Day 7 — Monday June 5, 2006

Dumas, TX to Capulin Volcano National Monument, Capulin, CO to Garden of the Gods, CO Springs, CO

351 miles

We rose at 5am and were on the road by 5:30. We wanted lots of time for stops today, however we are all quite lucky to even be here. Around 7am on Rt 87 10 miles out of NW TX and into NM a red pick-up heading east came across the yellow line—-I swerved into the shoulder area—I remembered the talk my Driver’s Ed instructor gave us years ago as if it was yesterday—-always go right and hope the other driver will realize where he is and go back into his lane—-I blared the horn and he was still heading at us.

He crossed the white line—the one that runs along the breakdown line, in MY lane, and hit the rumble sticks placed all along the roadway—-I was by this time as far off in the breakdown lane as possible and suddenly, actually just in the nick of time, he went back to his lane. Our cars slid past one another—his going probable 80mph, while mine had been at 65mph when this all started.

Michael, who never exaggerates later described how close we had come to colliding—“Mom he missed hitting us by this much!” as he held his hand up and showed the distance as a mere 1” between his thumb and forefinger. Yes, it was that close as our two vehicles slid past one another.

Immediately I called 911, unsure of whether they would be interested, but they assured me that they would be notifying the TX State Police immediately.

I called my DH; who always has a way of calming me down. His reaction was a mere—“Mark is OK? Michael is OK? You are OK? It is in the past, put it behind you. Nothing happened and everyone is fine. The car’s OK? Put it behind you!” To say that I was shaken does not even come close to describe how this event affected me all day long. At times today I have broken down and cried, or found myself shaking and feeling quite nervous. Thank God the angels were watching out for us and kept us safe from harm.

We drove on slowly, and took in the beautiful volcano cinder cone and shield volcano peaks littered throughout the NE section of NM. Finally we arrived at Capulin Volcano National Monument. Not quite ready for the drive to the top, we did it anyway. What a great view. We hiked the one-mile crater rim trail and we all struggled to breath at the 8000’ elevation. Mark is not an active child by any stretch of the imagination and complained that he couldn’t do this walk. I gave him my lecture about how we rarely perform to where we are capable of performing, and that we must expect more of ourselves and that he would be surprised by what he is really able to do. “This trip will show you that you are capable to do so much more than what you expect you can do.” I was amazed that Michael added that he really liked my talk and that it was so true—so true.

From the crater rim we could see the ancient lava flows, the ripple marks from the moving lava, and the other geological features described to us at the Visitor’s Center. We hiked down into the crater vent, and then slowly drove to the base. Mark had completed the Junior Ranger program for Capulin so we stopped in for his badge. The ranger who had heard about our near head-on crash suggested that we detour from a direct route back to the highway and we listened to her suggestion.

From Capulin we drove to Folsom, CO and then took a little 2 lane road, RT 72, across the Johnson Mesa. The road wound for 35 miles across grassland with beautiful vistas of the lava flows, and continually we climbed to higher and higher elevations. Michael exclaimed that it was great to get to see the things that he had read about, but even their descriptions did not prepare him for how beautiful and breathtaking this all was. What a great detour.

Finally we were back on the highway. In the little town of Walsenburg we stopped at Corine’s Mexican Food and had a great lunch. Service was slow but the food tasted great. We arrived at Garden of the Gods and found a campsite at Lone Duck Campgrounds in Green Mountain Falls. Once camp was set we returned to Garden of the Gods and hiked for several hours in the setting sun. The boys continually scared me by their jumping from rock to rock, but it was all-GOOD. The sun is setting on a very busy day, and I’m so glad that tonight we are all here, together, seeing this beautiful country.

Day 8, June 6, 2006

Drive to Pike’s Peak then to Rocky Mountain National Park

205 miles

During the night I thought over and over again about whether we should take the Cog Railway ride or drive the car to Pike’s Peak. The boys told me to do what I felt most comfortable to do, but they were urging me on to take the Cog Railway. They understood that the Red Pickup Truck incident had greatly affected me, and they didn’t want me to be stressed out and not enjoy the ride to Pike’s Peak. We broke camp at 6am, and in less then 45 minutes we had all showered, taken down the tent, and packed-up the car. As we left Lone Duck Campground I told them we would drive up to Pike’s Peak.

Facing your fear, and doing what is difficult is the way I’ve approached so much in my life, so I thought it would be foolish to take the Cog up to the top. We started our drive up, and the road went up and up, and…well, soon the road turned to gravel and I had second thoughts, and started regretting taking the road. Somehow we would come down—cause didn’t folks do that everyday? We traveled across Devil’s Playground, and the ridge, and observed that guardrails were not present —-ugh, what did I get myself into?

At the top we walked around, took in the views and all of us noticed the shortness of breath. My knees were also quivering, and my legs felt like Jell-O but I didn’t know whether that was an affect of being at 14.100’ or from my nerves. In the gift shop Mark insisted that I purchase the “I survived the drive to the top of Pike’s Peak” T-Shirt, so I did. Michael and Mark enjoyed hot chocolate, and freshly made doughnuts. When I purchased 2 more doughnuts for Michael the server gave us 4, and my only thought was that again being friendly and nice benefited us again.

Everyone in the gift shop advised me to keep the car in 1^st gear on the drive down, and I hardly had to step on the brake on the 19 mile trip down. It was really uneventful, and I’m so glad I faced that fear and did the drive.

From Pike’s Peak we drove north through Denver, Boulder and into Estes Park. Just before Estes Park we saw a red pickup lying on its roof, headed south but off on the north side. The EMT’s were there assisting the driver and as we drove by Mark asked if that might have been the same driver. I hope he is OKAY.

We pulled into Glacier Basin Campground and took site #92 just as a ½ dozen vehicles came in behind us taking other not-as-choice sites. Black bears are a concern in this area so all our food, and other cook gear must be in the car anytime we are not eating. It’s a pain, however I’d rather not invite trouble. After dinner we laid in the tent and watched half of Forrest Gump on the laptop.

Day 9, June 7, 2006

Rocky Mt National Park

During the night I heard coyotes singing to each other. Such a wild sound however I don’t know how anyone could hear it and say that it is an eerie sound.

We rose at 6am and broke camp by 7am for the Glacier Gorge Trailhead. It’s just a short drive from our campsite and we found a few cars already in the parking lot. We wanted an easy hiking day, with little elevation change so we hiked a loop:

0.3 miles to Glacier Gorge Junction

1.7 miles to Alberta Falls —–

0.5 miles to Loch / Black Lake Junction

0.6 miles to Mills Lake (This lake is named after Mills who fought to see the National Park established here.)

0.6 miles back to the Loch / Black Lake Junction

2.1 miles to Lake Haiyaha —-we were treated to seeing an Elk walking through the woods while searching for the trail to the lake. We lost the trail in a boulder field and never did find the lake. I was quite exhausted by this point and knew I needed to save my strength to hike out.

1.1 miles to Dream Lake —-and encountered snow field after snow field, which wouldn’t have been so bad, however to the one side of each one was a steep slope down the mountain!

0.6 miles to Nymph Lake —-and across more snow fields

0.5 miles to Bear Lake

0.5 miles to Glacier Gorge Junction

0.3 miles back to the car —- FINALLY

So for our easy hiking day we did 8.8 miles, had an elevation change of 1500 to 2000’, and all this at 9000 to 10,000’!!! YIKES!!! Hiking at this high an elevation takes some time to get used to so our easy hiking day so we could get used to this altitude was far from that.

However, we saw unbelievably beautiful scenery, spotted numerous wild flowers, had trails to ourselves most of the time, and I watched my boys have a great time hiking together. Michael made sure that Mark was in the lead—-so that he could set the pace and feel in control. It helped Mark so much to be in the lead that instead of us pulling him along I was usually left in their dust, and wondering just a bit if I could catch up to them. We did not break the hiking safety rule of always hiking together though. Mark found walking through snowfields to be fun—cause there is so much danger and we could die—-ugh, boys! Michael enjoyed that we had hiked so far, although he thought he could do 4 more miles. I was exhausted and glad to see the car at 1:30pm.

Day 10, June 8, 2006

Rocky Mountain National Park,

It is 11:04PM, the wind is howling and screaming off the mountains, moving our tent sides in and out. But that is not what has awaken me. There’s a noise; it sounds as if an animal is in our tent knawing at the tent wall. It is a different sound from the wind that is screaming all around us, and not in the same rythmatic measure with the wind. Now the wind sounds like jet planes flying by us; it must be howling at least 30 or 40mph. I say a prayer that our tent holds together and that my boys are ok.

A vehicle noise breaks through the wind noise; our neighbors have arrived home. They move about their campsite, laughing and talking some language I cannot understand. That does not bother me, but their inconsiderate loud chatter, boisterous laughter, and total inconsideration of their sleeping neighbors and the late hour is irritating. I know I will not sleep until they have quieted down so I think over our day. I had had a rough night, headache, dizziness, and lost of appetite—-all symptoms of attitude sickness or perhaps it is just from being exhausted from the previous day’s hike. I had risen at 6am, and let the boys sleep till after 7am. We drove off to Trail Ridge Road, a stretch of highway running East and West through Rocky Mountain National Park, to see what there was to see. I joined in on a conversation two older folks were having about how everyone on the drive was from CO, and soon learned the best places for us to hike from a woman clearly in her 70’s but fit as a fiddle and quite knowledgeable about the park.

As we drove along at 12,000’ we admired the view from Many Parks Curve, and later from Rainbow Curve, took a short hike at Forest Canyon—spotted a number of Elk, and took another short hike at Rock Cut. Michael, who wanted a long hike even enjoyed playing in a snowfield just before Rock Cut, and was even heard to exclaim that he enjoyed this break from the long hikes. We admired the Lava Cliffs, visited the Alpine Visitor Center and took photos at Miner Pass of us on the Continental Divide. We topped the drive back to camp off by doing a short hike on the Ute Trail that existed long before Trail Ridge Road. After the drive, which took us most of the day, we returned to camp and listened to the thunder roar all around us. After dinner, Mark and I played Sequence and Mancalo. Mark’s game skills have improved immensely and he is becoming a formidable opponent for me. We took a break from game play for me to read aloud a half-dozen or so chapters from “Riders of the Pony Express” by Ralph Moody, before returning to game play. We both said our goodnights around 9pm, still exhausted and both feeling the effects of altitude sickness.

And now we had these noisy neighbors that were keeping me awake. How stupid can folks be? I heard the noise of sticks being broken and glanced out our tent door. The two men had started a fire and were breathing into the fire pit like fire-breathing animals causing the flames to shoot upward a few feet. Great! Now I have not only inconsiderate noisy neighbors but also really stupid ones for starting a fire with 30mph winds, and with a fire ban in affect. How stupid can folks be? It reminded me of the folks, who up on Trail Ridge, had stopped their cars—mind you there’s no break-down lane or guard-rails on much of this very exposed route—to approach the Elk herd. The Elk were feeding close to the roadway and there must have been 10 cars in each direction stopped, leaving barely a one lane open, and the burm was filled with at least 30 stupid people photographing the Elk. Sure they were close, but folks these are wild animals that will do as they please and might not like you putting Sally up close so you can take a photo. We drove on, and later when an ambulance went streaming by Michael wondered whether the Elk had hurt someone. I don’t know, but I do know that this world is filled with really stupid folks.

I jumped up off my air mattress when the side of my tent was lit up like the 4^th of July. The stupid neighbors now had the flames shouting up as high as their shoulders and they were feeding it more wood. For the next several hours I wondered whether the fire would die out before the dry forest caught a spark. Thankfully the fire went out, the men went to bed and I fell back to sleep around 2am.

Day 11, June 9, 2006

Rocky Mountain National Park

The wind was still roaring when I rose at 5am, and I saw my stupid neighbor starting his fire up again. How I wish cell phones worked in a National Park cause I would have asked the Ranger to stop by the site and inspect their firewood. We were out of the campground by 6am and off to hike to Chasm Lake. This hanging glacial lake is at 12,000+ feet, and sits just below Long’s Peak. Our lady friend from the previous day had told us that while this was a challenging hike with 2390’ elevation gain in 4.2 miles, the views were magnificent. She was correct. After hiking 3 miles we entered the tundra area and felt the full force of the wind. Mark and I struggled with the altitude while Michael made fun of our lack of stamina. Finally we rounded the bend and started walking along a narrow cliff toward Chasm Lake. This narrow trail section hugged the cliff wall so that on one side the cliff rose a hundred feet or so, and to our other side the cliff fell off 500’ or so. It was almost a vertical cliff, but since I hate heights, and walking along this cliff, on gravel, with barely a 2’ path meant my legs were soon quite rubbery. Up ahead we could see that the trail went across a snow field, 25’, 50’, …90’ in length, and the few shrubs that presently gave me some reassurance that there might be something to grab if I slipped were gone from that section. I looked, I thought, I saw that others had beaten a path across the snow field but I couldn’t bring myself to cross the field. Mark was tired and stumbling every once in awhile as it was—-what it he slipped on the snowfield and went down the 500’ snowfield? No, we would turn around.

Michael was not too happy but he accepted my decision. I like having obedient, disciplined boys who accept my decisions, particularly in this matter. Shortly after we had turned-around a burst of wind hit, and Michael’s cowboy hat went flying off, and was caught at the base of one of those bushes 15’ down the very steep slope. It was out of reach, and to me the stones looked ready to continue their slide down the slope if touched. Michael tried to convince me of how he would approach the hat, which stones he would step on, how he would use his hiking pole to reach out to the hat and flip it back to the trail. Finally I agreed and for a few anxious minutes I wondered whether Michael would slide down the hill. He retrieved his hat, and he hugged it until we were below tree level.

8 miles, and 2390’ climb for a morning walk isn’t all bad. While we didn’t get to Chasm Lake we did see Peacock Pool and I watched my boys chat all the way back to the car. They discussed movies that pretend to be real but are far-fetched; and real movies that are close to fact. For 4 miles they kept chatting away, and I admired their relationship. The Park Ranger at the base asked whether we had reached our destination and I shared my hesitation to cross the snowfield. I showed him on his map where the snow was and he immediately told me that I had made a very wise decision. He mentioned that the snow is very soft this time of year and that you can go down quite easily. Just one more thing to return to this area to do and see at a later point in time.

Our camp seems to be in the fly zone for hummingbirds as we have had numerous visitors that stop at our face level, hover for a moment, and then fly on. We now know the hummingbird call too.

Day 12, June 10, 2006

Rocky Mountain National Park

Today we hiked to the top of Twin Sisters, a +11,000 mountain with several peaks, and a 2300 elevation gain. The hike was listed as 3.7 miles one way, however when our hike out took 2-1/2 hrs of continuous downhill hiking we all decided that the mileage must have been for a crow flying to the top. Shortly after we started hiking Michael got antsy, and disliked it whenever hikers passed us by. I finally told him to just hike ahead, which he took to hike to the top. He arrived a full hour before Mark and I, sat at the top taking photos for the other hikers, pigging out on beef jerky and enjoying the feeling of running to the top. Mark constantly complained of stomachaches, while I pointed out the fire-burned trees, the little flowers, and the views. Awe, the views of Long’s Peak and the other mountains were stupendous. I didn’t enjoy the top since my extreme respect for hikes and cliffs got the better of me—the sooner we left the top, the better I knew I would feel.

We were back to our car by 2 and in Estes Park shortly afterwards. We found a movie theater and treated Mark to “Cars”. As a ‘G” rated flick it was predictable, but it was cute, relaxing and just what the boys (and I) needed. We returned to our camp near dark and quickly settled in for the night. Our neighbors played their fiddles, drums, and guitars and lured me quickly to sleep.

Day 13, June 11, 2006

Rocky Mountain National Park to Dinosaur National Monument

Just the kind of traveling day I like — totally uneventful. We stopped on our route at Grand Lake and washed our clothes. We haven’t showered for a week—(can’t believe I’m even admitting THAT) but we haven’t found a shower location yet. I know we smell since I keep requesting Michael to keep his arms down. Once at Dinosaur I used the bathroom sink to wash my hair and felt like I had rejoined the human race.

I still found it amazing when we saw a sign informing all that the next Gas Station was 57 miles away. The previous gas station was probably a good 20 miles prior to this sign — I have learned to fill up often when we are traveling between these remote locations and while we haven’t run out of gas, it is still on my mind as we travel along.

I stayed in Dinosaur as a 14yo and remember this hot, dry place with awful tasting water. The water is the same, it is hot and dry, but oh so beautiful. It is funny to hear Michael, my cold-loving, snow-loving boy remark that he loves this dry heat and maybe he should move out here. Our camp site is under 4 cotton trees, we were told to look around for rattle snakes, and after we set up our camp I learned that cotton trees have been known to fall down on tents. GREAT! I pray we aren’t in our tent if this happens.

Day 14, June 12, 2006

Dinosaur National Monument

We rose early, as usual, and headed out for Harper’s Point. From Highway 40 the road to Harper’s Point winds for 33 miles out to a pinnacle. Many years ago Harper used the pinnacle to corral his cows—-a handy place since it sits 2500’ above the Green River. The height didn’t bother me since the sides were not vertical. The views were fabulous. We spotted a Gopher Snake along the trail but he didn’t bother us and we didn’t bother him. Coming back we saw score after score of crickets all crossing the road in the same direction — Mormon Crickets. I squished scores of the crickets too.

From Harper’s Point we went to the Quarry and looked at the wall of dinosaur bones. Michael talked us into going on a hike —- Sounds of Silence. It was listed as a 3-mile hike across the desert sands to look at the tilted rocks, but at 100-degree temperature after 1-1/2 miles we headed back to the car. I was so overheated and feeling quite awful. We then headed to the canyons with the air going at MAX, and walked up one of the canyons. A full day of heat and sun and I’m ready for bed.

Day 15, June 13, 2006

Dinosaur National Monument

Rafting — it was a highlight of my trip when I was 14yo, and today we relived the adventure. We went out with Adrift Adventure, and I soon learned that our Guide, Lisa, was in our first season as a guide, did not know how to kayak, and my confidence dwindled. We traveled in a van with an elderly couple from St Louis, and two kids seeing the west with their CO Uncle while their schoolteacher parents stayed home. Our first stop was to look at some petroglyphs drawn by the Freemont Indians estimated around 1000AD. We were assigned the paddle raft while the older folks—glad to know I was not classified with the older folks J — were placed in the oar boat. Our first rapid, Moonshine, was a mild Class 3 rapids and I was happy to hear Mark giggle through it. He was reluctant to raft and concerned about being tossed out. Rapid after rapid we made it through and soon we landed at our lunch stop. WHEW!! When we had registered for the trip the clerk said that all the tough rapids were prior to the lunch stop, so I felt sure we would all make it through the trip OK.

Lunch was a tasty vegetarian soft shell taco with beans, lettuce, more beans, cheese and cookies for desert. We tried taking a swim but the water was quite cold—-so cold that our one young friend was shivering quite badly. The guide took us over to the Hot Springs—her first time finding it and we enjoyed a luxious warm bath for a few minutes. Back in the boat we headed for our last rapid—a small one but our guide decided to hit it straight on, and the next thing I knew was the standing wave that we hit had my name on it. I flipped out of the raft and floated through one standing wave after another standing wave. Finally the inflatable kayak reached me and I was transferred over to the raft and pulled in. Thankfully it was not Mark that was washed overboard. Once in the raft my fellow paddlers pointed out the 6 Rocky Mountain Goats at the stream edge, mother’s with their fawns. Next we visited a cave at the waters edge—the overhang was loaded with swallows nest, and I learned that Mark had been laughing about his Mom being thrown overboard. I’m glad he enjoyed my little swim and is now looking forward to the next raft ride. Michael and I would have liked 4 more hours of rafting and twice as many Class 3 and 4 rapids, but it was an enjoyable.

Once into dry clothes we headed to Vernan, Utah and a visit to the Utah Field House of Natural History Museum. While over-priced it has a small but nice collection of fossils. The clouds have rolled in to this area and we are wondering whether we might see a desert storm tonight. I told the boys that if it starts storming we will stay in the truck and out from under the cottonwood trees. I’m beat though and ready to spend a night in a hotel—and sure would like to see my DH soon.