ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK, COLORADO
July 29 - August 3, 2004

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MONDAY, AUGUST 2:

Despite the intense hiking we'd done the day before, Chasm Lake was calling to us. It's located at 11,800 feet directly under the sheer face of Longs Peak and was less than two miles up the trail from our campsite, so it was hard to pass up the thought of that view. The sun woke us up early, and after breakfast the group split for the day. Carter (who was feeling better but was ready for some real food) and Rich decided to pack up and hike out early. After agreeing that Rich would drive back up to the trailhead at 2:00 (since the remaining six of us couldn't fit in one car), the two of them left us and ended up spending the morning back in Estes Park. Becca decided to stay in camp and relax while Jason, Emily, Gavin, Jen and I set out around 8:00 on the quick trip up to Chasm Lake.



L to R: Chasm Lake junction, by now a familiar sight; looking back down the valley towards Twin Sisters; waterfall fed by the still-melting snow; Gavin, Jason & me climbing up the last bit to Chasm Lake; Emily, Gavin, Jen, Jason & me, the group that went to Chasm Lake, with the sheer face of Longs Peak in the background; me sitting on the edge of Chasm Lake; panorama of Chasm Lake and Longs Peak

We made great time during the first mile up to the Chasm Lake trail junction, a point on the ridge that we were all very familiar with by this time since we'd passed it twice the day before. This time we went left instead of right, which pointed us straight towards the very scary-looking sheer face of Longs Peak. The trail rolled up and down but the walk was enjoyable, and the views were fantastic. We could see Peacock Pool, the lake below Chasm Lake, far down below us, and in the distance we saw Columbine Falls. It turned out that while the snow in the Trough had eventually prevented us from getting to the top of Longs Peak, the silver lining was that all the snow on the mountain made for a full, fast-flowing waterfall.

We soon reached a small meadow filled with wildflowers. It was beautiful, but I was a bit surprised to not see a lake! It turns out that I hadn't looked closely enough at our topographic map, and so I hadn't noticed the final 75 feet of rock that we had to scramble up. Fortunately that wasn't too much of an obstacle, and soon we were staring out at a dark pool of water -- and up at 2,500 vertical feet of mountain! We were at Chasm Lake and it was only 9:30; we just got faster and faster each day as we got more acclimated to the altitude.

I looked for climbers on the face but didn't see any and forgot about it...until suddenly we heard the faint echo of "rock!" Immediately after that came the very distinct sound of a rock falling and hitting against granite the entire way down. We took a closer look at the face but still couldn't see anyone. Gavin and Jen had brought binoculars, though, and Gavin began inspecting the mountain. We finally spotted the climbers far, far up the face working their way up a pink, 30-degree rock slope. We also spotted the rock that had fallen because it landed on a snowpatch and made a fresh white mark -- let's just say that rock fell a long way and we were all glad to be on the safe side of the lake. Once we knew where the climbers were, we could spot them without binoculars, but they were tiny specks on the expanse of Longs. Pretty cool.


L to R: Jason approaching the very scenic privy; Battle Mountain campsite trail junction, pointing the way to our home for two nights; Jen heading down the trail back to the trailhead

We spent a half hour relaxing at the lake before turning back. Jason couldn't resist a visit to the very scenic privy, which made for an especially funny moment when he popped his head up above the wall and started taking pictures -- while standing next to the toilet. We made good time back down the trail and were back at the junction to our campsite just before 11:00. After a pit stop to refill the water bottles one last time in the creek, we walked into camp to meet a very content Becca, who had spent all morning reading and relaxing. She left immediately for the trailhead while the rest of us ate a snack and finished breaking camp. Around 11:30, we said goodbye to our home for two nights and got back on the trail. It was all downhill from there!

Despite the weight of the backpack, descending felt like Easy Street to me. Becca was ahead of me and Emily had run to catch up to her. Jason got just enough ahead of me and Jen and Gavin just far enough behind that I couldn't see any of them. I really enjoyed the trees and the creeks and the wind and the sun as I hiked alone through the woods. The trip that had taken me more than 3 hours to climb took me only an hour and ten minutes to descend, and I was back at the trailhead at 12:40. Jason, Becca, and Emily had been there for a few minutes, and after another few, Gavin and Jen arrived. We were an hour early to meet Rich but that turned out to be fine. We had a great time relaxing on the benches in the sun, talking to the park rangers in the Ranger Station, investigating the relief map of Longs Peak they had inside, and giggling at a man who seemed to think that the trail should always point straight in the direction of his final destination, no matter how far that destination was. The guy knew how to use a compass, but had no common sense. Funny.


L to R: Emily, me, Jen, Becca, Jason & Gavin at the Longs Peak trailhead waiting for Rich to come with the car; Rich, Emily, Jason, Becca, Gavin & Jen at the hotel, forced to wait for me to give them a key to the rooms (ha!); two of the many vintage Rolls Royces we saw on Trail Ridge Road

Rich was right on time at 2:00 and after loading up the cars we were on our way back to Estes Park, and a hotel with the promise of our first showers in four days. Carter was already showering when we got into the rooms, and we all quickly followed suit. An hour later, all clean, we were ready for a major meal. We drove back to the main street of Estes Park and found a delicious Italian restaurant to have an early dinner. After dinner, we walked up and down the street doing some requisite souvenir shopping and finished the evening with a showing of "The Manchurian Candidate" at a classic old theater.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 3:

Sadly, Tuesday meant that it was time to leave Colorado and return to our respective homes in Atlanta (Carter), Oregon (Emily) and Houston (everybody else). However, we'd made late flight reservations and so we had time that morning to drive through the entire national park on Trail Ridge Road. It climbs from the park entrance through the forest and emerges above treeline in alpine tundra above 12,000 feet before descending again to the west side of the park. There was a group of vintage Rolls Royce owners driving their cars cross-country, and so in addition to seeing more great views of the mountains, we got to see at least a dozen vintage cars. At one overlook Carter spoke to one of the women in one of the cars. She was from Australia (the car had a kangaroo sticker on the back!) and provided a great quote to sum up the entire trip: "This is -- I'll use a new American word I've learned -- awesome." I couldn't agree more.

We stopped at many of the overlooks, and our final stop in the park was at the Alpine Visitor Center. A short but steep trail led from the parking lot up to the top of a hill (er, mountain?) nearby, so of course we had to climb it. Ten minutes later I was standing next to a sign telling me that I was 12,005 feet above sea level. I even checked the elevation with my handheld GPS, which read only 10 feet different. Not bad.



L to R: Rich, Emily, Gavin, Carter & Jason (top), me, Jen & Becca (bottom) -- the entire group at an overlook along Trail Ridge Road; oooh, elk!; me on top of the hill next to the Alpine Visitor Center, elevation 12,005 feet; panorama taken from a Trail Ridge Road overlook

We left the Alpine Visitor Center and drove out the west side of the park (we entered from Estes Park on the east side). We'd decided to take the scenic drive back to Denver, so instead of turning around and going back through the park on Trail Ridge Road, we drove south through Grand Lake (very pretty, lots of boats) and Winter Park. We could see all the ski slopes cut into the sides of the mountains, and I can only imagine how crowded that place gets during ski season! After hitting some road construction, we finally made it back to the interstate and were soon leaving the mountains behind (sniffle) for the flatness of Denver and beyond. We made it to the airport right on time for Carter's flight since he left first and said goodbye to both him and Rich, who was going to Colorado Springs for a day before flying home. I returned the trusty rental car and bid farewell to the satellite radio inside. The next thing I knew, Gavin, Jen, Becca, Jason and I were on a plane where the captain helpfully informed us as we started our descent that the temperature had cooled off to 97 degrees. Cooled off. Yeah. Cry.

It was a great trip and I can't wait to go back to the mountains. I'd love to try Longs Peak again, aiming for mid-August when the snow and ice is most likely to be entirely melted. Someday, I'm sure I will.

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