Not a terribly busy day, which again, was rather nice. Got some photos processed, a blog entry or two done and the rest of my laundry. Took Roxy (Scott and Sarah’s dog) out to the dog park and did some shopping at the Commissary.

We ended the evening with a trip to Rooster’s in Layton, a local microbrewery. Pints were a little over $4 each, which is a bit of a difference compared to the KBC’s $2.50. I also encountered a silly Utah law, apparently if you’re sitting at a place that serves alcohol, you have to have food in front of you if you are not at the bar. (Oh, and only two servings in front of you at a time.) Quite the difference from Michigan. (What does this tell you about Utah’s culture?)

Well, so much for a day of catching up on posts and pictures. Today turned out to be busier than I was expecting, which is actually nice. Scott gave me a tour of the base, Sarah and I ran some errands, watched Prince Caspian again and then we went out to a Stone Temple Pilots concert. A fun day, a really good concert, though I’m feeling older than I am, since around 11pm I was hoping the concert would just end so I could go to bed.

To be honest, Utah isn’t as bad as I was expecting. We’ll see what tomorrow brings, maybe I’ll get around to catching up then.

Luckily for me, I found out that the Park Service opened Trail Ridge Road (it runs through the park over the mountains) yesterday afternoon and since my legs and knees decided to give out on me from all the hiking, I figured it was a good time to drive that road and head for Utah to see my brother and his wife. It was an absolutely gorgeous section of highway, and was really the only highlight of the drive today. There’s not a whole lot going on in western Colorado and the section of Utah I drove through. (I did however, confirm the stereotype that every ranch has a sign erected over the road leading into it proclaiming its name.)

Tomorrow I’ll work on backfilling posts and processing photos. Maybe I’ll get out and see the base too.

Travel Distance: 498 miles

So, I had big plans last night when I went to bed. I wanted to hike the 4 miles to Lawn Lake and see Bridal Veil Falls as well. But… I woke up in the morning after a fitful night’s sleep in the below freezing weather sore and without energy. After an hour’s hike down to my car (you move a lot slower when the terrain is difficult) and a breakfast of pop-tarts and dry Cheerio’s knock-offs didn’t do a whole lot to improve my mood. But, I had to press on. My first stop was the Alluvial Fan waterfall that I stopped at yesterday afternoon. While I was waiting for people to clear out so I could take a picture, a trio of bighorn sheep appeared, which of course, required a series of pictures to be taken.

By this point, I was feeling better and was looking for a shorter than 12 mile hike to Bridal Veil Falls; as I found out though, the only apparent easy way to get there is via a private road. So, that was put off and I headed to Alberta Falls. A short hike while keeping my eyes open for a missing child later and I got a couple excellent shots. At that point it was again time to head back to camp and the painful 2.5 mile walk back to camp.

Made it to Rocky mountain National Park this morning and planned out a couple days along with getting my backcountry camping permit (I’ve got a campsite 2.5 miles from the trailhead with a 1000 ft elevation gain along the hike). I also scoped out several of the sights along the roads (several panoramas and a herd of elk). I also did a quick hike along the alluvial fan fan trail and found a waterfall that I’m going to head back to and photograph tomorrow. By the time I finished up it was 6pm. A quick dinner made up of ramen noodles (carbs is all I’m after really) and it was time to start the hike up the trail and set up camp. Sunset was at 8:30 and I’ll be asleep shortly.

Travel Distance: 115 miles