June 27, 2010
Day 60: Touring Rocky Mountain National Park
I left the campground at 8:30 on the unloaded bike, heading up US 36 into Rocky Mountain National Park. Just inside the park I turned left (south) on Bear Lake road. I'll pedal this road all the way to the end at Bear Lake. First the road goes in Glacier basin down to Glacier creek. Then the road climbs along the creek which has a huge gradient.
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The road ends at 9475 feet elevation at a huge parking lot next to Bear Lake. This is a popular area for day hikes, and the parking lot fills early in the day. Consequently many visitors come in a shuttle bus.
I spent only a few minutes at Bear Lake before going back down a couple miles to the Glacier Gorge trailhead which has another huge (full) parking lot and shuttle bus stop. I hiked the busy trail past Alberta falls, into Glacier Gorge up to Mills Lake. It's a 5.5 mile round trip with 700 feet elevation gain from the trailhead to the lake. It's a popular trail. Actually kind of crowded on a summer Sunday afternoon.
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7 months ago
The hike started under mostly sunny skies, but the clouds built steadily as is common in the mountains. There was a bit of rain during the hike down. The 5.5 mile hike took 3 hours, from 11 AM until 2 PM. It didn't take long to get back to Estes Park. The route wis mostly downhill. The weather got noticeably warmer and sunnier.
On the edge of Estes Park I turned onto highway 66, going up the Big Thompson river 3 miles to the YMCA of the Rockies. I want to visit the cabin that my grandmother Ruth Tasto lived in for 32 summers.
The cabin was built in 1912, one of the first tourist cabins in the area. My grandmother lived here every summer from 1964 until 1995, working as an administrative assistant for the Executive Director. After she retired the cabin was restored to its original state and is now a museum. I visited my grandmother in this 1-room cabin when I was 5 years old, and had never been back until now.
The museum curator was aware that Ruth Tasto died 12 days ago. She showed me the information about Ruth Tasto on an interpretive sign in the cabin and in a history book about the YMCA of the Rockies. I was surprised how many buildings are at the YMCA. They have a capacity of nearly 5000 people in various lodges and cabins.
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7 months ago
It was downhill all the way from the Mariposa cabin to the campground. I was back at 4 PM, surprised how much I accomplished today.
In the evening I had dinner again at the Rock Inn and used the laundromat so I'll have clean clothes for the 3-day drive home. It rained again from 8 PM to 9 PM. The campground is less crowded now that it's Sunday night. Today had a high of 80F. Very nice when the sun is shining, but there were also a couple of showers.
Today was my last chance to see high mountains on this bike tour. Every place I went today was crowded. This is a very popular area and I'm here during the weekend.
Distance: 29 mi. (46.4 km) all unloaded
Climbing: 2300 ft. (697 m)
Hiking: 6 mi. (9.6 km)
Today's ride: 29 miles (47 km)
Total: 2,782 miles (4,477 km)
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3 years ago