June 9, 2014
"There is no such sense of solitude as that which we experience upon the silent and vast elevations of great mountains." - Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
This is a unique blog entry, because unfortunately JT was not along for this trip. However, it was a very adventurous trip that I went on with my mom right after my high school graduation, and many people may be interested in some of the things we did, and some of the sights we saw. The picture above I captured of Dream Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park near Estes Park, Colorado. At first, I didn't like that the fishermen were blocking the view, but now I LOVE that they're in it! I've had many people tell me it looks like a post card or a painting, and it's my favorite picture I've ever taken!
As soon as mom and I got to our cabin near the mountains, we opened up the back porch blinds and found giant Elk standing in the back yard! Neither of us were expecting to see such big animals so close to the house. After that, we began to think about all of the other big animals out there and went to the store to get "bear spray" that shoots up to 30 feet to protect ourselves while hiking. Thankfully though, we didn't need to use it. I have a hunch we may not have used it properly if we were panicking from seeing a bear that close anyway!
Excuse the awful looks, but we had to get up at 3:30am our first morning in Colorado for hot air ballooning over Boulder, Colorado! We drove about an hour from our cabin in Estes Park, and had to be there before sunrise to launch the balloons before it got too windy. We flew with Fair Winds Hot Air Balloon Flights and couldn't have had a better experience! At sunrise, we helped the crew prepare the hot air balloons, and while we were waiting on the balloons to inflate, we were given free donuts and a drink of your choice (hot chocolate or coffee...for now). After flying around Boulder about a mile above the ground (which is already a mile above sea level), taking in the amazing views of the mountains, and learning about the area for a couple hours, we made our descent into a field. Little did we know, our pilot would need our help in landing. There were twelve of us, not including the pilot, in our basket. Each of us who wanted to help had a task in helping steer us into landing and anchoring us to the ground when we got there. The chaser vehicles met us in the middle of a field and we helped pack the balloon and basket up into a trailer and rode back to where we took off. When we got back, we were greeted with pictures of ourselves that the pilot took along the way, as well as bags full of goodies, t-shirts, stickers, brochures, and...a bottle of champagne! If you ever get out to Colorado and want to experience hot air ballooning, I highly recommend this company! You can click on their name above to be redirected to their website (after you finish reading my blog, of course!).
The next day, mom and I went hiking through Rocky Mountain National Park, which was only five minutes from our cabin in Estes Park. A man and his wife were following us and kept offering to take pictures of us along the way so we didn't end up with all selfies and actually got some scenery too! This picture was taken at an overlook on the hike up to Alberta Falls (pictured below).
Alberta Falls is my favorite waterfall I've photographed. I love taking long exposures of them to capture the movement of the water as it spills over the rocks. Thankfully, the camera didn't pick up on the rain that was falling as I was attempting to take this picture. I braved the rain, however, with a ball cap on and a poncho over me and my backpack full of camera equipment. This waterfall was at the end of our hike, thankfully, because it started storming as we were headed back down. If you're hiking in the mountains and it starts thundering, head down IMMEDIATELY. The next day on the news, we watched a story of a couple killed by lightning near that very spot.
The next day of our trip, we went off-roading through the mountains with Rocky Mountain Rush. When on this adventurous, off-roading experience, you climb rocks in the jeep (and even yourself if you want to), fly through mud, and end up at a peak where you can see four different states on a clear day! The ever-so-stylish Frogg Togg outfits are indeed necessary if you don't want your clothes covered in mud and water throughout the trip. The jeep occasionally goes airborne and lands in mud puddles to try to get you dirty! It was an amazing experience, and one I'll never forget!
WARNING: DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, HIKE ON SNOW-COVERED MOUNTAINS IN TENNIS SHOES WITH FOAM ON THE BOTTOM INSTEAD OF TREAD. It was the most terrifying moment of my life. The hike up to Dream Lake (the first picture in this blog) was a very icy one. This was the beginning of the trail which ended up being only the width of my shoulders, completely covered in ice, and with no guard rails to catch you if you slipped. At one point, the skinny path was so slippery and narrow that we slid down on our butts so we didn't fall off the side of the cliff. Remember, this trip was mid-June, so we didn't think about the paths being covered still because the air temperature was in the 60s and 70s!
The last day of our trip was dedicated to exploring the national park in our car. We drove up the mountains to about 12,000ft until we were too nervous to drive any further because we were in the clouds and couldn't see past the windshield! However, the trip up there was absolutely gorgeous. When we got up to about 10,000 feet, we stopped to build a little snowman (this picture was taken after my mom accidentally smashed his head, and yes, that is her finger in the top of the picture).
If you're not as interested in adventures like hiking where you're inches from falling thousands of feet to your death, or hot air ballooning a thousands of feet ABOVE the surface, another thing you can do in Estes Park is visit the Stanley Complex. The Stanley Complex is notoriously haunted with paranormal activity, and people come from all over the world to experience its atmosphere. This property was the basis of the novel, and later movie, The Shining. Little did we know, we had been going to the grocery store all week that was on this property. At the time, I had no interest in paranormal investigations, so we didn't visit the hotel. The next time I go back there, I will definitely be investigating it with JT! PS- attached to the grocery store on this property is a pharmacy/liquor store 2-in-1. We thought that was really interesting!
Lastly, if you don't want to hike, fly in hot air balloons, go off-roading, or take part in paranormal investigations, the Colorado landscape is one of the most amazing things you can photograph in the United States! From the breath-taking views, to the rushing rivers, roaring waterfalls, and variety of wildlife, there's something for everyone. Don't forget your camera!
Location: Estes Park, Colorado
Service: Hiking, Hot Air Ballooning, Off-Roading, and more!
Price: Dependent upon what activities you do.
Website: http://www.visitestespark.com/