Category: Sightseeing

Posted in: Animal Sightings, Exploring Colorado, Hiking, National Park, National Parks, Sightseeing, YouTube Video Link

Rocky Mountain National Park

Written by tepetravels

Saturday we went to Rocky Mountain National Park. The park is requiring reservation times for admission. The later afternoon ones are easier to get. I tried several times to get a morning/early afternoon time, but was unsuccessful. They sell out really quickly. There is a $2 charge, even if you have the Annual Pass. If you do not have an annual or day pass, you can buy it when you make your reservation.

Our time started at 3:00 and it was about 1 1/2 hour drive there from our campground. We decided to spend the day in Estes Park, which is right outside the park, until our time opened up.

Estes Park is really pretty and is a nice walkable town. There is a nice walking path next to the creek. We got ice cream at Sunday Saloon. They made square ice cream cones! Although very neat looking and definitely different, there is a downfall to square scoops. They fall off easily. I lost my ice cream after only a few licks. Ben bought me another ice cream later, and I learned my lesson and got it in a cup!

We went into a few stores, got some more postcards, coffee, and a slice of pie.

It was finally time to head into the park. We had perfect timing and got there right as our entrance time started. Within 10 minutes we saw a bunch of cars pulled over in a pull off. I looked over and there was a moose in the pond! We pulled in and went to look. Ben grabbed the binoculars. The moose was up to his shoulders in the water and was eating plants out of the pond. It was really neat to see.

We kept driving around the main road in the park. We saw Lava Cliffs, one of the highest, or maybe the highest point on the road. It was hard to tell based on the sign. There was a snow/glacier area there. It was beautiful with a little pond at the bottom.

Our next stop was at another Tundra area. We saw 2 marmots, which look a little like our groundhogs. They sleep up to 8 months and have to double their weight in the summer to prepare for hibernation. They ate most of the time when we were there, occasionally looking up at the tourists. The tundra area takes a long time to grow, the sign said it can take centuries for plant areas to mature.

There were signs and explanations everywhere not to walk on the tundra, to stay on the path. We saw several people walking right past to get their glamor shots and selfies. There was plenty of path to get amazing pictures at without walking all over the areas that said “Stay Off” or “Tundra Closed”. There were even just signs with pictures signaling to stay off. I just don’t understand people.

Anyway, enough of the ranting. We kept on driving up to the Alpine Visitor Center. We stopped at the visitor center first and wandered around their shop. I got a new mask (looks like a bear snoot) and an ornament for Christmas. There is a trail up the hill next to the visitor center. The peak of the hill is at 12, 005 feet above sea level! The altitude definitely makes it harder to go up the hill. It wasn’t a huge change in elevation, maybe 500 feet and there were stairs for most of it. I had to take a couple of breaks to adjust, but we all made it to the top. It had some amazing views, definitely worth the walk up!

We made it back to the car and enjoyed a nice picnic dinner that Ben had packed. It was a really nice treat.

We continued on the road and stopped at the Continental Divide. We also saw a deer at a picnic spot nearby.

We stayed on the same road to get out of the park. It’s not a loop road, so if you want to leave through the same entrance you came into, you need to turn around. We decided to just drive out of the park and take a different way back home. This drive had a lot of switchbacks, but amazing views of the mountains.

We had the dash cam up, so we have some video of our drive. I compiled clips into about a 14 minute video on our YouTube channel.

I am glad we got to see Rocky Mountain National Park and the marmots and moose. I will say that I still like Yellowstone better. Rocky Mountain was great with the glacier/tundra areas, but the landscape was mostly pine trees and mountains (which are beautiful). Yellowstone’s landscape frequently changes when you drive through, so it’s always something new to look at.

Posted in: Hiking, Newbie Mistakes, Sightseeing

Exploring Around Denver: Idaho Springs and Saint Mary’s Glacier

Written by tepetravels 5 Comments on Exploring Around Denver: Idaho Springs and Saint Mary’s Glacier

After working all day, Ben wanted to unwind and explore a little bit. We didn’t want a huge drive, so after some Google searching, we settled on Idaho Springs. I think during non-Covid times, this would be a really cute town to walk around in. They had a pizza place that looked amazing (unfortunately we had already eaten), several cute stores, and some brewery type restaurants. Unfortunately, a lot of the stores were closed even on a Friday evening.

We (I may have pushed it a little bit since we were so close) decided to drive to Saint Mary’s Glacier. (Thank you Allison for the idea!) I found the path on my trail app, put in the directions, and we were off. The road goes up the mountain (as you might expect) and ends in a private drive. The road gets pretty twisty and turny in some spots. There were two parking lots off the side of the road (on the left when going up). The lots were $5 to park (cash only and you paid via envelope in a box). There were a few port-a-lets there, and while they were not full, they hadn’t been serviced in a while. The air was cooler, but not too bad even in shorts.

Now, this was spur of the moment and we were rushing to hike before we lost daylight. The trail app said it was a 1.9 mile trail and that the “trail up is mostly rocks but not terribly difficult”, so I figured it was on the harder side of easy to an easy-ish moderate trail. We didn’t have our hiking boots, although we did thankfully have our walking sticks/hiking poles (thanks Dad!). I also did not bring a water or our spray with us on the hike. Yeah, not my best moment.

The hike was not easy. Nope. Not even a little bit easy in the beginning.

The trail up is steeper and definitely covered in various sizes of rocks. Our lungs are also not quite used to the altitude here yet, so that may have made it harder as well. It also could be I am in worse shape than I thought. Trails out here are not the same as back home! The path branches off in several spots, some going towards a private property, so I was glad I had the trail app to stay on course.

I had to stop several times to let my lungs acclimate and calm down. Luckily I didn’t need my inhaler this time. The hiking poles helped a lot on the rocky areas.

There were a few other groups there, but it definitely wasn’t crowded. We saw what looked like a small wedding finishing up when we got to the lake. Someone else had a snowboard on his backpack.

It was beautiful. The lake has a small beach and we saw a few people with swim suits in their bags, so I’m not sure if they went swimming or not. I would think it would have been very cold water, as the air was quite a bit chillier than down in town.

You can hike right up to the glacier. It was amazing. I haven’t been that close to a glacier before…well I haven’t seen a glacier before either.

It was a great experience, although I do need to plan these out a little better!

We ended up rushing back down because the sun was starting to set and we didn’t want to still be on the trail when it got dark. Although we were stressed at the end to get back to the truck before dark and get down the mountain once the sun set, it was still an amazing experience. How many people can say they touched a glacier?

Posted in: Costco, Exploring Colorado, Sightseeing

Exploring Downtown Denver

Written by tepetravels

Yesterday we arrived at our new campground and got set up. We ran into town and stopped at Ben’s favorite store (Costco) for some groceries. We also stopped at Kings Soopers for the rest of our groceries. Nick had been wanting to see the new Scooby Doo movie, so we rented it from Redbox at the store. We all really enjoyed the movie and it was nice to have a relaxing evening. I’ve loved Scooby for years (and years…let’s not count the number of years) and now the boys do too.

Ben took the day off of work so he could explore Denver with us. Our first venture out (besides grocery stores) was to downtown Denver. We decided to walk the 16th Street Mall. It is a street that has a lot of shops and food options. We browsed, window shopped, saw Union Station, and picked up some postcards.

There were a lot of food options on this street. We ended up trying a few different items. We tried a new flavor of cupcake (Raspberry Almond Poppy Seed), a spicy breakfast burrito, and Will tried a Korean BBQ cup.

All in all, it was a great way to spend the afternoon.

Posted in: Animal Sightings, Sightseeing

Elk are aggressive…

Written by tepetravels 1 Comment on Elk are aggressive…

when nursing.

We were walking around town and strolled on down to see the Roosevelt Arch. It is a pretty neat piece of architecture. Ben especially loved the doors.

As we were walking back towards where we parked the truck, we heard high pitched animal calls. We looked towards the park and we saw three baby elk running towards the Arch. We heard an answering call and saw two momma elk strolling out from a side parking area, relatively close to us. We backed up to give them room.

One of the babies met his/her mom in front of us. The baby must have been very, very hungry because they about tackled the mom to nurse.

The video is up on our YouTube channel!

Posted in: Animal Sightings, Exploring Wyoming, Hiking, National Parks, Sightseeing

Impromptu Trip To Grand Tetons

Written by tepetravels 1 Comment on Impromptu Trip To Grand Tetons

Yesterday was a stay in the RV and do budget/bills/etc. kind of day. When Ben was finished with work, he came out and announced he wanted to go see the Grand Tetons.

Ok…great. It’s just a 3.5-4 hour road trip (each way). So, we buckled up and started driving. To get there, you basically drive through Yellowstone, which was packed. I haven’t seen so many people since we’ve been here. I’m glad we saw most of the sights last week! It’s been really helpful to get up early and see things before lunch time, which is when it seems more people come into the park.

It rained on us for part of the drive. We got to see the Continental Divide in two different elevations during our drive, which was a nice learning opportunity.

Once at the Grand Tetons park, we went to Signal Mountain and drove to the top to the overlook. Of course, it started raining again, with thunder and some lightening. We did get some views of the Tetons, but it was cloudy.

After carefully driving back down (strangely enough there were less people going up the mountain in the rain), we saw an adult male elk with large antlers. Around Yellowstone we had only seen young males with smaller antlers. It was pretty cool!

We stopped at the visitor center to try to get a better view of the mountains as it had cleared up a little bit. It was pretty late by this time, so we stopped at their restaurant/cafe for some food. It was all take out, with ordering and pick up outside. Word of advice: bring your own food! The food was ok (not great, not even on the better side of good, but just ok), but I think this was the most expensive meal we’ve had so far. $9 for a hot dog (did come with vegetable side). They were the only option we saw though, so if you don’t bring your own food, you don’t have a lot of options.

The Grand Tetons were pretty and they have some large lakes there as well which would probably be great for boating and fishing. However, I am glad we spent most of our time in Yellowstone. I loved seeing the geysers and hot springs, plus there are so many trails. We didn’t get to check out Tetons’ trails though because it started raining on us again and it was another 4 hour drive back home.

We read in our National Parks book a little about the Tetons. They got their name from French trappers/explorers and were named “trois tetons”, or the three nipples. The boys found this extremely funny.

Posted in: Exploring Wyoming, Hiking, National Parks, Sightseeing

Upper Geyser Basin

Written by tepetravels

The boys and I headed up towards Old Faithful this morning. There was some traffic due to construction, so it took a little longer than the 1.5 hours I thought it would. We finally saw our first bear! I think it was an adolescent black bear. He’s been the only bear so far that we have seen.

We saw the Crested Pool, Sawmill Geyser, Old Tardy Geyser, Churn Geyser, Grand Geyser, and Castle Geyser. We didn’t know before we arrived, but Castle Geyser was due to erupt within the hour, so we sat and waited.

It was amazing. There were a few small bursts and puffs of steam before the large eruption. It can last up to 20 minutes and goes off about every 14 hours. We only saw about 10 minutes of it before Nick got too antsy after waiting for so long and sitting in the sun. As we were driving away to make sure we made it back in time for guitar lessons, it was still erupting!

I could have sat there the entire time watching. The Yellowstone National Park Service app has a geyser eruption time prediction (+/- 45 minutes) which would have been smart of me to check beforehand. It was an amazing thing to see and I liked it better than Old Faithful. There is one side that is smooth, while the other side is a little rougher and looks like it has steps. It changes the appearance of the water flow depending on which side you view it from.

If you are up by Old Faithful, I would definitely try to time it so you can see Castle Geyser erupt. If you are by the North Entrance heading into the park, go early in the morning. The steam from the hot springs and geysers is multiplied in the cooler air and is really neat to see.

Posted in: Exploring Montana, Exploring Wyoming, Hiking, National Parks, Sightseeing

July 25: The Hike That Wouldn’t End

Written by tepetravels

Ben wanted to go on a fairly easy hike, mostly flat, under 5 miles.

I found one on AllTrails that looked like it could work. It was 5 miles and listed as moderate, which most of the ones around here were. The only easy listed trails nearby were ones we had already one near attractions in the park. The reviews made it seem like the hill in the beginning is what made it moderate, so I thought it would be fine if it evened out later. Nope! I should not be allowed to pick the trails we do in the parks. At home I did ok, but I clearly haven’t adjusted to here yet. 3 hours and 39 minutes later we make it back to overlook the parking lot.

It was a bit more strenuous than I had been expecting. There were several flat areas, some next to a large drop down. A few small bridges. No wildlife other than some feather remains and butterflies. At one of the ponds, we did see what may have been a dam, but no beavers. It was a bit of a let down in terms of hikes.

By the end, everyone was exhausted and a little cranky. The best part was that by pure circumstance, the trail dumped us pretty close to where we had parked the truck!

We were all so tired and sore when we got back to the truck. We stopped at the creek to dip our feet in and the numbing cold water felt amazing. Driving back into town, we stopped at Scoop! There It Is ice cream trailer and got some huckleberry ice cream.

Later that night we drove to the park and stopped to look at the stars! There were so many more than what we get to see at home!

Posted in: Animal Sightings, Exploring Montana, Exploring Wyoming, Hiking, National Parks, Sightseeing

July 23: Mud Volcano and Bison

Written by tepetravels 2 Comments on July 23: Mud Volcano and Bison

The boys and I stuck around the RV this morning and afternoon. When Ben was done with work, we went exploring!

We first went to the Mud Volcano area, which was about 1.5-1.75 hours away from our campsite. This trail goes through several thermal areas, mostly on a boardwalk. There are a couple of bathrooms in the parking lot as well.

The first one we saw was the mud volcano. It’s not exactly volcano shaped anymore, but was roiling and steaming pretty well when we were there. It looked like boiling muddy water. We followed the path to the left (only option as for social distancing they made the path one way) and saw the Grizzly Fumarole, Sour Lake, Black Dragon’s Caldron. Next we saw the Churning Caldron, which was one of my favorites here. It was definitely churning away. It sounded like waves crashing on a beach. From there you walk past Sizzling Basin to the Cooking Hillside and on to my other favorite, Dragon’s Mouth Spring. This one looks like a cave on a creek. Steam billows forth and you can hear the water surging in the cave. Every once in awhile you see waves of water coming out. It was really cool looking.

On our way out of the park, there is another thermal area that we stopped at. There was a bison pretty standing back in the trees. He was just standing there chilling. After a little bit, he starts walking up the hill to cross the road. Everyone (well, mostly everyone) backs up to give him his space. He gets to the road, goes between two cars, sees the surveyor (who had been there the whole time), paws his front feet on the ground and mock charges the surveyor! He turned and didn’t really fully charge at him. But it was crazy to see.

We made our way back to the truck. There were several signs saying “Danger Thermal Area”. Of course, most people stayed out. But one lady just keeps on walking past the signs down the hill!

We briefly stopped at Norris Geyser Basin, but the parking was insane and most people were not wearing masks, so we kept on driving.

We went to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone to view the lower falls. It was amazing! It was rocky, had an osprey nest (empty when we saw it), and a huge waterfall.

We went back to Artists’ Paintpot Trail with Ben so he could see the mudpots. It had rained a little bit the night before, so the one mudpot was a little more liquidy than when we saw it. It was still worth walking through again!

We were a little hot at this point, so we stopped at a picnic area next to a creek and dipped our feet in the cold water. Nick tripped, lost a Croc and somehow cut the top of two of his toes and his shin. I found his shoe under a tree root downstream.

We got back to the campground before right before some rain clouds moved in. It got super windy, you could see dusty swirling around and our legs were being pelted with small pebbles from the gravel path.

Posted in: Animal Sightings, Exploring Montana, Exploring Wyoming, Hiking, National Parks, Sightseeing

July 22: The Three Explorers

Written by tepetravels

Ben has work pretty much all day, including a stint this evening, so it just the boys and I going out to the park today.

The boys and I began our morning by going into Yellowstone. We started with the Artists’ Paintpot. We saw several hot springs, a few small geysers, and the mud pots. Even if you couldn’t see the activity because the water or mud was too far down in the hole, you could hear it steaming and/or gurgling! It was pretty cool. The colors were once again great: a few reds and blues. The mud pots though…those I think were my favorite there. You could hear the burble…plop sounds as bubbles formed and erupted.

It was an easy hike in, about a mile I think, pretty flat and fine gravel/sand for the trail.

Next, we went to the Norris Basin Geyser area. This was amazing. Parts wandered through woods, other spots were super stark with dead trees. I wish we could have spent more time there. We may go back because we only got part of the trail done. We had really good timing today though, because big groups came in as we were leaving. Leaving the Norris parking lot, I think we must have passed a hundred cars waiting in line.

For the long meeting tonight, Ben was setting up in the living/kitchen area. The boys and I headed into town. We picked out t-shirts for both of them, I got a coffee (iced because walking around in 90 degree heat with hot coffee is a little much even for me!), and we tried huckleberry ice cream from a little stand. It was delicious!

Posted in: Exploring Montana, Exploring Wyoming, Hiking, National Parks, Sightseeing, YouTube Video Link

July 21, 2020: Exploring Town, Bison Burgers, Old Faithful & Grand Prismatic Spring

Written by tepetravels 5 Comments on July 21, 2020: Exploring Town, Bison Burgers, Old Faithful & Grand Prismatic Spring

The boys and I took it easy this morning and explored the town of Gardiner, MT a little bit.

We found an amazing T-shirt shop (OutWest T’s) that carried socks, t-shirts, pajamas, hoodies, hats… I bought a keychain and a small jar of Huckleberry jam. There is a T-Shirt there that I may go back and buy for Nick. They had so many funny designs. They were really nice and explained huckleberries to the boys. Huckleberries are similar in shape to blueberries, but a little smaller. They grow wild, cannot be cultivated, and do not last long once picked. Which is why you see more products with huckleberry in them, than fresh huckleberries for sale. We tried a hard candy and ice cream sandwiches for the boys. Both were a big success.

We mailed some postcards, stopped at a bookstore/coffee shop, and got some groceries before heading home. The bookstore looked like it had nice breakfast sandwiches and they had a frozen coffee (they call it blended). Not a lot of kid books for the boys though, mostly adult and some little kid books.

We grabbed bison burgers for dinner, which the kids enjoyed trying. After cleaning up dinner, we headed back into Yellowstone. Ben drove so I could get pictures out the window! Yay for awesome husbands! 🙂

We went to Old Faithful and it was the most congested with cars we had seen so far. There had also been a wreck and construction, which slowed down the drive to a snail’s pace at times. We rushed through the parking lot to get to the geyser and saw a few small spurts and a lot of steam. We waited maybe 10 minutes or so, until the big eruption. It was great! The wind was blowing towards us, so we did get a few misty drops on us.

Ben’s photo of the boys and I. He caught me taking video and photos. 🙂

Next stop was the Grand Prismatic Spring. This was what I had been looking forward to. It was amazing. The colors are just amazing to think that nature can produce such vibrant colors. We parked at Fairy Falls Trail and took the trail over to Prismatic Spring. There is a fork in the trail: straight goes to Fairy Falls Trail, left goes up a hill to Grand Prismatic Spring Overlook. Take the extra 1/4 mile and go up the hill. It gives you a greater vantage point to look down on the colorful spring. There were a lot less people up there too!

We stopped at a waterfall and a few more hot springs on the way back.

Video: Geysers and Hot Springs we’ve seen soon so far. Old Faithful is in it too!

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