From the Mountains to the Semi-Desert

Posted on July 10, 2013 by bottlingmoonlight | 1 Comment

The only thing that made me excited to leave Rocky Mountain National Park was our plans to visit our friends in the Breckenridge area (Silverthorne to be exact). We had seen Rebekah and her son Rhyer this past Thanksgiving, but before that she and I had not seen each other since college! Even though it had been so long since we’d spent any meaningful time together, within minutes it felt as if no time had passed. Those are the best kinds of friendships! Van had a blast playing with Rhyer. He basically became a parrot, mimicking everything that Rhyer (who is a couple of years older) would do. This was a huge benefit when it came to eating. Van was keen to skip breakfast so that he could get extra time with the toys, but after seeing Rhyer eating a nectarine, it took no convincing to get Van to follow suit. Healthy eating for the win!

On our first afternoon with Rebekah, we headed up to the nearby town of Leadville, which just so happens to be the highest incorporated town in the country. As we were wandering around town and checking out her old stomping grounds, she thought it’d be a treat for Van to see the fire station. Since she knows several of the local firefighters, we were able to take Van on a grand tour of all of the fire and rescue trucks. And these are no ordinary fire trucks. These firefighters cover a huge, mountainous area and face building as well as forest fires. Their trucks were massive! We finished the day feeding fish at the fish hatchery, grabbing a great dinner in Leadville, and staying up late and chatting over glasses of wine. A perfect day!

Downtown Leadville

Manning the Leadville firetrucks

The next morning, Rebekah and Rhyer took us to Cataract Lake, a fantastic hiking spot in the Eagles Nest Wilderness Area. It was a perfect hike for kids – not too difficult but not too easy. Van wound up walking about half of it and being carried the rest of the way on Alan’s back. The hike was around a lake and to an impressive waterfall with a small wooden bridge over the rushing water. The views were insane (no filters or adjustments of the photos below – it was that beautiful), but the coolest part was how the trail passed through several different types of environments. The number of changes in scenery, plant life, smells, and colors were pretty remarkable for a trail less than three miles long. This would be the kind of trail you could keep coming back to during different seasons and not get bored.

Hiking with Rhyer and Rebekah

Aspens

Cataract Lake

After an afternoon and evening of more fun, great food, and even better conversation, we woke up and struck out for Breckenridge. We spent the morning wandering around, eating crepes, and stocking up on food for the next few days before saying our goodbyes. THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING REBEKAH AND RHYER!!!

We continued westward, headed for Colorado National Monument. We decided to overshoot the park and first check out Rabbit Valley, a beautiful and completely deserted area along the Utah border. We could have camped there for free, but we decided to opt for a campground with water where we wouldn’t be so far away from anyone else. We made our way to Colorado National Monument and set up camp for the next couple of days in a beautiful spot up on a cliff overlooking the town of Fruita.

Rabbit Valley, near the Colorado/Utah border

Colorado National Monument

Now that we are out of the mountains and into the semi-desert, the weather has changed dramatically. The sun had us up and out of the tent by 6am and on the hiking trails by 7. We were able to get some beautiful hikes in each day before it got too hot, and then proceeded to do some exploration by car in the middle of the day with stops for water play and ice cream in Grand Junction and a shaded picnic in Palisade. Across the valley from CNM were the Book Cliffs, so named because the edges of the buttes appear similar to a shelf of books. Though they lacked the punch of the rock formations in Colorado National Monument, I found them strange, beautiful, and all the more compelling.

Exploring

Posing

The Book Cliffs

We capped off our trip with an afternoon wandering around and picnicking in Glenwood Springs on our way back to the Denver area. We also swung through Carbondale during Van’s nap and vowed to come back and check it out again when we’d have time to explore. I was instantly taken by how it was situated, between towering mountains still covered in snow in one direction and red rock cliffs in another. Those are views I could get used to!

Heaven

Posted on July 4, 2013 by bottlingmoonlight | 2 Comments

Up in the clouds in Rocky Mountain National Park

No, we weren’t in heaven, but it certainly felt that way. I’ve been to Rocky Mountain National Park before on two occasions, but I’d never had the opportunity to spend more than a day in its embrace. For a million and three reasons it was my absolute favorite place we’ve visited thus far on this trip, and definitely in the top five of places I’ve ever visited. Everything, from the wildlife to the heart-swelling views to the camping to the hiking to the peacefulness, contributed to me declaring that I was ready to stay forever.

We chose to arrive on a weekday, knowing that the campgrounds fill up quickly on the weekends. We were lucky enough to secure a home for three nights in the beautiful Moraine Park Campground near the east entrance to the park. As we began the process of choosing a campsite, Alan asked whether I’d prefer to be closer to other campers or further away. Hahahaha! We laughed about that question during the rest of our stay. While the campground may not fill up before noon on weekdays, it does fill up! But, the sites are well situated so that you’re not on top of your neighbors and there are plenty of places to amble off to explore right from your site.

Our home base in Moraine Park Campground

On a walk from our campsite in Rocky Mountain National Park

On our first full day in the park, we spent the morning hiking up to Gem Lake, a great spot for a picnic. The hike itself provided fantastic panoramic views of Estes Park and the surrounding area, but Gem Lake was definitely the highlight. The hike was about 3 1/2 miles round trip, with about a 1,000 foot elevation gain on the way up. A pretty short hike by our normal standards, but with a two-year old (who spent most of the time riding on dad’s back), this was a great length. Once we returned to the car, Van quickly fell asleep and we decided to drive up towards (and past) the Continental Divide to see some of the towering views the park has to offer. We made a decision to return the next day when Van was awake so that we could leave the car behind and do more exploring.

Gem Lake

Before heading back to our site, we headed to one of the trails where Alan and I had previously hiked so we could take Van on a walk before dinner. He was getting pretty feisty around water, so we decided to turn around. That turned out to be a pretty great idea because we would have missed this…

An elk staking out his territory

Two elk in a minor tussle

Peaceful elk

After a great second night in the park, we headed back up to some of the higher elevations in the park so we could do some exploring while Van was awake. The views were amazing. I simply don’t have the words to describe them. This is definitely a place that everyone should come and explore if they have the ability and opportunity to travel to Colorado. I have vowed to make regular camping trips up to the park when we visit our family in the Denver area.

The Rockies

Bighorn sheep

Alan in the snow!

Views from the western side of Rocky Mountain National Park

Mountain Views

In addition to the bighorn sheep (one example in a photo above), countless elk, and Van’s Buddy the Bison (photo below), we were also lucky enough to cross paths with three moose. Alan served as photographer extraordinaire while I tried to keep Van from making too much noise that might spook the moose. This proved to be much more difficult than expected as Van just wanted to keep shouting MOOSE loudly and repeatedly in their direction.

Van and Buddy the Bison

Moose in Rocky Mountain National Park

The only downside to our visit to Rocky Mountain National Park was that we had to leave. But, now I can just get excited about our next trip to this little slice of heaven.

At Altitude

Posted on June 28, 2013 by bottlingmoonlight | Leave a comment

Over the past month we’ve taken a number of glorious excursions into the mountains. On my (and Van’s) first trip to the top of a fourteener, we opted to use the assistance of four wheels. While we would love to climb one with our own legs, that will have to wait until our toddler gets a bit older. Instead, we opted to drive up the highest paved road in North America. When we reached the forest service entrance, the ranger on duty informed us that the road to the summit was closed, but that we could get as far as Summit Lake, about five miles before the summit. We began the drive with crossed fingers, hoping that the snow would clear up and we’d be able to make it to the top. We drove as far as we could and got out for a romp through the snow. Van did amazingly well hiking over snow, slush, and ice at a very high altitude, but we knew better than to keep him out for too long.

Most of the way up Mt. Evans, hoping the road to the summit will open for us

Once he started to show signs of exhaustion, we headed back to our car and watched as another car began ascending the road to the summit. The road had opened!!!

Mt. Evans Road – the highest paved road in North America

View from the summit

The temperature was reading in the twenties without the wind, and the wind was practically blowing us over. Needless to say, we didn’t subject Van to the cold wind (we don’t want him to hate us too much), but we both took turns exploring the summit. While most of our drive was into the clouds, some of the clouds began to clear as we were at the summit. Instead of viewing the Rockies from afar, here we were, in the mountains!

On our way back down from the summit, we stopped at Echo Lake for a picnic lunch amidst the pines and a short walk around the lake. While this isn’t as exciting as hiking to an alpine lake, it was a perfect spot to stop and enjoy the fresh (albeit thin) air and the local wildlife. Apparently, we brought some wildlife of our own along for the day.

Echo Lake

Our lunch companion at Echo Lake

Yes, he’s a lion…

and a cutie pie…

with an extra helping of sass.

A few days after our trip to Mt. Evans, we set out to explore the town of Evergreen. We spent much of the day hiking at several of the many county parks in the area. This would be an amazing place to live if you’re into hiking or mountain biking. We were incredibly impressed by the number and quality of parks in the area. You’d never be bored!

One of the charms of not having GPS or regular data access on our phone is that we have to use maps and intuition to find our way. When the maps are incorrect or woefully inadequate, we wind up in some new and exciting places. The photo below is taken along one of the roads we incorrectly but oh-so-happily drove down in our quest to find yet another park in Evergreen. Now if only that could be our view from our (currently non-existent) front porch.

Views in Evergreen

The Love Affair Continues

Posted on May 30, 2013 by bottlingmoonlight | 4 Comments

After a drive through the lush, beautiful countryside around Lexington, we spent a long afternoon at the Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill. This is the largest restored Shaker Village in the country and one of the places Alan and I were most excited to visit. We would have liked to have spent all day, but little boys have a way of falling asleep at the most inopportune times. Though, I should really never complain that he continues to take his naps while on the road. We spent the afternoon visiting farm animals, visiting with a number of craftsmen and women, listening (and dancing) to beautiful Shaker hymns in the central meetinghouse, trying on hats, and repeatedly marveling at the Shakers’ craftsmanship.

We came across many towns with historic buildings and downtowns during our brief visit to Kentucky. While some were on the touristy side, others were not. Both types were beautifully maintained and clearly well-loved by the local citizens. Our favorite was probably Harrodsburg, partly because it was a surprise that we came across on our journey to the Shaker Village.

After spending a day wandering amongst beautiful buildings and wide open space, we spent a day in Louisville. Highlights included trying chess pie for the first time and walking right down to the track at Churchill Downs. When we arrived at Churchill Downs, it appeared that we wouldn’t be able to get in except to visit the museum. We inquired at the main office and after letting us know that it was very unlikely we would be able to see the track (the Derby was just a few days away and everyone was in last-minute preparation mode), they recommended that we try at Gate 17, the site of simulcast betting. We found our way around to Gate 17 and found that the doors from the betting areas were unlocked to the track. We walked right on down to the track, standing in the area where the winning horse poses after the derby. We could have walked right onto the track, but using our better judgment, chose not to. We had to hold on tight to Van or he would have run directly on to the groomed track. It was quite an experience!

Secrets at the track

Just days away from the Kentucky Derby

We rounded out the week with a visit to Bardstown and the fascinating (and free) Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History (definitely a must-see if you’re at all interested in whiskey and find yourself in Bardstown), Lincoln’s birthplace in Hodgenville, Lincoln’s childhood home on Knob Creek, the Maker’s Mark distillery, Red River Gorge, and Mammoth Cave. I could write a post on each of these, but my personal highlight was Red River Gorge. This was a place that I was embarrassingly unaware of until several fellow MMM readers (Mr. Money Mustache to the uninitiated) recommended it to me when they heard of our travel plans. It is a magnet for climbers, but there is so much to offer mere hikers like ourselves.

We began our day at the Natural Bridge State Park, hiking our way up to and on top of an impressive sandstone arch. Van was in for a special treat because there was a group of AmeriCorps volunteers at the park doing trail maintenance. They were carrying large logs assembly-line style up the trail. Van had the opportunity to yell out “more log, more log” over and over each time we saw another exhausted volunteer. Hopefully his cheers of encouragement added a little pep to their step. After a picnic lunch consisting of sardines, crackers, and fruit, we made our way to the Red River Gorge Geological Area. We hadn’t done much reading about the area before we visited, so we were taken by surprise when we reached the Nada Tunnel. This is a 900-foot unlit single-lane tunnel. It is like no tunnel I have ever experienced. Van and Alan had to suffer listening to me exclaim over and over about how crazy and incredible and awesome it was to drive through the tunnel. If you have trouble being mindful of the present moment, I implore you to drive through this tunnel.

The tunnel aside, Red River Gorge is beautiful, wild, and lush. It’s the kind of place that takes only minutes to transport me back to my essential self. There are not many places that have had the power to transport me so quickly, but this is certainly one and one I hope to return to when Van is old enough to float, climb, and hike it with us.

Hiking

Posted on April 24, 2013 by bottlingmoonlight | 3 Comments

If you’re anything like me, you have a long list of things you’re interested in, many of which you hope to get around to learning or doing one day when you have time. That list can be inspiring, but it can also make you feel guilty – like you’re not doing enough. Gretchen Rubin discusses this in her popular book, The Happiness Project. In it, she asks you to consider your life and what you actually make time for right now. Those are the interests that are most important to you. This point has stayed with me since I read her book over a year ago. My answer then is the same now and would be the same five years ago or ten years ago – hiking and reading.

In our many discussions leading up to this journey, Alan and I talked about how excited we were to be able to go hiking more often than once a week. I (foolishly) thought that maybe we could go hiking every day. This might be doable if was just me and Alan, but taking Van hiking every day would be a recipe for disaster. Van loves to hike – loves it – and I don’t want to ruin it by turning it into a chore. I also spent a lot of time before we left thinking about the many books I would bring and read during our journey. We sent some ahead to Colorado to trade out when we arrive and left some with my parents in case we need a resupply when we see them in Arkansas.

Hiking and Reading. So far, it seems that we’ll have a lot of opportunity to do the former, but less opportunity to do the latter. I suppose that comes with the territory when you’re camping with a toddler.

We had our first opportunity to go hiking on this journey when we arrived in the Boone area. We were lucky enough to spend three days in a row traveling on some magnificent trails. Our first day took us to Linville Falls and Moses H. Cone Park, both on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Van spent most of the hike to the falls on Alan’s back (yelling “more, more” every time Alan would brush against leaves) and enjoyed the hike/walk along the carriage roads in Moses H. Cone Park in his stroller.

Linville Falls

Butterfly (or is it a moth?) at Linville Falls

View from Moses H. Cone Park along the Blue Ridge Parkway

Moses H. Cone Park

Our second day of hiking took us to the resort town of Blowing Rock. Before heading out on a hike, we went to see Blowing Rock itself, a cliff above Johns River Gorge that got its name from due to the current of air that flows upward due to the shape of the walls of the gorge so that if you throw very light objects off of Blowing Rock (emphasis on very), they’ll return to you. I tested this with some pine needles and they boomeranged right back to me. Not the same with the small pebble that fell into the gorge below.

Alan on the Blowing Rock

Stacey on the Blowing Rock

Van blowing our cover – our ascent to the top of the Blowing Rock was so easy a toddler could (but should not) do it

After a picnic lunch, we set out for the Glen Burney Trail, which leaves right from the downtown of Blowing Rock. It was a great trail that followed the river and took us to the ruins of an old sewage plant from the early 1900s and to two beautiful waterfalls. Thankfully we had water for the uphill hike back – though we experienced snow just a few short days ago, it was pushing 80 during our afternoon hike.

We spent our third day of hiking at Stone Mountain. It was a bit of a drive from our home base, but it was completely worth it. We opted to do the four and a half mile loop trail, which took us up to the summit of Stone Mountain, down and around the other side by a waterfall. We unknowingly took the hard approach, climbing a steep ascent for the first one and half miles, which allowed for a much more gradual descent over the last three miles. As the signs below show, they take their warnings very seriously in this park!

One of many, many signs like this that we saw in the park.

Danger! Danger!

The view from Stone Mountain

Our Little Hiker

While getting our feet back on the trails was exciting, the highlight of our time in the Boone area was staying with a friend who I haven’t seen since college! She and her family were kind enough to welcome us into their home and life for a couple of nights. There is nothing better than spending the evening with friends after a long day outside, especially when those friends are excellent cooks who happen to cook the kinds of foods that you love. A huge thank you to Sarah, Tom, and Carter – especially Carter who was great about sharing his toys with Van and didn’t mind having a superfan who followed him around everywhere. It was truly an honor to get to spend a few evenings together and to witness the beautiful life that they’ve created in this corner of North Carolina.

Bottling Moonlight

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