Day 7: Cheyenne, WY to Estes Park, CO - 170 miles
Buckle up - the fun meter really ratchets up today. Lovin' me some Colorado.................
My wife's brother and sister-in-law from Seattle happened to be doing virtually the same trip in reverse order at the same time. They were leaving Estes Park after 2 days in the Rockies and we decided to meet up in Cheyenne for lunch. We were going to have a short day anyway and that gave us the morning to noodle around the capital of Wyoming.
Not Main Street, but down where all the old buildings are.
Not old or interesting. Just so 70s. Where are the windows??
A couple more
The capital is a few blocks away. What a beautiful building.
State of Wyoming Kendrick Building (formally a residence just across from the capital.
Historic Governor's Mansion
There's a great park north of the capital that contains the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens
Some towns have statues of presidents.......Cheyenne has boots. Lots and lots of boots.
Lunch with the in-laws and a good exchange of information. We told them all about Wind Cave, Custer Park, The Badlands, Mt Rushmore, Deadwood and Devils Tower. They told us all about Rocky Mountain National Park. There is a timed entry system to get in. You have to go online, find the day you want to visit and then purchase a ticket for $2 that gives you a 2 hour entry window - not a minute before. Not a minute after. I had 2 for the next 2 days - both for 1:00.
But they informed us that you can still get in the park after 3:00 each day. That was going to be perfect. We could be at the park by 3 and go in today, just in case the weather might be changing.
We said our good byes and blasted down I-25 to Loveland, CO and turned right on HWY 34 to Estes Park. Eastern Colorado is flat as a pancake and as soon as you pass into the front range you are in the Rockies. Just........boom!
The weather was perfect and since it was going to change for the next few days, so we by-passed the hotel and went straight for the entrance gate. Estes Park is at 7,500 feet and the road starts to rise immediately. All of a sudden you are in a thick green forest dotted with golden Aspens. We got to the gate at 3:02, flashed our National Park Pass and slithered through.
A popular tree for pictures
The road winds higher ( with no guard rails) and eventually you leave the tree line at over 11,000 feet. Stunning views
We got to the far NW part of the park for the day's turnaround at the Alpine Visitor Center at 11,796 feet.
A trail takes you up to a viewpoint, where there is even less air.
Looking down on the Visitor center
Remnants of snow from a couple days ago. I sure don't want to be at 11,700 feet on summer tires in an F90 if the white stuff returns.
Popped into the Visitor Center and had 5 minutes to grab a souvenir before they closed.
We started back down in the soon to be disappearing light.
Long's Peak, the highest in the park at 14,259 feet, is the flat topped peak in the far distance.
Similar pics, but I don't care. I like them all.
The road down
Longs Peak again
This is something else
And this.....................
Some wildlife
Another premium road that is insanely busy is the road to Bear Lake on the valley floor. Timed entries go to 6:00 PM. The light was fading, it was 6:00 and we decided to go for it. Unfortunately, so did everyone else. A frustratingly slow line of cars snaked up the road to Bear Lake for miles. Would there even be an open parking space? Would there be any light left? Yes. Just enough. Whew!
Glowing Sky
Checked in to the hotel (same one as my brother-in-law stayed) and went out and found a big rib eye. What a day. Again.