We spent two weeks in Colorado for our honeymoon. We circled the state during our first week and then explored Rocky Mountain National Park during the second.
Day 1: BWI -> DEN -> Denver Area
Day 2: Denver Area -> Colorado Springs
Day 3: Pikes Peak, Manitou Springs
Day 4: Garden of the Gods -> Mosca
Day 5: Great Sand Dunes National Park -> Mesa Verde
Day 6: Mesa Verde
Day 7: Mesa Verde -> Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park -> Grand Junction
Day 8: Grand Junction -> Estes Park
Day 9-14: Rocky Mountain National Park
Day 15: Estes Park -> DEN -> BWI
Day 1-2: Denver
Sat. 6 July, 2024
We stayed at my friends' house and explored Littleton, the Denver Tool Library, and Red Rocks Park. It was great seeing them and their adorable dog.
Denver tool library. They seemed familiar with Baltimore’s as well.
Red Rocks Park has some very red rocks, though we later determined that they were not the reddest in Colorado.
Day 2-4: Colorado Springs
Sun. 7 July, 2024
After saying goodbye to our friends, we drove down to our next stop. In the evening we walked around Tejon St. in Colorado Springs, which was somewhat quiet but had a lot of offerings.
The main drag in the neighborhood
The next morning we took the cog train up to Pikes Peak. I had not fully appreciated just how difficult breathing (or any physical activity, for that matter) would be at 14,115 ft.
At this altitude you are solidly above the clouds.
On a clear day you could see quite far.
Afterwards, we walked around Manitou Springs, hiked Red Rock Canyon, and explored Old Colorado City.
Manitou Springs had a lot of touristy shops.
Red Rock Canyon
Day 4-5: Great Sand Dunes National Park
Tue. 9 July, 2024
Garden of the Gods
We hiked Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs and then drove down to our yurt in Mosca, grabbing lunch at the Friar's Fork in Alamosa on the way. We hiked the Zapata Falls trail, which was a popular hike in hot weather, but we were rewarded with the freezing cold water from the falls. On our drive back to the yurt, we caught a glimpse of the sand dunes. It was very stormy, and we could see hikers getting caught in the rainy sandstorm.
If you look closely, you can see sand blowing off of the dunes.
The weather in Colorado is temperamental and very localized. We watched the storm from afar in the sunshine.
The yurt had an amazing sunset view.
The next morning, we hiked the dunes at Great Sand Dunes National Park under much more favorable conditions. There aren't really any marked trails because the dunes shift constantly due to the wind, so we walked up the dunes freely at our leisure.
It is tough to adequately capture the scale of these dunes. From a distance, the dunes look unremarkable in size against the towering mountains, but up close you realize that they are quite large.
Day 5-7: Mesa Verde National Park
Wed. 10 July, 2024
We left our yurt and headed for Mesa Verde. On the way, we enjoyed the public hot springs of Pagosa Springs and shopped for food in Durango. Our accommodations at the Far View Lodge, located within Mesa Verde National Park, afforded amazing views. In the evening we did a very short hike and attended a Park Ranger talk on clothing made by the local native people, who were evidently very resourceful. They used [literally every part of] the Yucca plant for multiple purposes, among other things harvesting their fibers for clothing and cordage.
The view from the Far View Lodge
The next day we went on a tour of the Balcony House. I was impressed that anyone built such cliff dwellings; they would be challenging to build even today. We later hiked Petroglyph Point Trail. We also met a family in the midst of a cross-country road trip, as well as a fellow Miata driver.
Balcony House
View from the Petroglyph Trail
Cliff Palace (not Balcony House)
I’m always excited to meet other Miata drivers.
Day 7: Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
Fri. 12 July, 2024
Without going into too much detail, a large number of people (including us) missed our Cliff Palace tour due to a serious miscommunication on the Park Ranger's part. We brushed that aside and continued onto Rico, which was a picturesque stop for lunch.
Rico
Lots of beautiful mountain views on our drive.
We made it to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in the afternoon. The canyon is impressive, over 2700 ft at its deepest point. It's no Grand Canyon (which I’ve yet to visit) but we were convinced that this park is an underappreciated gem. We took a steep drive to hike the East Portal trail, which we eventually gave up on due to thick growths of poison ivy. Though we would've loved to explore further, we had to leave behind the canyons for our overnight stop in Grand Junction.
Day 8: Estes Park
Sat. 13 July, 2024
We departed Grand Junction and its street cats for our friend's house in Estes Park, but not before grabbing some delicious peaches from Palisade and visiting the library at Glenwood Springs.
Glenwood Springs, another very nice touristy town.
We met up with our friends for lunch in Boulder, and then settled into the house. We ended our day with an evening drive on Trail Ridge Road, which offers stunning mountain views of Rocky Mountain National Park.
Mood shot
Day 9-14: Rocky Mountain National Park
Sun. 14 July, 2024
We saw so many deer everywhere. This was on a walk around our neighborhood.
More friends joined us and we took an evening stroll around the neighborhood. We were fortunate to have amazing mountain views from our house.
Yes, this was the view from the house.
We awoke the next morning to an incredible sunrise. We then hiked the Ute trail. It was very windy but we were rewarded with amazing views. Later we went to the Alpine Visitor Center and saw Elk in the distance. In the evening we took a sunset stroll around the house.
The clouds and tall mountains make for some dramatic lighting when the sun is low.
View from the Ute Trail
One thing this photo can’t tell you is exactly how windy it was.
View across the road from the Alpine Visitor Center
Large animals off in the distance. I never was good at identifying living things.
Lava Cliffs
Sunset view back at the house
The next morning, we did the Bear Lake trail. It was extremely popular, requiring us to wait in a long line to take a shuttle to the trail head. However, once we started hiking, the crowd seemed to thin out to a reasonable level. We hiked through three more lakes: Nymph, Dream, and Emerald Lake.
Nymph Lake
Emerald Lake
In the evening I watched the MLB All Star game in which Shohei Ohtani hit a three-run homerun as the National League lost 5-3 in Tungsten Arm fashion. I did briefly leave the game to grab some sunset photos, however.
The next evening we hiked up to Gem Lake. It was a fun hike, steep at times, with opportunities for bouldering. I was nervous at the end about ominous clouds rolling in, but we made it back down the mountain dry (and with dramatic photos).
Gem Lake
This tree kind of looks like an animal.
With ominous clouds rolling in, we quickly descended the mountain.
The next morning started with a sunrise stroll around Sprague Lake. This is definitely one hike that gives you amazing views for zero effort.
Our afternoon horseback riding session was canceled due to a hailstorm. Our friend’s car unfortunately got stuck in the mud on the way as part of the road in front of us had crumbled down the slope. Several very kind people helped us get out using a tractor.
On our last day, my friend and I hiked up to Chasm Lake. This was the most strenuous hike that I did on this trip. It is approximately 8 miles long out and back with an elevation gain of 2,500 ft and change. This may not seem like much, but these numbers belie the difficulty for those who aren’t fully acclimated to the altitude. Fortunately, having been in Colorado for nearly two weeks by this time, this ended up being a lot less uncomfortable than I’d feared. This was definitely my favorite hike on this trip.
Waterfall on the way to Chasm Lake
The greenery surrounding the stream had a striking color.
Chasm Lake. This photo really does not convey how massive these mountains (Longs Peak) are.
On our way back we actually saw some adventurous hikers start climbing the cliff face. We saw a guy fall, but of course he was properly equipped and was arrested by his rope and harness. Apparently it is possible to climb one’s way up to Longs Peak in this fashion. Imagine the hike to Chasm Lake being just the start of your day! You basically have to climb an additional 2,500 ft in a much more strenuous way.
We saw a Pika. They are very docile.
In the evening we took a stroll around Lily Lake. Lily Lake is another easy hike that affords mountain views as well as a variety of wildlife. It was an excellent way to cap off our Colorado trip.
Cute muskrat
This was an amazing trip to celebrate our marriage, spend time with friends, and enjoy the spectacular natural beauty of Colorado. Though we spent two weeks traveling, there were so many places we didn’t have time to see. Black Canyon of the Gunnison, in particular, struck us as deserving a lot more attention that it seems to get. I don’t think Colorado will ever get old, and I look forward to visiting again soon.