It was time for the last leg of our Colorado trip and we were excited to finally be able to spend some time with Sara and Joey after the whirlwind week of Colorado sightseeing that Scott and I had just had. We were all headed for a three day, two night, camping trip right outside Rocky Mountain National Park.

Scott and I had reprovisioned the day before (no domestic disturbances about ice this time) and Thursday morning helped Sara and Joey pack Sara’s car to the gills with camping gear. Joey had to work today and would be meeting us later at the campground, and while we were bummed that he wouldn’t be joining us until later, it worked out because his car was also stuffed full of all the necessities and creature comforts that come with a few days of camping. I am not sure how we all would have crammed in had we just had one car!

Sara had suggested we go through Boulder and enter Rocky Mountain National Park through one of its east entrances. Originally we thought that going this way would allow us to swing by the barn where her horse Wolfie lives, but unfortunately horses are going to horse, and Wolfie was still at the Colorado State vet school for a neuro workup and wouldn’t be returning to his farm until much later in the day.

Passing through Boulder, we decided to stop at the Flat Irons for a hike to view the iconic landmark. As soon as they came into view from the Chautauqua trailhead, I instantly recognized them despite never having visited before as they are quite famous. And I can attest that the five mountains really do look like flat irons.

Sara had broken her ankle a few months prior and it had required surgery. She had been diligent with her rehab and physical therapy and was now getting around quite well, and aside from the ankle brace she was wearing on the hike, you wouldn’t guess that she had been out of commission until just recently.

We did the Flatiron Loop Trail and it was a nice mix of rolling hills and forest, with occasional glimpses of the triangular peaks.

After the hike, and on the way into Boulder for lunch, we drove a few miles up into the mountain range from the valley floor, and into the Front Range to the Lost Gulch Lookout, and it was breathtaking. We were at the foot of the Rockies and they stretched out ahead of us impressively which hadn’t been apparent when we were down in the valley at the base of the Flat Irons.

In Boulder we spent some time checking out the cute (and rather ritzy) town before popping into a restaurant for lunch. We did a little more window shopping on the way back to the car and then headed out for one last stop before entering the national park.

We would be passing through Estes Park to reach the Fall River entrance of RMNP and there was no way we could drive through the town without first stopping to pay a visit to the Stanley Hotel. This would be criminal.

Known as one of America’s most haunted hotels, it is also widely recognized as the inspiration for the Overlook Hotel in Stephen King’s 1977 novel The Shining. If you are less of a horror genre fan, and more of a Jim Carrey/slapstick comedy connoisseur, then you might recognize The Stanley from the 1994 movie Dumb and Dumber.

Sara dropped Scott and I off for a quick tour while she returned some phone calls, and we spent some time taking pictures outside the famous building and wandering through the lobby. We also took a walk through the juniper bush labyrinth maze outside the main entrance, which is a nod to The Shining. We made it out alive thankfully and went and found Sara.

On a Thursday afternoon in the late fall we were able to enter easily without any wait (during peak times this is not the case) and soon found ourselves in the park. This was my first visit and I was excited. Both Sara and Scott had shared stories about their past visits and listed off some of the animals that they had seen so I kept my eyes peeled for wildlife, already excited about the small herd of elk we had spotted in Estes Park.

We headed to Bear Lake for an easy and popular hike. We had to pass through an additional gate once on Bear Lake Road and had to pull over and apply quickly for a reservation, as unbeknownst to us, this section of the park now operates on a timed entry system, a response to the post-Covid/social media timeline that we are living in. Luckily the spots for the day hadn’t all been spoken for, so we were able to immediately return, show the code on our phone, and gain access.

Right as we were striking out on our hike it began to cloud up and mist, so unfortunately some of the views weren’t as lovely as they would have been on a clear day, but it was enjoyable nonetheless, and we stopped often for photo ops.

As we were back in the car and driving back towards the main park area, we were treated to the most brilliant rainbow and just when we thought that we had the most perfect shot of it, and would stop and grab a photo, we would round the next curve and it would be even better! We stalked the rainbow for nearly half an hour it seemed.

Just when we had finally lost sight of the rainbow, we came around a bend and saw a throng of people out of their cars intently watching something. The something turned out to be a moose with a rather incredible rack who seemed oblivious to his admirers observing his every move from the safety of the road above him. He was munching on shrubs until he decided it was naptime and went down for a rest.

Sara pointed out that early evening was an ideal time to be driving through as the wildlife is most active morning and evening. We came across some more elk and mule deer as we carried on across the roughly 50 miles of road that cuts through the park. We got some more amazing views as we drove and stopped at a few overlooks that called to us.

Eventually we made it to the west gate of the park and were deposited into the cute town of Grand Lake. Just a little farther, near the town of Granby, was the Arapaho Valley Ranch campground where Joey awaited us, already working on setting up camp.

When we arrived we continued to help him set up camp and were absolutely delighted, beyond what words can even describe, to be informed that the little backpacking tent that would be ours for our trip was a Weanas brand tent. We are all at heart really middle school boys so we all got some serious mileage out of the brand’s curious choice of name throughout the weekend.

Dinner was sausages and veggies cooked on their small Blackstone grill and hit the spot. Rather than gathering round the campfire for the evening, we all sat around their propane fueled rock fire pit, as the state is under a serious fire ban because of the dry conditions.

Scott hung his hammock and the rest of us sat in our camp chairs and enjoyed chatting and catching up on life. Eventually we decided to call it a night and Sara and Joey headed to their tent, and Scott and I to the Weanas.