If there was one state I’ve been wanting to revisit for a while, it would be Colorado, so I decided to book a last minute flight to Denver this past weekend. I last visited Colorado in 2013 on my high school senior trip. I didn’t have a smart phone back then, so my pictures all turned out to be terrible. And I was really just starting to get into traveling back then, so I didn’t document everything like I do now. It has also bothered me for a while that I didn’t get a chance to visit Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) while I was there, so that was my main priority when visiting this time.
The days leading up to the trip, I paid attention to the weather forecast as it showed that there would be thunderstorms all weekend, which is very rare for Denver, considered one of the 10 driest cities in the United States. I was worried that it might affect my time in RMNP considering how close the park is to the lightning during these storms. (Not joking- there have been many deaths because of this). I was also unsure of the timing of my visit to RMNP because they had just started requiring timed every reservations to enter the park for the busy months, and I wouldn’t be able to reserve my spot until the night before. I took off and actually reached my 90th flight on the way to Denver.
After arriving in Denver, my first priority was to make it to my hotel, and then I explored the surrounding area because it was right next to the hotel where I spent my high school senior trip. Then I took an Uber into downtown Denver where I would explore the city on foot. My first stop was Denver Union Station. This old train station has been in continuous use since the 1800s, and the building itself has been there since 1914. The architecture is beautiful, and it’s a very nice place to come relax and hang out. There are multiple shops and restaurants inside, and I tried Milkbox Ice Creamery where I got Banana Brulee and Blueberry Basil ice cream, which was great!
After spending time there, I started walking along 16th Street Mall, a long pedestrian street cutting through downtown. This is an awesome place to visit too, and it makes Denver one of the most walkable big cities in the US. The energy of 16th Street Mall reminded me of a mix between New Orleans’ Royal Street and Rue Saint Paul in Montreal, except more modern and less crowded than both. There were a lot of performers out, and there are a ton of random attractions. The architecture here is beautiful as well, and there are many shops and restaurants to check out. The energy here is exciting while being family friendly, and smoking is not allowed, which is a major plus.
I also checked out nearby Larimer Square, but I wasn’t nearly as impressed with it. It’s still very nice though. I then tried an empanada from Lazo Empanada, which was very good, but my main goal for dinner was to make it to Biker Jim’s Gourmet Dogs. I walked across the city to reach it, and it did not disappoint! It’s known for its gourmet hotdogs made from unique meats with interesting toppings as well. I tried the Rattlesnake and Rabbit hotdog topped with Harissa roasted cactus, Malaysian curry jam, scallions, cilantro, and onions, and it was amazing! It’s probably the best hotdog I’ve ever had.
When 5:00 came around, I had to book my reservation for RMNP the next day. I was on the website right at 5, and signed up for the 9:00 entrance time, which had 94 spots available. Then the website glitched on me and kicked me out. When I got signed back in 30 seconds later, it was sold out! I hate reservation.gov, which is the website the National Park Service uses for reservations, tickets, etc. for all National Park properties. It did the same thing to me in Zion last year too, and it’s just very inconvenient and frustrating to use. At this point, the earliest I could get was 4:00 pm, and the NPS doesn’t make exceptions, so I knew I couldn’t get in any earlier. After hanging out at Union Station a little longer, I headed back to the hotel to re-plan the following day. Originally, the plan was to spend the entire day at RMNP, but this clearly wasn’t possible considering I wouldn’t get in until 4:00. That’s when I realized that the drive to RMNP would take me right through Boulder, Colorado, and I decided that’s where I’d want to go while waiting.
I woke up early the next morning and took an Uber to pick up my rental car. (It would have doubled my daily cost to add a day to my car, so I only booked it for Sunday and Monday). After picking it up, it started raining and never really stopped. Even though the weather wasn’t ideal, I still headed up to Boulder. I first headed to the mountain village of Eldorado Springs. It’s a very charming small town with a speed limit of 10 through the entire place. But it’s located right on the edge of Eldorado Canyon. This is a beautiful place and was a nice surprise, considering I knew nothing about it before showing up. It’s popular with rock climbers because of its challenging climbs, but it has some hiking trails too. After this I headed to Boulder Falls, which was my favorite thing about Boulder. It’s definitely a place to check out when in the area! I also attempted to see the Flatirons, but due to the weather, this was not possible as visibility was very low at this point.
I finally headed up to Estes Park, the town right outside RMNP and waited for my time to enter the park. I tried to sneak in at 2:00 but was kicked out. Luckily I wasn’t completely bored because there were some elk nearby that I was able to watch for a while. Then I found out that they would start letting people without reservations in the park at 3:00, so I jumped back in line and this time was successful at entering my 11th national park. I immediately headed for Trail Ridge Road, the highest fully-paved road in the United States. I wanted to make it to the top, which is over 12,000 feet in elevation, but unfortunately due to the weather, I was informed that it was cut off at Rainbow Curve Overlook. I still wanted to see what I could of Trail Ridge Road, so I decided I’d go as far as possible.
I eventually came across the first overlook, called Many Parks Curve Overlook (because you can see many parks). Unsurprisingly, there was no view because I was in the middle of a storm cloud. All I saw was white in every direction. So I kept driving higher up the mountain. Soon, as I continued to reach higher elevations, it started to snow. And it didn’t take long before I was in the middle of a huge snow storm. It was violently coming down, making visibility even lower. I kept pushing through this snow storm until I finally reached Rainbow Curve Overlook, where the road was cut off. This became the highest elevation I’ve ever reached at just under 11,000 feet. And normally the views from the top are great, but again, I saw nothing. I headed back down the mountain and explored a couple other places for a while until I decided to visit Bear Lake.
When I eventually reached Bear Lake, I was blown away by how beautiful it was, especially in a snow storm! It looked like a place that was plucked right out of a Christmas movie! I had never seen a place this wintery before, and it was especially amazing considering this was summer. I mean, it was perfect! I stayed here, staring out at this lake for a while until the weather started clearing up. I did attempt a small hike here but quickly realized I have no business trying to walk in a foot of snow without proper equipment and had to turn around. Since the weather had cleared up, I decided to drive up Trail Ridge Road again to see the views when there aren’t clouds in the way. When I reached Many Parks Curve Overlook again, I was amazed at how incredible the view was that I missed out on earlier due to weather. Then Rainbow Curve Overlook was even more impressive! I’m so glad I took the time to revisit these spots once the skies were cleared up!
The next morning, I didn’t have much time before having to get to the airport, so I headed about 30 minutes away to Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater. It’s a cool place to stop just outside Denver, and there’s a nice hike there where I saw some mule deer and rabbits. It’s actually located at the point where the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains meet, so the views were unique. Overall, I had a great time in Colorado, and it was a nice break. I’m glad I finally had the chance to return and visit RMNP, and this was by far the highlight of my time there. Thanks for reading!
Tyler's Travels 