August 10, 2010

August 10, 2010

This morning we drove a half hour up into the foothills of the Rockies following a stream-cut gorge. Our destination is Estes Park. This cute town is surrounded by beautiful mountain vistas. As soon as we entered the town we passed a riding stable. I am reading Lonesome Dove, a western tale about cattle drives, so I quickly pull over and arrange a two-hour trail ride for us. It turns out to be quite nice. Our guide takes us on horseback up into the pine-forested hills above Estes Park. The scenery looks straight out of the TV show Bonanza. The horses though are a little too well trained for me. There is no steering involved. They follow the horse ahead like they are glued together. After an hour of pulling back on the reins I manage to convince my mount to stay more than two inches back from the horse ahead. They must mix beans in with the horse feed because Aimee’s horse had a bad case of gas.

To walk off our saddle sores, Aimee and I did some window-shopping for an hour along Estes Park’s main street. After lunch we left town and took a short cut thru Rocky Mountain National Park. It turned out to be a long cut. Since the route goes over a 12,000-foot pass, the drive is very slow. Plus the road was blocked for construction in several places. No problem. I was happy to trade the time lost for the great mountain scenery.

By late afternoon we passed to the western side of the park and spent the night in a National Forest campground high on a hill. We have an unobstructed 180- degree view of a large lake below and majestic mountains on the other side. Simply stunning!