The Cross Family: Trip to Estes Park!

Tuesday, October 22, 2024

Trip to Estes Park!

Logan and I took a quick trip to Estes Park, Colorado. We wanted to get away for little bit and thought Colorado would be a great getaway in September. We had a great trip! We flew in to Denver on Thursday morning. We got to the trail head and decided to do a hike that early afternoon. We got a little into the trail and we were both so out of breath. We realized how hard the altitude was on both of us. We turned around and headed back to the car! Ha!

We kept driving and found some pretty waterfalls called Alluvian Fan. It was just a little walk out to see them. Then we drove on and drove on old falls river trail.

This was Chasm Falls...once again just a very short walk to see from the car.

We got all the way to the top of the park....highest altitude. We were even winded in the car....it was crazy! It was freezing at the top. We got a map at the alpine visitor center and then drove back down. We saw some elk on the way back.

We got checked in to our cabin (Ponderosa cabin at Inn on Fall River) and changed and then went to dinner. We went to a place called Bird and Jim's for dinner. It was so yummy!!!

We came back and watched footage of Tyson's football game. He got to kick and played some defense. He did so good! We hated missing his first game but that's just how it worked out. The next morning we headed back into the park to Bear Lake. We drove to the parking lot and took the shuttle.

We first hiked to Nymph lake....it was so pretty and calm.

Then we went on to Dream Lake. It was so pretty!

Then we hiked on and got to Emerald Lake. It was steep but we made it. It was really pretty and had the prettiest color. We stayed a little bit and ate some snacks.

Then we headed back down and at the split before Dream Lake we headed to Haiyaha lake. It was pretty but super windy and cold. There were huge boulders you climbed over to get up to it.

We went all the way back down to Bear Lake and sat and ate some more snacks. We were pooped.

We got back on bus and headed to the car. Then we drove to Sprague lake. It was closely. We walked around the lake...it was an easy stroll and so pretty!

We drove back and walked around town. We bought stuff for the kids and came back to the cabin. We decided to relax and put our tired feet in the river. Logan put our chairs in the river and we rested there for a bit. I was ready for a nap and tried to rest but they were doing some work on our cabin and it was SO loud. Logan read a book and then we got up and headed to town and ate at a place called Ember. It was pretty good. We came back to cabin after dinner and watched IG videos and then some of Runaway Bride. He had never seen it. Fun day!

The next day we got up early and headed back to the park. We mapped out our hike for the day and it was going to be a long day. We parked and rode the shuttle again. We first went to Alberta Falls. It was so pretty!

The first lake we came to was Loch lake. It was pretty!

Then we kept climbing and climbing and finally got to Glass Lake. It was a heck of a climb to get up to it. At one point you are climbing on your hands and knees up a waterfall...it was very steep! When you get to the top it's super windy. I put on my beanie and gloves! Then you keep going and finally get to Sky Pond. It was greenish and color and so pretty! The mountains all around it were amazing. We could see some people rock climbing way in the distance.