Megan’s Take
Today was a lighter hiking day. We let the kids sleep in until they woke up around 7 am, because they really needed the rest. We started the day with yummy but overpriced donuts and headed to the Wild Basin portion of Rocky Mountain National Park. We hiked to Copeland Falls which was beautiful – loved seeing the water flow down the falls.
I imagine it’s very relaxing for people who don’t have to keep track of young children who may randomly fall into a river. If/when we return to the area, I would like to continue on that trail to Calypso Cascades, which is about 3.6 miles round trip but felt like too much for the kids today after all our hiking yesterday.
Next, we did a little scenic drive down to the Roosevelt National Forest and walked along the river at the Ceran Saint Vrain trailhead. We hiked about a mile down and then back following the river through the forest. It was a pleasant and relatively easy hike, but since Emmett’s nap time and gray clouds were approaching, we kept the hike shorter. We found a rocky beach area alongside the river back at the trailhead and spent some time looking for rocks and throwing them into the river.
It’s fun to add a national forest visit to a “national park” day, because collecting is allowed in a forest.
The rocks weren’t spectacular, but we found some pretty ones and had fun nonetheless.
On the way back towards our campground, we stopped at Lily Lake for a 0.8 mile walk.
We kept the kids in the stroller so that it was more relaxing for Phil and me, and we could go at the pace we wanted. It was gray and misty when we arrived, but that cleared out quickly, giving way to sunshine. For some reason, I remember hiking that particular trail with Phil years ago. It’s surreal to do it again with our kids.
Last big activity of the day – we went north to the Falls River Road section of RMNP and visited the alluvial fan. I had no idea what to expect, but wow! It was quite a sight.
Apparently it formed from flooding caused by a dam that failed, but it was the most beautiful waterfall we’ve seen. And there is a very large rock debris field where the kids could scramble. We didn’t stay as long as they wanted, because we planned for a brief stop and didn’t have water or sunscreen. But I would like to go back to give them more time to play on the rocks. Their balance is getting good!
Phil’s Take
The hike to Copeland Falls was a nice start to the day. After being in the more busy parts of Rocky Mountain National Park, it’s hard to believe that this is even a part of the same park, given that the road is not paved
and there is relative seclusion on the trail. Even the entrance sign reflects the less grandiose nature of this part of the park.
The Copeland Falls give you both an upper (viewed above) and lower view of a fairly lengthy set of falls.
We remarked at how this was the greatest falls we’ve seen on this trip, at least until we went to the Alluvial Fan up north (seen above). There are a number of places along these falls where you can step out onto rock fairly safely and gaze at the wonderful power of water. There was a ranger at the beginning of the trail that was sure to warn of the dangers of getting into the water, and it is clear why. There are places to get close safely though.
The hike on the Ceran Saint Vrain trail, along with the hike to the Copeland Falls, were quite different than nearly every hike we’ve done this trip, because they featured forests. While we’ve hiked in areas that technically could be considered forests, the tree density has been quite low due to the nature of the area. The Ceran Saint Vrain trail went through a true forest, as can be seen above, with a nice creek that it followed. It’s dense enough that you can find huge mushrooms like this vibrant red one I saw.
The image I put in Megan’s section shows the area from the bridge where we collected and skipped rocks. This part of the trail right at the beginning was the best part for views and nature, in my opinion. The best experience for me was enjoying a walk with Emilia nearly the entire way just talking about all kinds of stuff.
Normally this sort of thing is fleeting, and she frequently bugs mama for something, but today was different.
Megan mentioned the improved balance related to the play the kids had at the Alluvial Fan, but there was some of that here in the forest as well. They really have gotten into imaginative play in areas like this, and have honed their balance well.
On our way back toward Estes Park and Lily Lake, we encountered a chapel built onto a rock that was beautiful.
It’s on private property, but appeared welcoming to folks to pop in for a view inside.
On our way back from the Alluvial Fan, we stopped off at the Sheep Lakes overlook for a wonderful panorama of the meadow with the mountains in the background.
Unfortunately, we still didn’t get to see any sheep. We plan to come back to this area again, so there’s still hope.
The kids are always so eager to visit a playground, no matter whether it’s a bunch of logs and rocks, or a real one. I’m glad we’ve generally been at campgrounds that have had something like this for them to enjoy. Hopefully it helps prevent them from hating all the hiking because we don’t let them have fun. Here’s how we ended the day today back at the campground. I’m amazed at Emmett’s energy, especially since he didn’t nap today.
Here’s the gallery of pictures from today.
What a blessing that you’ve had all this time with the kids and they’ve been able to explore so much with their little bodies. It will do wonders for their development and confidence!