We are alive! Some of you may be wondering if we succumbed to the altitude here in Rocky Mountain National Park. At a base elevation of 8,000+ feet, that wouldn’t too unrealistic. However, we just had a long day and got home too late to carefully craft posts we’d be happy with.

I am now writing this post from a Midas in Denver after my front brakes starting making strange grinding noises yesterday while braking downhill. Not wanting to take any chances with more hilly/mountainous terrain in a car that is heavy with road trip stuff, I’m having the brakes serviced. Fun road trip times, I know.

The day started with an arrest in the hotel dining room. Two police officers casually walked into the room and up to a guy carrying a plate of food. “Drop the food! You’re under arrest!” one of them said. We wondered if they were the food police. Yesterday, we witnessed two women filling bags with food from the free buffet. Dozens of packets of oatmeal, bottles and bottles full of cranberry juice, piles of danishes, and mounds of eggs and bacon. We suspect they didn’t even have a room at the hotel, but had just come in to collect a ton of food and leave. Seems like this may be a somewhat common thing at these places. We have no idea if that was the issue with today’s guy, but to the cops’ credit, the entire thing was quiet, controlled, and quick.

Emerald Lake shoreline

Yesterday, we headed to the Rockies. It’s amazing to me how different each mountain range is. They each have their own personality. Here, the mountains are large and in charge. There are 72 peaks that are more than 12,000 feet tall and several are 14,000 or more. The scenic mountain road that takes drivers to 12,183 feet has been closed since we’ve been here. As of yesterday, several of the higher elevations are covered in 2- to 3-foot snowdrifts. The weather in the base area has been very warm and sunny (50s), so we are hoping the road will open today or tomorrow before we leave the area.

We hiked a trail that took us to three little mountain lakes with whimsical names: Nymph Lake, Dream Lake, and the crown jewel, Emerald Lake. I think I felt the altitude more than Billy did from a breathlessness standpoint, but it wasn’t that bad. We both took lots of photos of the incredibly scenic area, but are both somewhat disappointed with how they came out. Even the decent photos don’t convey the enormity of the peaks, nor their beauty. As with most mountain lakes, each of the three were the green-blue color we’ve seen in many places.

A view from the trail before reaching Emerald Lake.

A view from Dream Lake.

After that hike, we did a quick hike walk around Bear Lake, the largest lake in that area and then we headed to Lumpy Ridge. Here, the mountains and rocks are very weathered by wind instead of rain or earlier glacier activity. By the time we got there, both of us had mild headaches, so we did what any reasonable people would do. We left to visit a casino in Black Hawk to gamble for a free dinner buffet!

Black Hawk is nestled in one of the red-rocked valleys. I wish I had taken a few photos because it was so unique. The place looked like it had all been built recently. The buildings were in a nouveau western style, painted in contrasting bright colors. The interesting thing is that the town seems to be populated mostly by casinos. We hit a place that had a positive deuces-wild game and managed to score two free dinner buffets! We ate and ran…back to the hotel.

Depending on how long my car takes, we may unfortunately only have time for a short hike today. Can’t wait to use my new brakes!

Billy pensively looking out over Bear Lake.