Day 39
July 25 - Rocky Mountain National Park, CO
Cassandra had a
day planned in Boulder with her coworker Anna, who lives in Denver. She had
been back and forth the last couple days about leaving us to our own wits and
driving on her own for an hour and back, but she ultimately went out and had a
great time. In my mind, it's always nice to have a little solo time, and
getting to explore independently is fun and exhilarating. She came back to the
Rockies pretty quickly after finishing up working with Anna, and I partly wish
she spent more time in Boulder - I hear it's a pretty cool place.
Ev, Til, and I rode our bikes to the shuttle station at our campground (on the Green, Moraine Park Route) and rode the shuttle to a couple hiking spots. The shuttle system in Rocky Mountain National Park is pretty impressive and enabled us great exploration of the park throughout the eastern region without requiring a car! We had a changeover at Park & Ride (the bus-line central hub), and took a standing-room only bus (the kids were so excited to stand up on the bus!).
The route to Bear Lake was windy and curvy, and the children had a blast trying to keep their balance. The swore they would never sit on a bus ride ever again!
The hike around Bear Lake was a pretty short and flat around the serene lake...
...and although there were several extension hikes to more remote areas, this place was swamped with people and both Ev and Til wanted something a bit more low-key, so we hopped back on the bus to Sprague Lake for another short, mile-long hike around the lake and a picnic. We hiked about half-way around the lake when we a mother and baby moose grazing along the lake's edge.
They were majestic and amazing. Their legs are so thin and hold us that incredibly large body - it seems impossible, yet they move with such grace and beauty. We watched them for a while and sat down to eat a snack while they got harassed by a group of four ravens.
An older couple walked up and we whispered back and forth to each other about animal sightings while we watched this beautiful natural phenomena. Eventually, the moose became disturbed by some over-zealous people who gathered to get a closer look. A crowd grew quickly, and the crowd didn't give the moose the space it wanted or deserved; the baby, followed by its mother, started walking along the path in our direction to move away from the crowd.
We decided we'd seen enough of these two and turned to walk the other way on the trail when we saw another moose on a different location in the lake - it had walked in behind us since we'd stopped to watch the mother-baby moose. I took a picture of the children in front of a moose in front of a glacier and felt like I captured a complete Rocky Mountain experience.
We walked over to a picnic area on at Sprague Lake. They ate the rest of their lunches, then played in Boulder Brook that runs adjacent to the picnic area. Tilda came back and we worked on her Junior Ranger packet. It was an absolutely splendid time!
Eventually, we walked back along the lake to the bus stop, but it was completely mobbed with people (like Bear Lake earlier), this time trying to get close to take selfies with the moose.
This frustrated me (and the children, especially Evelyn) so much, and it made me feel bad about coming there at all: we were part of the crowd now. I was happy we had some quiet time out there earlier before people likely learned that the moose were on the loose at Sprague Lake… We watched a young couple try to feel a ground squirrel some food, and Evelyn had to bite her tongue to avoid saying something to the people (I was proud of her strong feelings and compassion for nature - she is sweet and strong and passionate). We worked on Evelyn's Junior Ranger packet while waiting for the bus - they even declined an offered ride from Cassandra because they really wanted to ride the bus again.
It was such a great day with my wonderful children. Cassandra was so jealous about the moose - we kept on seeing large animals on our hikes when Cassandra was away! I was happy to get back to the campsite, as did Cassandra. Ev and Til played with their friends again and learned a lesson about being strong and standing up for what they know is right. The kids at the site next door were feeding the squirrels, and Ev and Til ultimately decided to join in. They knew it was wrong, but wanted to be with their friends. It was a good processing and learning experience for both of them (especially as they wear Junior Ranger badges).
This had been one
of the best days of the trip so far for me and the children, and tomorrow is my
birthday!
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