Bill and Glen's Annual Harley Ride 2012 Part VII Trail Ridge Road

The bus ride from downtown Steamboat Springs, Co to the Steamboat Inn was very uneventful. We thanked the hostess for being a gracious host and wished a good day to her. We got the bikes started got ready to go, pulled across the street turned them off and had lunch.
We turned south on highway 40 from the Holiday Inn parking lot and accelerated to highway speed. My assumption regarding traffic yesterday on highway 40 being the same today was not a reality. The scenery was good but I knew what was in front of us and this really couldn't compare. This was a return trip for me so I was rather shocked at the amount of change that had occurred in Grand Lake and Granby. A lot of commercialism has come to this area.
In the early eighties my father, cousin, uncle and myself spent one week a year, for five years, backpacking across Rocky Mountain National Park. We would spend a day and night in Estes Park. Go to the trail head for Fern Falls shoulder the packs and start walking. The campgrounds were places like Fern Lake, Odessa Gorge, Joe Mills, Flattop, Fourth of July and a couple I can't recall. The whole trip was roughly 34 miles and took 7 days with a day off somewhere in the middle to lounge or explore the area. Some of the best memories I have with my family occurred on these week long treks. Rocky Mountain National Park contains so many places that need to be explored by hiking into the back country that a lifetime of weeks wouldn't be enough. Places like Emerald Lake, walking the divide on Flattop, the Little Matterhorn, Odessa Gorge and many others are not visible from the roads in the park. Life above treeline is minuscule and struggles to maintain any identity at all. We've hiked in June when crampons, lead ropes and ice axes were required. July can bring sleet, snow, rain and packed snow fields which could definitely delay a flat lander from Oklahoma. RMNP is one of those places I could spend the rest of my days on walkabout exploring the crags and crevices of this amazing place.
We arrived at the park entrance, paid our entry fees, by the way motorcycles are half the price of cars touring National Parks. Jim also proved the point that a National Parks Pass can pay for itself on one trip. Jim's entrance to all the National Parks and Monuments let him ride right on through, no charge.
The ride across RMNP on trail ridge road is one of those must do rides. We stopped at almost every pullout, Glen was the camera man and took a bazillion pictures. My camera had quit on me, my fault but a different story altogether. We had a family tell us about 500 yards ahead of us a moose was resting in the trees on the north side of the road. We proceeded cautiously. coming around a corner we figured out exactly where the moose was. There were cars parked on both sides of the road, people walking everywhere. Rangers with signs advising motorists to proceed slowly. We didn't stop. There were people standing on top of people trying to get a picture of the moose. I'm sure they all wanted the picture to reflect a lonely encounter with a moose in the great RMNP. That photo was not to be.
As you motor on, then stop at each pullout you end up leap frogging groups for the whole journey. The jumping back and forth actually works in your favor as familiarity brings conversation. Warm clothes were a must. Rain wear wasn't a necessity as much as it was a luxury. We didn't hit much rain but rain wear also acts as a wind barrier which was very nice at the higher elevations. There really isn't much to explain regarding the vistas and scenery that enters ones eyes on this road. I'll just say you can see forever and the curvature of the earth is remarkable up here. There were places where the clouds floated beneath your feet. You won't say that very often in a lifetime. The myriad of peaks touching the sky would take days to count. We really didn't spend much time in the park but I recommend we do it again, but bring the families in a suburban or similar cage. There are lots of things to see even from pavement access. Bear Lake comes to mind and offers the easiest trails in the park for multiple trial access. Fern Falls is an easy hike through a really cool boulder field and the falls is a nice place to enjoy a bottle of water and a good sandwich but whatever you pack in pack it out too. Fall river road is the place to view a lot of wildlife in the park. A hike to Long's Peak either the top or the base is a long hike best started before daylight. The reward for your effort will burn images in your mind for a lifetime. Bug spray is a necessity. Take the time to explore, it's a beautiful place.
As we descended to lower elevations we stopped at the Estes Park Entrance ranger station to inquire about camping sites available in the park. The rangers directed us to Moraine Park Campground. We rode to Moraine Park ranger entrance to inquire about the sites he had left. None with electricity. Yes, they had a bear in the campground the night before. The bear broke into a car to forage some food. Not much food in a Harley but the tent may be a different story. Not an encounter I want to experience. We made a phone call, KOA met our challenge and provided a great campsite with electricity. It's time to throw a plug for KOA. They seem to be franchised with some very defined guidelines and rules. The cabins are nice, the showers are always clean. The laundromat has new equipment. The owners offer pizza in the evenings and sometimes homemade ice cream. A movie plays every evening, some have pools some don't. The best part is they were always right where we needed them with friendly faces.
We cruised through Estes Park, a major tourist town headed to the east side of town in search of the KOA. We got checked in, motored over to the site and began to set up camp. You can always count on Glen to add a twist of humor and get everyone around us laughing. We pull up, turn off the bikes but without dismounting he looks at a family of campers from Kansas and asks if they are a bunch of loud, drinking party types. The mom/wife looks at him with  a startled expression and says "No, but we can be!". We almost fell off the bikes laughing. Her daughter was laughing, her husband started grinning and Glen responds with a "well... would you please try to keep it down tonight!" Busted a gut, fell out right there in the corner site of the Estes Park KOA. Talk about tearing down stereotypes, that did it. We finished making camp. Walked to the front of the park and caught the bus into town.
The bus driver was a blond haired 40ish young lady who had ridden a Harley till someone in a cage looked right past her as they pulled out in front of her. End of story. No more motorcycle and quite a few doctor's bills. She said she didn't really have the heart to get back on one yet. Maybe some day.
We went to Ed's Cantina for dinner. Good food but again I'm no food critic. Glen and Jim would be more suited to food evaluations. We finished dinner and began a slow walk through the heart of town. Ice Cream, oh yeah. Glen and I walked through the door and both girls knew we were there to purchase and devour. I think I had an old fashioned cone filled with something called Marble? Memory doesn't favor me with the official name of it. The girl behind the counter said she heard it was good but she hadn't tried it yet. I responded with a comment similar to how can you sell something you haven't tried? She immediately snagged a spoon filled it to full and proceeded to sample the ice cream I was intent on purchasing. She sold me with the raised eyebrows and the Mmmmm that followed. Done! Sold! That's the flavor I want. I lost track of whatever had distracted Glen and enticed him to part with a portion of his budget. If you're ever in Estes Park the ice cream shop was about a block west of Ed's Cantina on the same side of the street. We walked the entire length of downtown visiting several shops and enjoying the fiesta of people walking by. Edit: The coolest sight in Estes Park was a bust of Julius Caesar wearing a Harley Davidson necklace!

Another item of interest would have to be the geology shops. The windows of these places were filled with fossils, agates and things that existed long before we entered the picture. It is astonishing to me to be able to hold a fossil, once a living creature, who'se detail and shape was so enchanting it had become preserved in stone for us to view and wonder what it's story was. Every thing and every person has a story. Really amazing places.
The bus ride took us to a place I had completely forgotten. The Stanley Hotel. The Stanley Hotel is truly an amazing place. We didn't take the time to explore the place but one of it's claims to fame is Stephen King wrote "The Shining" while residing as a guest at The Stanley Hotel.
By the time we had climbed back on the bus and greeted our favorite bus driver we were pretty much wore out. The neighbors could have thrown the party of the millennium and it wouldn't have fazed me at all.
Hello eyelids, my old friends...
Next Post: "breakfast, tunnels, broken rules and crazy signs"