Ok folks, you cannot "do" Rocky Mountain National Park in one day. There is just too much to see, hikes to take and ranger programs to attend. But we did not have the luxury of time so we decided to take the loop road through the park before heading to the Denver Airport area in the evening. If you read my last journal entry you know that we suffered trailer brake failure on the way into Estes Park and no one in their right mind would tow a trailer on the Rocky Mountain NP loop road without trailer brakes so Leon spent time in the morning looking for the point of failure. He found a couple of things that were suspect; old taped up wires and a crushed wire but no smoking gun. We connected the truck and trailer and by some miracle our trailer brakes were now working so we decided to continue into the park with trailer in tow as planned. We gladly left the crowded, noisy, expensive RV "resort" and entered the park at the Fall River Visitor Center entrance and began the climb up the mountains passing through the treeline and into the alpine area. The drive was beautiful, breathtaking actually but we were saddened to see the extensive damage done to the park's trees by the Pine Beetle. 60% to 75% of the trees are dead or dying because of the beetle epidemic which ranges from Canada to Mexico. As we drove through the switchbacks with sheer drop offs with only stone railings I changed my mind and decided that no one in their right mind would tow a trailer of any size on the loop road. It was wicked scary at times! Not that Leon had any issues, our GMC HD2500 had no problem handling the thin air or pulling the trailer up the inclines and the trailer brakes worked flawlessly. I had the problem! I have a fear of heights and had forgotten how scary this road was when we drove it in a car back in the 80s, never mind driving it with a huge truck and 25' trail
er! My knees were knocking together! Anyway as we got into the alpine area we were thrilled to see herds of elk resting on the mountain sides near the road. We could not pull over to view them due the size of our TV & trailer combo (45 ft in leng
th) so I took pictures as we slowly drove past them. They were stunning to see! After a few hours of enjoyment and terror (on my part) we left the loop road and Rocky Mountain NP and headed east towards Denver as I had found a campground that was within a half hour drive from the airport for me to camp out at while Leon was back home. When we were about 30 miles away from our destination the sky darkened and the wind picked up big time. Our truck and trailer were being pushed hard by the wind so I turned on our CB to the emergency channel where we heard that a severe thunderstorm was approaching us with winds up to 58 miles an hour and golf ball sized hail. YIKES! Airstreamers hate hail! So we made the decision to pull off the highway and wait for the storm to pass through the area and after 45 minutes we were able to get back underway and we arrived at our new base camp before 5:00pm. I was tired from having been terrorized for a good portion of the day and didn't feel like cooking so we went out to a local chicken wing chain where the food was nothing special though I did down 3 Margaritas which helped to reduce my stress level.
Ok folks, you cannot "do" Rocky Mountain National Park in one day. There is just too much to see, hikes to take and ranger programs to attend. But we did not have the luxury of time so we decided to take the loop road through the park before heading to the Denver Airport area in the evening. If you read my last journal entry you know that we suffered trailer brake failure on the way into Estes Park and no one in their right mind would tow a trailer on the Rocky Mountain NP loop road without trailer brakes so Leon spent time in the morning looking for the point of failure. He found a couple of things that were suspect; old taped up wires and a crushed wire but no smoking gun. We connected the truck and trailer and by some miracle our trailer brakes were now working so we decided to continue into the park with trailer in tow as planned. We gladly left the crowded, noisy, expensive RV "resort" and entered the park at the Fall River Visitor Center entrance and began the climb up the mountains passing through the treeline and into the alpine area. The drive was beautiful, breathtaking actually but we were saddened to see the extensive damage done to the park's trees by the Pine Beetle. 60% to 75% of the trees are dead or dying because of the beetle epidemic which ranges from Canada to Mexico. As we drove through the switchbacks with sheer drop offs with only stone railings I changed my mind and decided that no one in their right mind would tow a trailer of any size on the loop road. It was wicked scary at times! Not that Leon had any issues, our GMC HD2500 had no problem handling the thin air or pulling the trailer up the inclines and the trailer brakes worked flawlessly. I had the problem! I have a fear of heights and had forgotten how scary this road was when we drove it in a car back in the 80s, never mind driving it with a huge truck and 25' trail
er! My knees were knocking together! Anyway as we got into the alpine area we were thrilled to see herds of elk resting on the mountain sides near the road. We could not pull over to view them due the size of our TV & trailer combo (45 ft in leng
th) so I took pictures as we slowly drove past them. They were stunning to see! After a few hours of enjoyment and terror (on my part) we left the loop road and Rocky Mountain NP and headed east towards Denver as I had found a campground that was within a half hour drive from the airport for me to camp out at while Leon was back home. When we were about 30 miles away from our destination the sky darkened and the wind picked up big time. Our truck and trailer were being pushed hard by the wind so I turned on our CB to the emergency channel where we heard that a severe thunderstorm was approaching us with winds up to 58 miles an hour and golf ball sized hail. YIKES! Airstreamers hate hail! So we made the decision to pull off the highway and wait for the storm to pass through the area and after 45 minutes we were able to get back underway and we arrived at our new base camp before 5:00pm. I was tired from having been terrorized for a good portion of the day and didn't feel like cooking so we went out to a local chicken wing chain where the food was nothing special though I did down 3 Margaritas which helped to reduce my stress level.
WHEW! First, I knew I shouldn't look at your blog after reading your Facebook status, I need to be working on CRM Business Rule updates. Did that little tidbit bring back a wash of wonderful memories for you? I didn't think so. Second, as I stated on Facebook, I'm so jealous of your travels right now. LOVE RV'ing (we had to sell ours a few years back and I'm still sick about it!). Third, fantastic narrative, I felt like I was right there with you, terrified and thrilling all at the same time. Oh how I wish I could have seen the herd of ELK, I'm sure it was spectacular! Keep up the travel log and yes, keep the doors locked while Leon is gone, in fact those barking dogs could be a saving grace, you never know!! :O) Take care, Julia
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