Estes Park Sunshine

We woke up early on Saturday morning to get a jump on the beautiful weather and decided to head to Estes Park. The view of the mountains was crystal clear from the balcony and we were all looking forward to getting into the mountains.

The views in Estes Park are spectacular. The centerpiece of the town is a huge sparkling blue lake which is surrounded on all sides by the snow-capped Rockies. And Saturday, with clear blue skies and crisp fall air certainly didn't disappoint.

We headed to Devil's Gulch Road to the Gem Lake hike. Kevin and I had hiked Gem Lake twice before, once when we first arrived in CO, and again when Danica came to visit. But it's a great hike, with breathtaking views and a free entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park. It also changes with the seasons. In May, the trail was lush and green. In August the trail was flanked with yellow and purple wildflowers. This time, in October, the trail was alive with brilliant yellow aspen. We stocked up on granola bars, beef jerky, water and fruit roll ups and headed off.

About halfway up the trail is a large boulder field that offers a bird's eye view of the town of Estes Park. We scrambled over a few boulders to a flat outcropping and took in the sights. To our front, was Long's Peak (the tallest mountain in the picture) one of Colorado's "fourteeners" (a peak over 14,000 feet to the uninitiated). Below was the town of Estes Park. Possibly the most thrilling part of the view though is the fact that it is 360 degrees. The mountains and blue sky aren't just in front of you, they surround you on all sides!

We continued up the trail, enjoying the precarious boulder formations and getting a great workout from the switchbacks and steps on the trail. Our reward for the two mile hike was Gem Lake, a small lake, carved out of granite, that sits nestled in the top of the mountain. We scrambled over the boulders that surround the lake and found a nice spot for a snack and a nap.

On our way out of Estes Park, we saw some of the town's most famous residents--elk! In the center of the town, we were sidetracked by a huge gathering of people, who we later discovered were observing about 100 elk that had congregated on a public golf course. We also heard the famous "elk bugle" of the bull elk, kind of a wierd screechy grunting noise. I have a hard time believing that female elk find the noise sexy, but I guess I'm not an elk.

We left Estes Park and took the scenic route back toward Denver. Most of the time, the expression "scenic route" is simply a euphemism for "long way home" but in Colorado, the scenic route is actually that--scenic. We drove in and around the mountains, where the road meandered around switchbacks and clung to the sides of steep cliffs. The views varied from exhilarating drops into deep ravines, wide open fields of flaming yellow aspen with snowcaps in the background, and neck-craning views of 14,000 peaks.

Our drive ended in Golden, possibly one of the most charming towns in the Denver metro area. Home to the ubiquitous Coors brewing company (sorry guys, the "twins" don't live in Golden), Golden's Washington Street is a pristine mile-long street with cute stores and a wild-wild-west feel. Contented and relaxed from our long drive and the cool breeze that swung down from the foothills, we stopped at Mesa Grill for a few drinks to enjoy the setting sun and do a bit of people watching. We then moved across the street to Woody's Pizza, Kevin and my newfound favorite-pizza-in-CO, and stuffed ourselves silly with salad and pizza.