1 fish, 2 more badges, lots of mountains

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August 8, 2007

Today was a beautiful, clear, sunny day in the Mountains. This is what I remember of Colorado from when I was in college. The sky was a beautiful blue, with fluffy white clouds. Joe got up early with Ethan and Elise to take them fishing at Sprague Lake. We are determined to have them catch something. They all bounced out of bed at 6:30 am and ran out to fish. Ethan ended up catching a 1-pound Rainbow Trout but neither Elise nor Joe were so lucky.

Next, onto sight seeing. We drove the Trail Ridge Road and stopped along the way to sight see. Ethan and Elise are working on their Junior Ranger booklets, and we learned today about the four ecosystems in Rocky Mountain. When we traveled above the tree-line, it was clear that there was a much different topography. We visited the Alpine Visitor Center and learned all about what plants can survive above the tree-line. Some of these plants can have root systems that are 4 feet long! In addition, we also learned how the rocks come to the surface in the Alpine Tundra. They are pushed to the surface by expanding water when it freezes. This is why much of the rock looks like streams or river beds. The Rocks were very interesting, but it was freezing up there. We were all bundled up and Ethan and Elise were still cold.

We stopped at the Alpine Visitor Center and had lunch. Joe was feeling somewhat dizzy, so we stopped to let him rest for a bit. He drank some water and bounced right back. Ethan and Elise finished most of their Junior Ranger books.

We stopped at a few other spots on the way back to our campsite from the Alpine Visitor Center. Mainly, we were trying to find some rocks that Elise and Ethan could play on. We found a spot below the tree-line and the kids had a great time hopping from rock to rock and playing the “hot lava” game with Joe. Even Simone was in on it!

Last stop was Bear Lake. No-one really wanted to go, but since it was our only day to see the park we all bucked up and went. It was certainly worth it. You can drive right up to Bear Lake, and we walked a little bit around it. It is not remote by any sense, and there were lots of people there, but it is still a beautiful alpine lake. Back to the campsite for dinner and Joe and I played baseball with the kids and some other kids from the campground. It was a nice day at Rocky Mountain.

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