Our second morning waking up in Moraine Park Campground. The site yesterday was far better, but we still enjoyed being inside Rocky Mountain National Park again. This morning Scott made French Toast. We chatted with a couple from Quebec in a lovely small RV that looked like a converted van. It was amazing. The couple backed into their spot, hit a few buttons to level out the vehicle, and they were set up for the night. Same thing in the morning. They finished reading in the sun, hit a few buttons, and waved as they jetted off. I looked at Scott, “You and me. Thirty years from now.” Not that I don’t enjoy sleeping in a tent, but the convenience factor of a converted van is extremely tempting.

We drove along the Trail Ridge Road and stopped at many of the outlooks. As we gained elevation it was quite chilly. Brooke fought me about wearing her jacket at the outlook where we saw the marmots, but gave in and was glad she did. However, her strong character took over on the next “outlook” and she choose not to wear her jacket. The outlook turned out to be the Mountain Trail a small half mile hike each way with a two hundred and sixty foot elevation gain. Since the hike started at 12,000 feet we were all struggling to breathe.  We were hiking for about an hour and Brooke had nothing but a t-shirt on.  She kept begging for my jacket, but I just kept reminding her that I told her to put a jacket on before we left the van and she chose not to wear it.  I reminded her that I loved her, but that she made a choice.  I might have hugged her quite a bit on the walk down, but I tried to stick with the Love and Logic.

The kids loved watching and looking for the marmots.

It is so cold up here most of the year that a lot of the alpine plants contain anthocyanin, a chemical “antifreeze” that converts sunlight into heat.

Cody tired quickly, so he was very thankful for this rock just waiting for him.

When Cody took a break to sit, Brooke decided to take a break too.  Right in the middle of the path.

The Alpine Visitor’s Center is more than two miles above sea level. It is the highest visitor’s center in the entire National Park System. There are no utility or phone lines. They use a diesel generator to make electricity. Water is collected at a dam near the visitor’s center. Sewage is trucked out each day. There are logs on top of the visitor’s center that are attached to the building’s foundation.  There are hurricane force winds in excess of one hundred miles per hour up here during the winter, so in order to keep the roof from peeling off like a tin can there are logs on the roof.  The building hibernates for seven months of the year. Speaking of hibernating…  The marmot spends eight months of the year hibernating.  The marmot’s body temperature drops down to around forty degrees to conserve energy.

At the Alpine Visitor’s Center Scott started to get the itch to ride his bike down the mountain. After he asked around and got the thumbs up from a ranger he suited up. Scott rode his bike down the west side of the trail for 1 hour along 21 miles. He was going thirty miles an hour most of the way from the Alpine Visitor’s Center to the Kawuneeche Visitor’s Center.

I loved this quote we found at the Kawuneeche Visitor’s Center from a ranger

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After a look around the second visitor’s center we headed out for a mini tour of Grand Lake and stopped at the little market for some ice and bananas.

Our next stop was Green Ridge campground.  We went for a canoe ride on Shadow Mountain Lake for an hour.  There was a little bit of rain and a little bit of lightning and thunder.  Although Scott assures me that the lightning and thunder were far away in the mountains.  While in the canoe we saw an osprey.

We decided to stay the night at Green Ridge Campground right off of Shadow Mountain Lake. We had a dinner of cheeseburgers and green beans with a dessert of peaches.

I went for an hour bike ride and almost quite literally ran into a moose on my way back to the campground.  Thankfully a car came to take pictures of the moose while I scooted past.  While riding my bike along the main highway I saw a store that was doing its best to get business.  There were multiple signs in multiple colors in multiple locations.  The largest of which advertised liquor.  Then there was a sign for fried chicken and last but not least they served breakfast from 7 – 10am.  When I told Scott about it he asked if they did your laundry too.  Little towns are fun.

After my bike ride I took the kids to the one bathroom with running water to wash Cody up a bit.