8/20 - 21 - Tap the Rockies!

Together at Bear Lake - absolutely beautiful.



We had made our reservations at Moraine Park within the Rocky Mountain National Park. It was the most popular and picturesque campground of the five they had. Our reservation was to be for Thurs. night to Fri. morning but, instead, it was taken for Wed. to Thurs. So when we showed up at 8 in the morning on Friday, thinking we still had our site for four more hours to sleep in, we were disappointed to learn that our site had been given away and held for the wrong night. We were charged the $20 for the site anyway, plus an additional $20 no-show fee. And to top it all off the campground was FULL. All this after the mid-night drive from hell!

It was suggested that we try the Glacier Basin Campground, ten minutes away. Lucky for us, they had only two sites left. Oh, and we called the National Park Services for our $40 refund.

Alberta Falls

Anyway, we really don't want everyone to think the Rockies was this horrible experience; It's all part of the adventure. Quite the contrary, in fact, because we loved our campsite at Glacier Basin and the scenery was devastating 360 degrees around us everywhere in the park.

Trista at Moraine Park


We set up camp quickly and minimally, again due to possible bears, and we caught up on some sleep until about noon:30 or so. Trista made us a large, handsome lunch. Adam had a five egg omelet with avocado, salsa, fresh basil, and tortillas and beans for rolling. Trista had a smaller version. We both had orange juice and beer to finish it off. We could barely move afterward.


Trista captures Adam showering now.


Later that night, before sun down, we took a shuttle to stops at various campgrounds and points of interest. Our driver, Steve, was THE nicest individual we've met so far - he takes the prize; a very down to earth guy and he gave us a tour all by ourselves, educating us about what to do while we were visiting. Bear Lake was the most mentioned attraction so we set our minds to do some hiking there the next morning, on our way out.

After dark we enjoyed our first campfire (Arches' got rained on) and sipped some more red wine while we filled out more postcards and made each other laugh. The air up there was very crisp and was a little brisk, so it got rather cold throughout the night as we slept. It feels like waking up covered in dew.

Two beautiful sights, according to Adam.


Bear Lake: we walked the entire perimeter.


We rose around 8am to pack up hastily in order to get in a few hours of hiking before we left the Rockies. We hiked the trail all the way around Bear Lake and we took the slightly more strenuous trail to Alberta Falls. We ran out of adjectives to describe everything we've seen so far on our journey, but what kept springing to mind at every turn was "breath-taking." Bear Lake and Alberta Falls were exactly that. Adam also kept using the word "frolic," but for a different use. We started the Rockies very...well..."rocky," but we ended them wonderfully. And no bears. Some elk though. Thank you Colorado!

Finally, we are off to our wildest and most anticipated destination: Yellowstone! Can't wait to share it with you.