Meet Me on the Trail: Rocky Mountain National Park
Angel Elliott
If you know me, or have followed my blog at all over the years, you know I'm a nature savant, a hiking impresario, a pine master, you get it. I love long trails and anything having to do with the outdoors. A little while back I traveled to Denver, CO with my daddy. It was a bonding trip, we'd never been anywhere together just us two, let alone hiking, so I thought it'd be great to bring my dad along. We drove to Estes Park, CO to go hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park. Now my daddy is older, he can roll with any punches without complaining, but, to take it easy on his bones, I got us a jeep tour of the park (Rock Mountain Rush), that let us out for pictures at Sprague Lake, and other vistas. Our guide gave us an awesome history of the park, as well as guided short hikes on some of the more popular trails. We went in November after Estes Park had just experienced a big snow storm, and no one was out. It was like we had the entire park to ourselves.
Given that Sprague Lake was our rest/lunch spot, we decided to venture away from the group and do this short, one mile Sprague Lake Loop. The trail head is located on Bear Lake Road, about one mile west of the 'Park and Ride' shuttle bus stop. The lake was frozen over when we went, so we had to be careful not to walk on it, but it was still a gorgeous and scenic mile loop, with only a 10 feet elevation gain. Some people rocked crampons, but I found that my super sturdy Nike hiking boots worked just fine. If you're looking for a quick weekend trip with your daddy, or your boo, I'd def suggest this park. And if you're looking for a more intense hike like I'd normally do, check out this list of the top ten hikes in this park. I'm definitely going back to Colorado during the football offseason.
Let me know if you go!
- Angel