We left Golden hung-over. In Boulder we tried Wendy´s for the first time, but it was very bad. Ferdi had a double beef burger and I had a pretzel burger. Both tasted like crap. We had a potato and sour cream sauce on the side, that wasn´t too bad. A&W is way better than Wendy´s! The best way is often to eat local food from individual fast food restaurants. Earlier in the morning we had breakfast burritos for $2 each. That´s not only a good deal, but also good food.
We arrived at Estes Park, the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park, around 4pm. After paying $20 to get in the park, Silver Surfer climbed the Milner Pass for us. That´s a very scenic road, especially when the clouds are up like here in the pictures. After an hour curving through the mountains we reached Timber Creek Campground. It´s located right next to Colorado River or should I say creek? That´s the water that will eventually pass Powell Lake, Grand Canyon and flow into the Pacific Ocean. The Continental Divide just runs through Rocky Mountain National Park. In fact when you stand on the highest point of Milner Pass and pour water on the ground. Half of it will flow in the Pacific Ocean, the other half flows into the Gulf of Mexico.
Rocky Mountain Park is not much different from other parks. You go camping, fishing, hiking and watch out for bears. I brought one of Jace´ fishing rods and bought a fishing license for a day - $9. In the States you just pay for a fishing license. In Germany you have to take classes and pass a knowledge test on fish and regulations. So I got up at 6.30am and drove to Grand Lake to fish. I tried for almost two hours, but didn´t catch anything except for algae. Back at the campground around 9am Ferdi was still sleeping - on my mattress. I woke him up and took a nap myself - but I had to fight my mattress back. After partying in Denver and eating so much junk food we decided it´s time for a nice hike. We left around 11am to hike Shadow Mountain - Fire Lookout. It´s a 9,6 mile hike covering 1,533 feet altitude. It was impressive. North of us there was a big thunder storm moving from west to east. The thunder is so loud and echoes in the numerous valleys. On the way back we switched between walking fast and jogging. A little workout is also a very good anti-hangover trick!
Afterwards we took a shower (for 5$!!) and went to the closest supermarket. The night before we saw our campground neighbor grilling his steaks so we decided we want to do that as well! After looking at the prices of beef in the supermarket we decided to go for turkey. If you are not prepared it can get very expensive for you really quick! We also bought some Ravioli, beans, corn, and chili con carne in the can. When we arrived at Timber Creek Freddy was responsible for the fire while I prepared the food. We put the cans in the glow and the turkey on aluminum foil on the grill. The dinner was perfect! It was probably the best we ever had while we were camping. To be fair, we never tried anything so far. But still, it was delicious and we felt pretty good afterwards. At 8.30 pm was a presentation about Moose. Freddy went there with his sleeping bag and I put on warm clothes. It was a very good presentation and better than the one the night before about Indians who lived in the area. Up to this point I have not seen a Moose in my life. Freddy said he saw one when he was going fishing but I don't believe him.
The next morning we slept in for a little bit. On our way back to Jace in Golden, we saw many cars stopping at the side of the road so we stopped too. And we (Ferdinand) finally saw some Moose and made pictures! See for yourself!
The drive over Milner Pass was as impressive as the first time the Silver Surfer climbed it. This time there were no clouds and you could see all the mountains around you which was amazing. We even saw some male bighorn sheep this time. The rest of the trip was pretty boring, we arrived at Jace's new home around 2.30 pm and were really excited. Why?
We went whitewater rafting!
We went whitewater rafting!