It rained all night. It stopped raining just long enough to
eat breakfast. Or rather it was only drizzly as opposed to large raindrops.
We decided to do Trail Ridge Road since that involved lots
of driving and less time outdoors. Hopefully the weather would cooperate and we
would get to hike up Huffer’s Hill. Last year Hawkeye attempted the hill with
Iron Man, Captain, and Thor but only made it half way up do to lightening.
Black Widow, who was eight months pregnant with A7, stayed below with Hulk.
The drive up was easy. It was very foggy and we could not
take full advantage of the amazing view we knew was right outside the car. We
enjoyed watching the temperature drop on the car roughly 15 degrees and it even
sleeted on us for a few miles. We then pulled over and waited for our July
winter weather to pass.
When we got to the top, we kept going to visit the only
ranger station on the west side of the park. Apparently everyone had the same
idea of driving Trail Ridge Road today due to the rain as the parking lot was
completely full and there was a line of cars waiting for a spot to open. Shortly
after passing the top we saw a meadow with roughly a dozen moose. It was a fun
site.
There are different points on the other side of the park
that included the continental divide and a 1920s dude ranch. We made it to the
west side visitors’ center and stamped the passport book. A ranger program
titled “Behind the Scenes” was just starting and we watched three short videos
about the pine beetle, elk, and bears. Each was interesting. The pine beetle
has received a lot of attention in the past 15 years or so because they are
estimated to have killed like 99% of the large trees on the west side of the
park. This is a natural part of the ecosystem but has become too numerous in
recent years. The only way to end the devastation is a hard arctic freeze (7
straight days of below zero degrees), a massive fire, or to virtually run out
of trees which is what has happened on the west side. The pine beetle does not
always kill a host tree but due to lack of rain the larger trees are more
stressed. Add the additional stress of the beetle and you have a perfect storm.
The video on the Elk was equally interesting as it talked
about the need to control the elk population. Natural predators of the elk were
eradicated (grizzly bear and wolf) early on as they were seen as undesirable
animals. This has resulted in numerous elk for the size of the park and
overgrazing the meadows. This overgrazing affects other animals like the
beaver. The presentation and video did a nice job of presenting how the forest
lives in a balance and the removal of an animal, in this case the top predator,
has created devastation in other area.
The final video was on the black bear. It was not as
interesting as it consisting of a ranger going around asking people if they had
seen a bear and general bear safety. The video actually contained like no bear
footage.
Hawkeye found a nice hike to a falls after leaving the
station but we became terribly twisted around as one had to actually leave the
park and drive through the downtown of a small town to arrive at the trail
head. That information would have been nice. Not being successful in finding
the trailhead, we decided to head back up Trail Ridge Road.
Success, we made it back up to the top again. We went into
the ranger station quickly, but the goal was the top of Huffer’s Hill. Hawkeye
had promised hot chocolate to those who finished the hike. For this Hawkeye
bought a coffee and hot chocolate and stuck them in the car. Iron Man and
Captain made it up with hill first. Thor kept going at a steady pace and Hulk
was not pleased with the mission. He made it about 100 steps and then informed
Black Widow, in a way only Hulk could with his head cocked to the side and his
finger pointing that it was too smoky (work used for fog and cloud cover) and
he was going back. He then turned around and very independently began returning
to the ranger station. Black Window attempted to coerce him which resulted in
another 100 steps. Finally Hawkeye picked him up and began onward. Eventually
Hulk decided the “smoke” was acceptable and walked on his own. Well, all the
Avengers made it to the top. We took a couple pictures and it was time to head
back. At the top Black Widow announced she wanted a mocha and one hot chocolate
was not sufficient for five people (everyone minus Hawkeye and A7). She hurried
down to buy a mocha and additional hot chocolate before the lodge closed at 6:00.
We made it down at about 5:57 and were the last to buy hot drinks for the day.
Everyone enjoyed their well deserved drink.
We drove back down Trail Ridge and it rained the entire
time.
There was no use in going to the campsite as we would not be
able to cook dinner in the rain and did not want to cook inside due to bears.
We decided to go out for dinner again.
Hawkeye searched online for the top ten restaurant reviews in Estes
Park. From this we chose the pizza place, Cheesy Lee’s, which received good
reviews. The restaurant was located in an old lodge built in the 1800s that
looked half dilapidated and was definitely off the beaten path. The inside of
the restaurant had a broken down piano, large dessert display case with nothing
inside, and the strangest play area for children we have ever seen. The play area had a carpet mat, a large wooden
train area, a Barbie doll castle and 3-4 tents. The pizza was great and
everyone enjoyed it!
Captain got a headache after dinner. He has migraines from
time to time and we suspect it was just a busy day and we didn’t encourage
enough water drinking. We asked all littles to be quiet on the way back to the
campsite which resulted in tears from Iron Man who insisted it wasn’t fair to
make her be quiet and we were in some way ruining her life. Hawkeye through
down the law and said fairness was out the window this time and his law was to
be quiet. Quiet whimpering pursued all the way back to the campsite. We stopped
at the “comfort station”, brushed teeth and then scuttled everyone to bed.
Hoping for no rain tomorrow!
