hotel.  It was still about 90 degrees at 9:30 PM.

I read on a forum that several people had been able to get a hotel in Topeka for less than $30 through Priceline, so I used the Negotiator app on my phone to bid on a 3-star hotel.  I got the Holiday Inn for $29.  As luck would have it, it also had a three-story waterslide.  The kids thought it would have been a bargain at twice the price.

We hit the beds, happy to be in air-conditioning, and had a good night's sleep.  

Day 1: Nashville to Paducah

Well, the big day finally arrived.  We spent Thursday night in Nashville because the kids were competing in the Tennessee Scholastic Clay Target Program state trap shoot.  Taylor was the female rookie runner-up and her team placed third.  Hunter's team did really well but didn't place in the top five.  We stayed for the award ceremony and finally got on the road late Friday evening.  We made it to Clarksville before Julie threw up.  She's done this on a couple of other trips, so we decided to turn her carseat around to see if she would be okay facing forward.  The kids were so tired from spending two hot days in Nashville that they quickly settled in and rode well.  Just before we got to the Paducah exit, traffic came to a standstill.  Forty-five minutes later, we finally made it the last half mile to the exit.  Apparently a truck wreck had closed the interstate and all traffic was being diverted.  It was almost 10 PM, so we decided to find a campground and get some rest.  We pulled out our Woodall's campground guide and found Fern Lake Campground just a couple of miles away.  The owner lives on site and came out as we pulled in.  He led us to a site and showed us the bath house.  It seemed nice enough, and the restrooms were very clean.  We pitched the tent on a nice grassy site and went to bed.  That's when we noticed that the campground was VERY close to the interstate.  I heard trucks all night.  So much for a good night's rest to start the trip.  The good news is that the Big Agnes Sleeping Giant was worth every penny.    

Trip Planning

As you may know, we embarked on a journey to Yellowstone earlier this summer.  We planned for several months, reading guidebooks and gear reviews.  In this post, I will tell you about a few of the items we packed.  I'll update the blog as I have have time, describing our trip and adding more info about the gear we chose to take.

First, we knew that we needed more room to haul things since there were six of us in my Suburban.  We decided to buy a Yakima roof box.  We thought that one narrow box would be a good choice since it would allow us to put our bikes or paddleboards on the roof rack next to it for future trips.  We chose the Yakima Rocketbox 11.  We mounted it to the roof and loaded it up with sleeping bags and mats.  As the car started to fill up, we decided that we might should have gotten a bigger box.  We ended up buying a Thule Evolution box to add to the other side.  Good decision!  I'll compare the features of the two boxes later.

After our trip to Dale Hollow Dam, I realized that I am too old to sleep on the ground without a great deal of padding.  My shoulders and hips ached all night as I tossed back and forth.  I wasn't alone in this realization, as our friend who went with us had the same experience.  Michael suggested that we look at the Big Agnes Sleeping Giant.

It is a memory foam pad in a cover that you zip your existing sleeping mat into.  What a lifesaver!  It's not something that you'd want to carry on a backpacking trip, but we were planning to camp just a few feet from the car for about two weeks.  I slid my Therm-a-rest pad into it, and it felt almost as good as my bed.  I couldn't imagine sleeping on the ground this long without it!

Michael and I have Big Agnes Buffalo Park sleeping bags.  We chose them because they were a lightweight, synthetic bag in a rectangular shape to give us a little more room than a mummy bag since weight was not an option on this trip.  We like the sleeve on the bottom to slide your sleeping pad into so that you're not sliding off your sleeping pad during the night.  We also like the cotton/poly lining of this bag.  It just doesn't feel as sticky as nylon to me on hot summer nights.  It turns out that we might have overestimated the nighttime temperatures for this trip.  These bags were rated for 40 degrees.  Luckily we had our Sea-to-Summit silk/cotton bag liners to add a little bit of warmth to our bags.  We had bought them mainly to keep our bags cleaner, but the extra warmth was appreciated a few nights. 

Taylor had a Big Agnes Lulu bag.  She is cold-natured, so we chose this 15 degree bag for her.  Hunter had a Big Agnes Cross Mountain bag.  It is a synthetic, 45 degree bag.  They each also had Sea-to-Summit liners.  Connor had the North Face Tigger bag.  Julie, unbeknownst to me, didn't have her own bag.  I'm not really sure where Michael thought she would sleep.  She had a bag at home; he just didn't think we needed to bring it on the trip.  More about that later.

A friend introduced us to Yeti Coolers a few weeks ago, so we chose the Yeti 75.  It is grizzly-proof, so we could use it in bear country.  We had to put it on a hitch carrier because the back of the Suburban was too full.  We took a Lodge dutch oven, a bag of charcoal, and a Jetboil stove for cooking.  We packed several bags of Wise and Mountain House backpacking meals to cook when we were in a hurry.

I think that's about it as far as gear goes.  The Suburban was about as full as it could possibly get!