national park road trip. week 4.

Monday happened again. And with that Monday came a new national park. Well not entirely new as we had driven through it on the way to town to celebrate my birthday. But we'll pretend we're Grand Teton virgins. Don't look too far into that statement. If you do, you might find that Teton actually means something in French. Teehee.

Grand Teton National Park.

We arrive Monday morning and once again we have lost the race for tent space. Well we found a site, but at a campground that was quite far north and away from the "best" hikes. What can you do? At least there are people arriving in giant trucks at midnight setting up camp with a complete lack of regard for the hundreds of sleeping people around them. Yeah, that happened.

After setting up camp (at a very reasonable time so as not to disturb any of our neighbors), the looming storm broke open once again, as keeps happening. So instead of getting out on a nice afternoon hike, Wendy and I spent the day indoors, writing and reading and such, which was nice, but not what we really wanted to be doing.

Tuesday morning we woke up to head out for an 18 miler up Paintbrush Canyon, up over the divide, around Lake Solitude and back down Cascade Canyon. Our lofty aspirations were all for nought as the rain was still threatening and the kind gentleman at the gift shop strongly advised us not to do Paintbrush as the snow and ice is still a little too much for rookie mountaineers like ourselves.

So instead we head over to start a trek up Cascade Canyon before the storm cracks on our heads, because once again, a summer storm is looming. Jenny Lake and it's surrounding day hikes are comparable to a human zoo folks. Everyone and their moms and babies were out this morning. Hoards of people. Hoards. We were able to get up to Inspiration Point before it started raining. On the way back down, we whipped out our lovely emergency ponchos and raced down the mountain to spend the rest of another day inside. Boo.

Here are some moments we were able to capture when it wasn't so ugly and sad:

Wednesday morning we pack up and hit the road. On this day we will drive all the way across the lovely and quite barren state of Wyoming. And it will rain the entire time. It wasn't until we reached Laramie that I realized how few people call this state home. Laramie is where the University of Wyoming is, which still kind of boggles my mind. California has what, 37 UCs (hyperbole folks) and Wyoming has one UW. One. That's just bonkerz. Only half a million people live in the state of Wyoming. Almost 76 times that amount of people call my state home. Let me just pick my jaw up off the ground now. Laramie was a funny place with a truly memorable hotel experience. And not the good kind of memorable. Let me tell you about it...

So Wendy and I had sent out some mass couchsurfing requests to residents of both Laramie and Cheyenne, and when I say mass, I actually mean about 6, because as previously mentioned there just aren't that many people here, and even fewer willing to open up their homes to weary travelers like ourselves. With no positive responses by mid day, we decide to look into hotels. I find the cheapest one (naturally) and call to see if they have any open rooms, (along with this question I also inquire about the hot tub and indoor heated pool). The young lady on the phone confirms that yes, they have open rooms, and yes, the pool and hot tub are up and running. So we book that shit.

We arrive and set up camp, and almost immediately get into our swimsuits and head to the hot tub (I am totally and completely willing to subject myself to the over-chlorination at this point). Turns out we won't be able to dive in with the unmentionable bacteria breeding in these waters as both the pool and the hot tub are closed. I go raise hell with the receptionist to no avail. So Wendy and I take off to get dinner and vent about our situation. Found myself another dangerous drink special and went to bed a little less upset.

Only to wake up and have the 'upset' compounded twenty fold. Our roof is leaking, our bathtub drain doesn't work, and the dining room is closed so breakfast must be eaten either in your room or in the lobby (because the ceiling tiles in the dining room are falling down). Welcome to Wyoming. Wendy and I grab breakfast (times 3, yes I put several yogurts in my purse and we took an extra plate of pastries for the road) and head outside to sit in the sun and eat (but we are diverted by the cloud of cigarette smoke hovering outside the main entrance). Ya just can't win at the Ramada in Laramie, Wyoming. So we eat in the lobby, tension overflowing from all the unhappy guests. We attempt to express our discontent once more with the morning receptionist. She looks at us like we're stupid and proceeds to talk shit about us with her co-worker as we walk out the door. At least be a little more discreet with your gossip ya little brat.

So Wendy and I laugh it off and hit the road once more, with a pocket full of pastries and a purse full of yogurt. Rocky Mountain National Park, here we come.

A quick stop in Fort Collins gets us two beautiful lattes and a workbook for first time buyers on the housing market.

Yes, I'm seriously considering buying a house in Montana. This is my accountability in following through with the aspiration. And plus, it was a dollar.

From Fort Collins, we head into the park, as another storm looms overhead. Turns out the storm that rained down on us the entire drive through Wyoming also rocked the Rockies quite a bit. A lot of folks left the park because the storm was so bad. Lucky for us, we didn't have to lose another race for tent space.

We got into the park around 2 in the afternoon and were able to lock down a small RV spot for two nights.

 The view from our site wasn't too shabby either:

After setting up camp, we set out to run a couple errands (like buy firewood and postcards - two staples in national park land) and then we hit the trails, even though the clouds were slightly menacing. 

We ended up evading all rain but we did happen upon a bear (well sorta), more on that later. 

We did about 7 1/2 miles that afternoon and we saw several lakes, a few waterfalls, and we met a couple new friends. 

These two ladies here claim that we saved their lives. I suppose if they say so, I can tick it off my bucket list. They were just in front of us on the trail and as we rounded a bend we saw them running back toward us. At full speed. Wit dat ultra fear in their eyes. "There's a bear!" They shout at us. Wendy and I quickly pull out our bear spray, and the four of us approach the situation with caution. Unfortunately, I did not get to see the bear with my own eyes, but I did get to feel like a total badass with my bear spray cocked and ready, shouting at the likes of a death machine ambling around in the forest.

Friday morning Wendy and I set out for what will become the most epic day on the journey thus far. We originally wanted to climb Longs Peak but the weather just wasn't permitting, so instead we decided to hike 18 miles across the park.

We set out from Bear Lake just after 7am with our destination being Grand Lake. Literally across the entire park. And the only means of getting back to camp were either a) hiking all the way back, or b) hitch-hiking. We decided on the latter of course, with the belief that it would be quite easy to catch a ride considering there is only one road that goes all the way around the park.

The hike was pretty magical. Eighteen miles is a long way though. By the end of it we were dead of course, tired, hungry, grumpy, and of course, there is another looming storm.

Once we reached the Kawuneeche Visitor Center (don't ask me how to pronounce that because I don't know) we decided to ask the park ranger what our options were for food. He told us there is a whole town full of restaurants in Grand Lake, which is two miles away. Soooo…we decided to attempt hitching to town. And cars are blowing past us. It's only two miles, and no one was biting. We finally catch a ride from some older gentlemen (5 men in their 60's on a high school reunion 14 mile hiking expedition) who we had met earlier on the trail. They cram the two of us into their mini van and take us to Grand Lake. As soon as we enter the restaurant, the storm cracks open once again. Luckily, it dried up by the time we were finished eating (and making our nice cardboard hitching sign for the road home).

We leave the restaurant around 5ish and start walking. And holding our sign and thumbs up of course. So at this point we still thought we were inside the park, which as you can see, we are not. So while we are standing on the highway feeling hopeful that some like-minded national park visiting brethren of ours will take mercy on us, people are blowing past us, some even laughing as they drive by.

After about half an hour of this we decide to go by the gas station down the way to grab water and see if that might be a better place to catch a ride. I almost start crying on the way. I'm tired. Sunburnt. Stressed out. And the sun is setting.

Finally a young lady named Elizabeth pulls over to grab us. She is meeting up with her family for a weekend camping trip and she has decided to take us to the entrance to the campground where she will be staying. It's not much, but it's somethin'…so she gets us in the park. Which is what we desperately needed. We were feeling a little more hopeful at this point, because now we're in the park. NOW we are among our like-minded national park visiting brethren. But still, people are blowing past us, well not so much blowing now because the speed limit is 35 mph and there's a family of elk wandering around nearby that everyone is stopping for. Oh cool, stop for elk, but not for us, fine, I see how it is!!

So after another 20 minutes of this I decide to try and call a park ranger and see if we might be able to catch a ride that way. While I'm on the phone with an oh so lovely recording (you know how those conversations go) a gentleman pulls over for us. Our knight in shining spandex! Name's Jed, short for Jedaiah (people often stutter when they say his name - his joke, not mine, wish I could take credit for it) and he lives in Grand Lake, ya know, that town down the hill that we thought was all a part of the national park. Jed is on his way up the mountain to get some high altitude training on his road bike. Little did he know that his decision to pick up two weary women on the roadside would turn into a rather invigorating life conversation. Although Jed had every intention of leaving us at the top of the mountain, he didn't. As we came up over the ridge, the sun was setting, the conversation was rich, and all was well in the world (because I knew in my head as he started the descent, that his huge heart wouldn't let him leave us anywhere but at our car). So he drove and we talked. He made jokes and we laughed. Questions were asked, life was shared, and an hour and a half later we land back at my car.

What an adventure.

Here are some photos from the day:

Saturday morning we went out for one last hurrah in the park as it's Wendy's last full day on the trip. So we headed out for a short 3 1/2 mile jaunt around Bierstadt Lake before we hit the road for Denver.

Stopped for lunch in Boulder and arrived in Denver with enough time for a shower and a shave before it was time to head out for dinner and dancing. We got to spend some quality time with my lovely friend Katie as well. Katie and I did the teaching program together back in Santa Barbara. She now teaches second grade in Denver, among myriad other jobs. Crazy girl.

Sunday morning I took Wendy to the airport where we said our reluctant goodbyes and then I was alone.

Spent the day in Denver getting a haircut and a massage and pretending to be a real person again before  donning my mountain woman persona once more. Spent the night in Colorado Springs with a very dear friend and now about to hit the road for Great Sand Dunes National Park. Alone.

I'm not really concerned about the race for tent space on this one because guess what, it's Colorado's birthday! So if I can't get a spot in the national park, I can camp in a state park fo free!!

Peace out til next week folks!!