Day 12-13

Rocky Mountain National Park

Last night we had to pack up anything with a “scent” and put it in the car, because the rangers told us there were bears in the campground the last two nights. It also rained last night and most of the next day (Monday June 23rd).

Here is a picture of our campsite. If you look through the trees you can see the mountains in the background.








Because it was raining on Monday we went to Estes Park. The first thing we saw was the Starbucks. The kids got hot chocolate and Colleen and I split a coffee.

Here is a view from the back of the store. The "strip" is very touristy, and we actually got in trouble by a cop when we crossed the street when the light did not say walk. That night I grilled steak. We wanted to have steak and eggs for breakfast, but we didn't have any eggs left.


The day time highs were in the middle 80's and the night's were in the 40's. We were running the furnace at night, but Monday night we ran out of propane. As it turns out running out of propane was a good thing (after everyone warmed up). I had to drive to the visitors center to get a signal on my phone to call around and find a place to get the propane. What I found out was the stores did not open until 8:00 and it was only 7:00, so August and I went for a drive and we found some neat hiking trails. Aug and I went back to the camper and got the girls in their PJ's and we went for a hike. We went hiking for over an hour and then we decided we should get the propane filled and have breakfast.



After we ate we went hiking again. As it turned out we hiked over 6 miles on Tuesday, and we only had to carry Ashley for a little bit.

Here is a picture as we started our hike to cub lake.





After the cub lake hike we drove up to bear lake and hiked around the lake. Only a few minutes from the parking lot the trail is covered in snow.






Wednesday morning August got up early to go to the bathroom and a few steps from the camper he ran into an elk. He was a little freaked out especially after it followed him to the bathroom. He was worried it was going to follow him in. After we got up we packed up the camper and went to the visitors center. There was a short nature hike there. After the 6.5 miles the day before a half mile seemed very long. We left the Rock Mountains around noon and headed for Nebraska.