Colorado 2021

Rocky Mountain National Park’s 415 square miles (265,807 acres) encompass a spectacular range of mountain environments — from meadows in the montane life zone to glistening alpine lakes and towering mountain peaks.

The Rocky Mountain National Park Act was signed by President Woodrow Wilson on January 26, 1915, establishing the park boundaries and protecting the area for future generations. Later, during the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps built the park’s main automobile route: Trail Ridge Road. In 1976, UNESCO designated the park as one of the first World Biosphere Reserves.

I spent three full days at Rocky Mountain, and honestly, I could have easily spent a couple of weeks there. But at this point in my travels, I was still working full-time, and even with a great team supporting me, I wasn’t yet comfortable stepping away from my business for a whole month. So, I gave myself three days to get a small taste of the Rockies.

One morning, I hiked to Dream Lake. On the second day, I did the Bear Lake Loop. Both trails are fairly easy and very popular. Since I prefer to hike at sunrise, I was at the trailheads well before daylight. I was surprised by how many other hikers had the same idea. Some were starting in the dark with headlamps (not my thing). Others had set up small camp stoves and were cooking breakfast, which seemed like a great idea — except I don’t like to hike on a full stomach.

As soon as there was enough light to clearly see the trail without a headlamp, I was on my way. A little tip: hiking early in the morning not only makes it easier to find parking at the trailheads but also gives you a rare bit of peace on these normally busy trails. Plus, I love getting photos of the sunrise. As you can see from my pictures, I still crossed paths with plenty of other hikers, but I was able to capture lots of shots without getting photobombed.

After each hike, I spent the rest of the day driving through the park, stopping at various pullouts and visitor centers to take in the views.

One thing worth mentioning: I brought my Inogen Oxygen Concentrator and used it 100% of the time while I was in my car, and quite a bit while in my hotel as well. Thanks to that, I didn’t suffer from altitude sickness like I had at Yellowstone.

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The Black Canyon of the Gunnison was established as a national monument on March 2, 1933. It was redesignated a national park on October 21, 1999, and incorporated 4,000 acres owned by the Bureau of Land Management. The Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area was created at the same time. There are two primary entrances to the park: the south rim entrance is located 15 miles (24 km) east of Montrose, while the north rim entrance is 11 miles (18 km) south of Crawford and is closed in the winter. The park contains 12 miles (19 km) of the 48-mile-long (77 km) Gunnison River. The national park itself contains the deepest and most dramatic section of the canyon, but the canyon continues upstream into Curecanti National Recreation Area and downstream into Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area. The canyon's name owes itself to the fact that parts of the gorge only receive 33 minutes of sunlight a day (Source-Wikepedia)

I spent two and a half days exploring Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, and it was great not to feel rushed for a change. I focused only on the South Rim since the drive to the North Rim would have taken over two hours — time I preferred to spend exploring. I didn’t venture down into the actual canyon, nor did I visit Curecanti National Recreation Area. At the time, I wasn’t as aware of National Recreation Areas as I am now. After my multi-day trip through Glen Canyon NRA, I’ve learned to pay closer attention to them when planning future trips.

During my visit, I joined a ranger-led tour and hiked a short trail near the visitor center. I really appreciated how well done the pullouts and canyon viewpoints are. Over my two days, I visited many of them more than once to see how the light and shadows changed on the canyon walls throughout the day.

One thing that really caught my attention was the quartz. As a real estate agent, I see quartz countertops constantly, but seeing quartz in its natural form embedded in the mountainside was fascinating — a cool connection between my professional life and my love of travel.

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The park contains the tallest sand dunes in North America, up to 750 feet (230 m) tall. The dunes cover an area of about 30 sq mi (78 km2) and are estimated to contain over 1.2 cubic miles of sand.  Sediments from the surrounding mountains filled the valley over geologic time periods. After lakes within the valley receded, exposed sand was blown by the predominant southwest winds toward the Sangre de Cristos, eventually forming the dune field over an estimated, tens of thousands of years.  The dunes and surrounding area were designated a National Monument in 1932 after a bill—sponsored by the P.E.O Sisterhood and widely supported by local residents—was signed into law by President Herbert Hoover.  The original monument boundaries protected an area of 35,528 acres (55.5 sq mi) Similar support in the late 1990s resulted in the monument's redesignation as Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in 2000. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed the Great Sand Dunes as a protected landscape (management category V) in 2000, including the national park, the preserve, and the adjacent Baca National Wildlife Refuge.

I gave myself two full days to explore Great Sand Dunes National Park. On the first day, I parked at the visitor center and hiked out to the dunes. From a distance, they certainly looked closer than they felt! The hike was relatively easy, but proper footwear and long pants are a must. On my way back, I ended up dissuading several people from attempting the trek unprepared — including one woman in a sundress and flip-flops. The dunes may look deceptively close, but the terrain is filled with soft sand and thorny low brush, making poor clothing choices a recipe for misery.

What I found hilarious was how it took me about 20 minutes just to climb to the top of a single sand dune — and about 10 seconds to slide down. I had expected it to feel similar to White Sands National Park, but White Sands is gypsum; Great Sand Dunes is true sand. Not only do they look completely different, but walking on them is a completely different experience.

On my second day, I decided to visit Zapata Falls, a trail I noticed on my drive into the visitor center. I started at sunrise, as usual, although it wasn’t quite dark when I left the hotel this time. I had the trail mostly to myself. According to AllTrails, I was supposed to climb a steep rock scramble to reach the falls — but when I got there, I paused. While I was standing there contemplating how to tackle the climb, two guys were making their way down — mostly on their backsides. They told me there was nothing at the top and that the falls were actually in a cave off to my left.

That left me with two choices: navigate a narrow ledge to reach the cave or rock-hop across the river to get there. Since I hate ledges, I chose the rock-hopping route — something I do often at home hiking Breakheart Reservation.

Funny enough, there was another hiker with me (a guy) when those two were coming down. He chose the 2-inch-wide ledge. We reached the cave at the same time. I told him I thought he was crazy for taking the ledge; he laughed and said he thought I was crazy for hopping rocks.

The cave itself was cool, windy, and incredibly loud with the sound of the water. The waterfall wasn’t huge, but it was powerful and absolutely worth the effort.

On my way out, I passed a lot of hikers and made sure to share what I’d learned about the falls being in the cave. Hikers have to stick together

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 In 1909, Charles Elliot Perkins‘ children, knowing their father’s feeling for the Garden of the Gods, conveyed his four-hundred eighty acres to the City of Colorado Springs. It would be known forever as the Garden of the Gods

“Where it shall remain free to the public, where no intoxicating liquors shall be manufactured, sold, or dispensed, where no building or structure shall be erected except those necessary to properly care for, protect, and maintain the area as a public park.”

Garden of the Gods Park is a registered National Natural Landmark featuring dramatic views.  300′ sandstone rock formations against the backdrop of snow-capped Pikes Peak.

If you ever find yourself in Colorado Springs, CO, you have to spend a few hours at Garden of the Gods. It reminded me a bit of Arches National Park in Utah, though it’s much smaller and definitely more commercialized. Still, it’s free to park and enter, and the condition of the infrastructure was impressively well maintained considering that.

I really enjoyed my time there — every part of it was stunning. I hiked a few of the trails since they’re short and mostly flat, which made for an easy way to explore the park. That said, it got very hot as the morning wore on, so be prepared for the sun.

Each rock formation has a name, but I couldn’t remember most of them. The pictures I took of the maps didn’t help much once I got to my next hotel — so now, I have no idea which formations are which in my photos! Lesson learned: next time I visit, I’ll make sure to write things down.

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San Isabel National Forest is located in central Colorado and contains 19 of the state's 53 fourteeners — peaks over 14,000 feet high — including Mount Elbert, the highest point in Colorado. It's one of eleven national forests in the state and includes the Sawatch Range, Collegiate Peaks, and the Sangre de Cristo Range. Altogether, it spans over 1.1 million acres across eleven counties. (Source-Wikepedia)

Funny thing: I never actually planned to hike the Browns Creek Trail. I was trying to find Browns Canyon National Monument but ended up driving around for what felt like hours without ever locating it. A few years later, I realized why — National Monuments managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) are very different from those managed by the National Park Service (NPS). BLM lands often have dirt roads, little to no signage, and rarely offer visitor centers or ranger booths.

When I finally stumbled on the Browns Creek Trailhead, I thought, “What the hell?” and decided to take a walk in the woods. I’m glad I did — it was a great trail, not very busy (although there was plenty of horse manure to dodge).

One surprise along the way: I came across a giant cow hiding in the brush — photo below! The trail ends at a beautiful waterfall, and I had it all to myself, which was a rare and peaceful treat.

The Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument was established to preserve and study the area's remarkable geology and history. The Florissant Formation, near Florissant in Teller County, Colorado, is a sedimentary formation famous for its exceptionally well-preserved plant and insect fossils found in the mudstones and shales.  (Source Wikepedia)

I really enjoyed my visit here. The combination of history and geology is fascinating, and the monument has a well-maintained trail system that makes it easy to explore and take in the highlights.

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Pikes Peak is the highest summit of the southern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains in North America. This ultra-prominent 14,107-foot fourteener is located in Pike National Forest, just 12 miles west of downtown Colorado Springs. At its base lies the town of Manitou Springs. The mountain is named after American explorer Zebulon Pike — though, ironically, he never reached the summit himself. (Source-Wikepedia)

I spent several days exploring from my base in Colorado Springs, and on my last day, I decided to visit Pikes Peak. There are several ways to get to the summit: you can buy a ticket and drive yourself (absolutely not for me — I’m afraid of heights and tend to white-knuckle my way through roads like that). There are also Jeep tours and shuttle options.

I chose the Cog Railway. It took about an hour to reach the summit and another hour to come back down. It cost around $80, and we had about an hour to explore at the top. It was absolutely worth it.

The train was full, and the seats face each other, which made it feel a bit cramped. This was 2021, so we were still in full pandemic mode — masks were required 100% of the time while on board.

The weather was perfect, though the haze in the distance was from wildfires out west. What really struck me was how much colder it was at the summit compared to the base. Next time, I think I’d like to try the shuttle so I can make stops along the way and explore more of the mountain itself.

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