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.