Rocky Mountain National Park

“Going out there next Sept or Oct. I was wanting to know what it is like. Is it wild and wooley like I like 'em. Fishing? Inquiring minds want to know.”

“Jeffers just came back from there a montn ago. He had a great time and a super TR. Some of the BEST photos I've ever seen. I'm using one of his now as a wallpaper.
He is a wealth of info on that area.”

“Remember the thread name?”

“Here you go... I'm going to give this a try.

http://host1.in-motion.net/~jefft/mountains/rmnp/01_Wednesday/"TARGET="_blank">Wednesday

http://host1.in-motion.net/~jefft/mountains/rmnp/02_Thursday/"TARGET="_blank">Thursday

http://host1.in-motion.net/~jefft/mountains/rmnp/03_Friday/"TARGET="_blank">Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Hope this helps.”

“Thanks, and it would have helped but I'm not a climber. The pics rock though.”

“wolfsister

I don't have any pix to show you on-line (because I'm technologically behind) but my son and I went to RMNP this summer and had a great time.

We backpacked up to the tree line near Long's Peak and basecamped and then climbed Long's Peak the next day. It was incredible and we'll never forget it.

I wish that we had more time to spend in RMNP but maybe another time. We couldn't afford to fly so we drove from Baltimore. However, the drive across the midwest was beautiful. Good luck. When are you going?

danababy...thanks for those pix. They rem,ind me of my trip. Wallpaper..that's a cool idea.”

“Try and go after school has started, late September or October when the park is less crowded. If you go in October, you have to be prepared for snow up high. I lived in Boulder as a kid and loved to go up into RMNP in October.

Early October would be a good bet for the aspens changing too.”

“A bunch of Colorado people hang out here. Watch out, you could run into Tilt although I think he has pretty much forsaken it for this tarpit.

OAN Backpacking Forum”

“Where's stikmon? He has one (or two!) of his death-defying stories to tell on Rocky.”

“Here's a few pictures of the trip I took this summer with 2poops, aussie, & stonedhiker.
aussie is a super hiker and lady. She if you can talk her into going with ya!
I'm thinking about driving back next summer and doing Long's Peak with my nephews.”

“I spent a couple of days there summer of 2002. The rangers at the backcountry office are terrific and friendly. They will help you choose a backcountry hike and they even give you a free whistle.
The Ridge Road is wonderful, too. It travels to over 12,000 ft and there are a lot of hikes at stops along there.
I saw so many elk I got tired of taking pictures of them.”

“The western half of the park sees fewer visitors. I particularly like the section that includes the Never Summer Range all the way up to Little Yellowstone.”

“Anyone do hike/fish trip?”

“if your camping check out the walk in sites at aspenglen campground there great sites #5 is my favorite. for backpacking look at the mummy range, wild basin or lake granby area. less traveled trails and lots of wildlife.”

“awwww. non of the upper links work for me.....

”

“gimme a shout. I have loads of info on RMNP. As Lizs stated, I have backpacked in 4 distinct area over the past 3 years. The latest is Wild Basin Area. I bushwacked up Mertensia Falls and up to the divide and down an awsome drainaged to return unscathed...It was a hairy hike, but it was AWSOME! Last year I hiked Lawn Lawn Lake Trail in Oct and in July last year I hiked Lost Lake Trail.

All were spectacular, none were better then the other. I'd be happy to share info if you'd like. I have photos up on Webshots from each hike. here's links Lost Lake
Lawn Lake
Wild Basin

gimmee a shout.

and for future reference...I'll be back there in July of '04 too!”

“WLD, I rebuilt that whole site over the weekend...I'll let you know when it's up and running right.”

“Wild Basin has my vote. Now to figure in fishiing opps. And bear encounters!”

“Ya need to read the trip report from Wild Basin...and there is PLENTY of water to fish in.”

“I did a search on Wild Basin and got nothing.”

“Nice TR Stikmon. I noticed some interesting looking rock in picture p2260253. Do you remember where that is?”

“Oh boy now I'm gong to go craZy till it's time to go. Thanks for the most excellent TR.”

“I do remember where that rock is. I ain't NEVER gonna go back there agin either. Lets just say, that if that looks steep goin up, then its nothin compared to how steep it was going down. One misstep, one lost grip, one anything, and Id'a been ded! It was 800' slide, STRAIGHT down to that lake that I took a photo of! There was NO trail that I followed for a 24 hour period! It was awsomely frightening. A real heart thumper. I had a BLAST!!! I could easily point that out on a map for ya. Do you have a topo of RMNP? It was just above Frigid Lake and Moomaw Glacier, near the Cleaver. REAL HAIRY place.

You know what...now that I look at the stupid Map and have learned to use it better since. I now realize that I was in the right place. I just never struck the trail, It was always to my left. I stayed with Upper Ouzel Creek and followed it, instead of going for the trail....DUH!!!

Anywho...I did it, thats all that matters.”

“Been there myself. It can be damn hard to spot a trail on sloping terrain even when you're only a few yards off of it. Think the trail would have made an approach easier? Or was the rock in the steep sections protectable with climbing gear? Those slabs look very enticing and unless the runout zone is below and out of your pictures there doesn't seem to be much talus. As bad as talus can be to hike up, I've noticed that big talus fields usually indicate a face that rains rock regularly. Did you notice much rockfall while you were up there or was it pretty quiet?”

“I know what u mean about "awesomely frightening". I climbed the talus slope of Red Mtn. (Never Summer Range) and coming back down was one of the most terrifying things I've ever done. It sure makes the heart race to have the talus under your feet shift a little, and know that if it goes the whole slope will start going and you're screwed! I've never concentrated on anything so hard as getting off of that mountain.”

“To me crossing talus is like carrying a load of socks back from the dryer. You have to hold yourself up to start with, but you also have to hold the whole pile together with only two hands (and two feet, in the case of talus).

Except when you drop a sock it doesn't grind your whole leg off like a wet piece of spaghetti.

:-)”

“but I kept it inside my butthole. There were a few moments that I thought that I was gonna die...hehehe...

The only falling talus, was what I made fall...and it kept on a goin for quite a bit. TRAIL?!?!?!?! hahaha...there was no trail...the only way to get up to the divide was cross country. The ranger said it would be difficult and potentially dangerous, but managable.”

“Been there too. On the good side, you know the wind isn't going to take your shirt tail out. Have to look good for those summit shots and all.”

“I took one of myself on the Divide...cool. I pissed on both sides...LOL”

“Just spent most of my weekend pondering over a map of the Rocky Mountain NP.
I am planning 2-3 days of backcountry camping for me and two friends from Denver. I want to find us a place that's a bit away from the crowd and have been looking either at the Wild Basin or Cow Creek/Black Canyon area. Both have lots of camp sites.
Probably we're going end of August/September.

- will it be neccessary to make a reservation for a camp site?
- are all sites equipt with a bear-proof pully system or do we have to take plenty of rope with us (to lasso the local bear and tie him to a tree, away from our food)?”

“will it be neccessary to make a reservation for a camp site?

yes. if im not mistaken, its free, altho its a bit steep to actually get in the park

are all sites equipt with a bear-proof pully system or do we have to take plenty of rope with us

i dont know if any have the pulley system like they do on the georgia AT (which i love, btw), but some, but not all, campsites have locking bearboxes. when you make your reservations over the phone, you can ask the ranger if the ones youre requesting have them. i think theyre in the process of getting bearboxes at all the sites, and more do than dont. then again, its been 3 1/2 years since ive been there, so maybe they all do now

to lasso the local bear and tie him to a tree, away from our food

haha cute. and then ride him down the trail, yes?”

“Euro Hiker I would suggest going to lost lake. We where out 4 days (3 nights) and after the 1st (and only for the first 2 hours) day we didn't see a sole untill we got back. Reservations were not needed we walked in to the Backcountry office and got our campsites. We went at the end of August begining of Sept. You can hang your food or use a bear canister as they will be needed.

Here is a link to our photos.
”

“Get a reservation.”

“Stovey,
The north eastern part of the park isn't to popular. In order to get to lost lake you have to hike through 2-3 miles of National forrest first which seems to keep people away”

“hey stove, when we were there, werent there bearboxes 3 out of the 4 nights?”

“An Army Ammo can is not what I consider a Bear Box.

We hung our food for the most part.
last edited: 2/12/07 1:01:57 PM”

“Flasher, if I was flying across an ocean to go somewhere, I would dang sure make a resevation, LOL.”

“An Army Ammo can is not what I consider a Bear Box.

its a box, and the bears couldnt get into it. good enough for me. i was thinking we had the ammo boxes all but the last night”

“Gotcha Stovey Guess I could have put that together "Euro"


Duh to me”

“http://travel.webshots.com/album/84313610lQgPCq

http://travel.webshots.com/album/84313778ZmJymI

http://travel.webshots.com/album/84313836GuwqpY”

“I would highly recommend a reservation. Last time I went they were 20 bucks. I've only been on 3 backpacking trips in the Park(Arrowhead lake/Sandbeach lake/Timber Lake) And I have yet to see any kind of bear cannister/box provided at the campsite.”

“I second what flasher said about the northern part of the park being less crowded, but my experience has taught me to get reservations for any backcountry site that time of year to be safe. One year, I tried to get a site out on a moment's notice in August and was told the closest site was an 8 mile hike in. At 6PM, that wasn't welcome news. :) Anything along the main roads is likely to be very crowded. Your best bet might be the North Fork or North Boundary Trail.”

“Hey Crash, I was hoping I could post one of my pics, that would have been commenting on: "and then ride him [the bear] down the trail, yes?”...lol. That would be fun. Unfortunately my picture posting function is totally screwed...sigh.

Nice photos. I definetly want to go there and do backcountry camping! I am still looking at the Wild Basin area. It seems to be fairly accessible and has more woodland compared to other areas in the park? I so much love walking through woodland.”

“Joe Walsh is 60 today. Happy Birthday Joe!




Rocky Mountain Way

Spent the last year
Rocky Mountain way
Couldn't get much higher
Out to pasture
Think it's safe to say
Time to open fire

And we don't need the ladies
Cryin' 'cause the story's sad
'Cause the Rocky Mountain way
Is better than the way we had.

Well he's tellin' us this
And he's tellin' us that
Changes it ev'ry day
Says it doesn't matter
Bases are loaded
And Casey's at bat
Playin' it play by play
Time to change the batter

And we don't need the ladies
Cryin' 'cause the story's sad
'Cause the Rocky Mountain way
Is better than the way we had”

“Nice one Roam Around. If I ever decide to do this hiking/backpacking thing you people keep talking about I should join you guys.

”