Colorado: Day 4 (Land o' Lakes... and homesick!)

I have determined that from now on our vacations can only last 4 nights. I simply get too homesick and I miss the cats like crazy. Even though we had a fun day planned, I felt sad the minute I woke up and the feeling never really went away except while we were hiking. Thank goodness for hiking and nature!

The plan was to get up very early to make it to Bear Lake (in RMNP) before the crowds. On a Sunday in the summer, Bear Lake gets so crowded that the parking lots fill up and you have to park a couple miles away and take a shuttle. Since Paul and I hate people and prefer to hike without large crowds, an early morning departure was imperative. Paul was also going to bring his fishing rod because we knew there would be some other lakes on our hike where he could fish.

But things started to go wrong. As soon as we hopped in the car to leave (7:00am), I asked Paul if he had his fishing license. He didn't have it and it wasn't where he left it. He searched the car, our hotel room, and even the trash. No license. It sucked. I felt bad for him because I really wanted him to be able to fish. I was also annoyed because time was ticking away. Sigh. I was so homesick. I would have flown home that morning if possible.

I told Paul it was no big deal and we could get him another license later that day. He could fish tomorrow morning before he went to play disc golf. It wasn't like today was the only day he could fish. He was okay with that, so off we went to Bear Lake.

We rolled up to RMNP and there was a line to get inside. I started to get mad. Don't you hate when people at toll booths just talk and talk like they are telling their life story and end up holding up the line???

We made it into the park after about a 5 minute wait (I know, can you believe it? Freaking ruined my day.) and made the winding drive to the Bear Lake parking area. Luckily, it was not filled up and we wouldn't be dealing with any shuttles that day. By now it was almost 8:00am but there were a lot of people around.

It was just a few short steps to the beautiful Bear Lake. We walked around it (less than a mile) and just soaked in the beautiful scenery and the peacefulness. There weren't many people on this trail so it was extremely calming and peaceful.

Then we hiked to Emerald Lake. On the way you pass Nymph Lake and Dream Lake. Both were very pretty. As you got to Dream Lake, it started to get snowy. Some of the trail was covered with snow and some wasn't. As we got close to Emerald, everything was snow covered and the lake was mostly frozen.

Guys, this lake was like from a movie!

Oh, and see those almost vertical snow covered cliff walls? There were people climbing up them. Yup. They looked like little colorful dots on the cliff just slowly, slowly, slowly inching upward.

The hike back was a lot easier since it was downhill. It was getting really crowded on the trail at this point, so I was glad we got started when we did. There were lots of kids and even babies in back packs. Paul and I were laughing because all the kids were dressed in neon colors and so was I!

When we got back to the parking area, it was a SHIT SHOW. Tons of people, shuttle buses, kids (ugh, kids!!), the works. We were happy we were leaving and not arriving. For some reason when I got in the car, I was in a really foul mood. It had to do with being homesick, missing the cats, and being worried about my PF that plagued me for the last 3 days. This foul mood followed me around or the rest of the day.

As we left RMNP, we saw a bear frolicking in a field!

We were a little hungry and tired, so we stopped by a cute little coffee shop in Estes Park. We enjoyed coffee and a sandwich in between a pond and the roaring Thompson River. There were a lot of ducks napping by the pond. Seeing them made me miss the kitties!

Then we walked around the downtown area of Estes Park. It was pretty crowded, but we still had fun going in and out of shops and looking around. We got a couple gifts for people and then headed back to the hotel for much needed showers!

That evening, we had dinner at Smokin' Daves BBQ & Taproom. IT WAS SO DELICIOUS! If you are ever in Estes Park, I highly recommend this place. I had what was basically a Rachel sandwich but instead of turkey, it was made with SALMON! OMG this was the most delicious sandwich I ever had in my life! It totally made up for the horrible salmon I had our first night in Estes.

Bellies full, we went back to our hotel to crash. The next day would be our last full day in Colorado, and we wanted to squeeze as much in as possible!

How many days does it take for you to get homesick?
Have you ever been to Bear Lake or Emerald Lake?
Did you ever see a bear? (Not in the zoo.) This was my first time seeing one not in the zoo!