The craziness of today was exactly the opposite of yesterday’s rest day. We woke up at 6:30 so we’d be able to pack up, get ready, and still get Molly her coffee in time to meet our leader for the day at 9. Everything went smoothly and the girls even had time to write a few postcards. We had made the decision back in February to spend a day of our trip volunteering at Rocky Mountain NP. It is a park that all of us feel connected to and when we discovered the opportunity we all agreed that it would be a good way for us to give back to a place that has given us a lot.
Promptly at 9 we met Christine who explained what we would be doing and gave us some safety tips. Our first task was to replant an area that had recently been torn up to install a new water line. What this actually meant was that we would be removing a huge amount of rock, from gravel size right up to basketball size from the area. After just a couple hours of raking, shoveling, pick-axing, and boulder tossing the area was clear. The rest of the work: spreading a layer of soil, then a layer of seed, and finally a layer of mulch went quickly by comparison.
After yet another PBJ&C lunch, this time supplemented by Christine’s homemade oatmeal butterscotch cookies we were back to work. Our first task of the afternoon was to pull as much scentless chamomile as possible. This exotic species is native to Europe and can outcompete the native species of the park. For me this was the hardest part of the day. I learned I’d much rather be digging up rocks than bending over pulling plants from the ground.
Our final task of the day was a quick walk in the woods to attempt to locate some plants that could later be used as a source of seeds. I think we came up empty on our desired plants but did see a sizeable herd of elk and some picturesque mountain streams. I’m glad that we were able to do what we did today. Hopefully our small contributions made the park just a little bit better today.
Our original plan for tonight had been to camp on the west side of the park and hike Mt. Ida in the morning. Unfortunately, the forecast for tomorrow is crummy, storms off and on all day. Sadly, we made the decision to come to the east side of the park a day early. So far that decision has worked out pretty well though. As we left the Grand Lake side we first saw another herd of female elk and their babies followed by a group of several male elk with huge antlers and finally two moose. As we climbed higher into the mountains we drove through a cloud/rainstorm followed by a full rainbow on our descent.
The last minute hotel I found for us is very nice. Everyone is glad to have a good shower, the stream right off the balcony is a plus as well. For dinner we returned to a spot we discovered last year: The Wheel Bar. While Estes Park is a super cute town we’ve found the dinner options to be either too pricey or lackluster or both. Fortunately, most days after hiking here all we really need is a cold Coors Light and some food to go with it. At $2.50 a draft this is the best spot for a Coors Light and we also discovered last year that we can have food delivered there. Tonight we happened to have the 3rd generation owner as our bartender and he recommend gyros from a Chicago style place a block away. After getting over our skepticism that Colorado could do Chicago style well we placed our order. Happily it’s right up there with Bill’s Place.
Our new plan for tomorrow is to hike the Estes Cone if the rain ends up not happening. Fingers crossed that we make it to the summit this time. It’s a much shorter and easier hike than Mt. Elbert so as long as the storms hold off until afternoon I think we should be OK. If it does rain we’ll do some hiking in the Bear Lake area where we don’t have to worry as much about lighting due to the lower elevation. Either way it will be another beautiful day.
