Life with the Green's: Rocky Mountains and Pikes Peak

Upon leaving the Black Hills area we headed south to Estes Park, Co., at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. We absolutely loved this town! It was not huge but had everything you needed plus the scenery and climate was fantastic. There was absolutely no humidity hear! While there we rented a two bedroom condo which offered beautiful views of the mountains. It was nice to have the room to spread out and catch up on laundry as well. I was able to take some gorgeous photos of the kids. I knew that the pond and bridge would make a great background for a photo, so we headed down only to discover a herd of Elk were grazing on the side of the pond. One day of hiking was spent heading to Mills Lake. We originally just planned on hiking around 3 miles but when we heard about the lake at the end of the trail we kept going. It ended up being about a 6 1/2 mile hike round trip. The kids did fantastic though. We took lots of breaks to catch our breath and to drink lots of water. The view of Mill's Lake was gorgeous. At bedtime that night Emily asked after we said her prayers if we could just hike around 3 miles the next day. Too cute! Another day we mostly drove on the Old Fall River Road, a one way gravel road that is only opened from about June-October that climbs to about 11,000ft and has no guard rails. Along this road we got to see the Yellow Bellied Marmot. I was full of switchbacks and sheer drops offs to sometimes both sides. It was a beautiful but no relaxing drive! This road connected up to the main road at the Alpine Visitor Center. This is where the kids got to get out and see snow in July! We walked on tundra and marveled at the beautiful little flowers and gazed at the elk grazing in the tundra.

After leaving Estes Park we took a long drive through the Rocky's, crossed over the Continental Divide and arrived in Pikes Peak, Co. I think that Pikes Peak must be a neat town but to be honest I think anything you do at the end of a vacation just isn't that great as you are finally ready to get back home. I think this is what happened with Pikes Peak. While there we made the 18 mile drive up Pikes Peak, elevation around 14,000 ft. We spent only about 20 minutes up there as we started feeling a bit light headed. It offered some beautiful views of Colorado. Before heading home we drove through the Garden of the gods. I wish we had went earlier in the day before the heat set in as it was just beautiful. Maybe another day we will have the opportunity.