Anna, Jude and Santi loved helping with the campfire

On Friday afternoon we left from school to go camping in Rocky Mountain National Park with another family from school. We did the drive over Trail Ridge Road to Timber Creek Campground and arrived there about 6pm. The other dad had gone early to secure us a couple of camping spots and he also did us the great favor of putting up our tent.

The kids were really excited to go camping and it took them a while to get to sleep the first night. The stars were simply amazing, the most I have seen in many years. The first night there was no moon and it was a clear night so you could actually see the Milky Way.

On Saturday we went for a hike just a few miles down the road from the campground. But the weather was not good and we arrived to a deluge of rain and hail. After waiting it out for almost an hour we decided to give the hike a try. After about 45 minutes the rain was getting heavy so we decided to turn back. The kids were wet and cold and wanted to warm up. So, we drove to the town of Grand Lake which was just a few minutes away.

Riding the go-karts with Anna in Grand Lake

The rain cleared when we got to Grand Lake but we ended up spending the afternoon there. They had go-karts and putt putt golf so the kids were happy. Then it was back to our campsite where it had rained but thankfully it cleared long enough for us to have a good dinner and a night by the campfire.

Rocky Mountain National Park is renowned for its wildlife and as we were driving near our campsite we saw a small herd of elk. Then on Saturday night a fox came visiting our campsite looking for food.

Jude and Santi played football as we were packing things away.

Sunday it was time to pack up our campsite and head home. We went via Trail Ridge Road again and stopped at the Visitor Center there which is above tree line at almost 12,000 feet and had spectacular views.

On top of Mt Bierstadt – Jude conquers his second 14er

This morning Jude and I were up before dawn to do our second fourteener together. We left home just before 6am and headed to the Mt Beirstadt trailhead and hit the trail at 7:20am. It was a spectacular day with not a cloud in the sky. It was a little slow going early as there had been a frost the night before and everything was icy but within an hour most of it had melted and made the summit right at 11am.

Jude is definitely getting stronger as he was faster than on the way down after we got past the technical parts. And best of all he loved it. His favorite part: the view from the top (mine too). You really feel like you are on top of the world from the summit of a 14er.