Day 3 started with me sneaking out for an early morning ride, only to be busted by these 2 campground deer.
The shot below looks almost fake, but it is 2 minutes from our campsite. This is Mary's Lake in Estes Park, and it helps reinforce the fact that you are constantly surrounded by picturesque views out here.
I had spent a few minutes last night researching biking trails around Estes, and one that consistently came up was the Limber Pine/Kruger Rock/Moose Meadow loop.
If you've ever read this blog before, you know my affinity for photos of bikes leaning on things. At the risk of boring anyone, I have narrowed it down to just 2 pics to represent this ride. Just know that it was an amazing trail, I almost puked a lung in the first 100 yards due to altitude, some technical boulder climbs that we don't see in Michigan, and being fat. Once I got my lungs, the flowy sections in the middle were good enough to have me turn into a one man Woo Girl crew on the trail.
Once I got back, unscathed and pretty invigorated by the ride, we started to put together a plan for our coveted timed entry pass to RMNP. We had scoped out part of the park last night, and the prospect of taking Old Fall River Road to the top of the park was very intriguing. Any time you can take a single lane, 11 mile long gravel road with no guardrails to nearly 12,000ft, you need to jump at that opportunity. I spoke to one of the white-bearded campground hosts about our plan while putting the top down on the Jeep, and he paused extra long and grunted, "I think you would enjoy that very much." All the endorsement we needed.
Pics don't translate for this experience, so I won't even try. The road is not difficult, you can drive up in in a minivan if you want to. It is, however, quite the experience. It has a 15mph suggested speed limit, and there were sections where Kim and Jordan would not look out their window to save their life.
There is definitely something to be said for taking this route and thinking about the era when a road like this was the only option to make it to the top.
We stopped just shy of the top for a quick break to take in the sweeping views, and of course Jordan needed her fix of climbing on rocks.
Here’s a clip of part of the final stretch.
The view from the Alpine Visitors Center is pretty tough to describe, especially after looking back at the road we just took up the mountain. Even in August there is still some snowcap remaining.
To avoid the herds of tourists at the top, and to get back in time for the night's adventure, we hoofed it down on Trail Ridge Road. I was able to snag a few phone pics out the top of the Jeep before being reprimanded - this road really does feel like you are driving on top of the world in some sections.
OK, now for the nightcap. When we are on vacation, almost no option is ruled out even if it isn't exactly very close to where we are staying. For example, when we were planning this trip, we realized we would be within 2 hours of Red Rocks, so we decided to see who was playing. No band was in our wheelhouse, but then we discovered their Film on the Rocks series.
I had been to this place more than 20 years ago, taking in the notable band Cowboy Mouth along with someone else who was less memorable. I challenge you to watch this, then wrestle with the feelings of 'this is good, right? I mean, I can't get it out of my head and it's a catchy tune, surely these guys are going to be successful.' *Narrator* - they were not.
Kimberly and Jordan had never been here, so this was a fantastic family experience. What we were not expecting were the Colorado School of Rock bands performing as an opening act. At first, we figured it was a good match since there were a lot of young kids in attendance for the movie showing and this would be a nice tie in. Then the kids started melting faces with all manner of Pantera, Maiden, Hole, and Rage covers. They closed out their impressive set with all band members on stage for Megadeth - Peace Sells. Yes, the future of our nation is in great peril, but less so if a 13 year old girl can destroy a crowd like this dude.
Of course we needed the obligatory selfie for posterity, and this was taken a moment after I tried moving even further from the lens in an unsuccessful attempt at making my dome appear normal sized.
The preamble to the movie was a bit cheesy, but actually got the crowd hyped. The director of the Film on the Rocks program came out and addressed the crowd with some trivia, and after the crowd completed all the famous movie lines, it was clear everyone was ready.
By now you either know what movie we saw or don't care. Either way, I'm telling you. We were there to see The Princess Bride, one of the finest cinematic achievements of our time. Seeing it in this setting, with live crowd response was crazy. Such an incredible experience.
If I discover a location in Colorado with enough signal or bandwidth to post a video, I'll include a few of the classic clips. Suffice it to say it was a great night, and something we will not soon forget. Long day, time to shut it down.
*edit - found signal to upload a few of the best parts.
Tomorrow - spending the day with Kimberly's nephew Collin who is out here for a summer internship.
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