Day 14: Glenwood Springs to Loveland via Trail Ridge Road #fiveexplore #travellingduringcovid19

Day 14 – July 30th

Today we awoke at 7000ft, rose to 12000ft, and fell asleep at 4500ft. Airplanes experience less changes in altitude.

Back in our hotel room, frayed nerves spilled over and tension increased without Roblox, Facebook, Instagram, or WhatsApp. After days of intermittent Wi-Fi and patchy cellphone coverage we hoped our return to the ‘developed’ world would herald reconnection to the digital one.

Thanks to our rescheduled Rockies visit we had a morning to kill. The key local attraction was Glenwood Hot Springs known as the ‘Spa of the Rockies’. This is the largest mineral hot spring pool in the world (-over one million gallons of water). You cannot book in advance so we (just) got their early enough to luxuriate in a 93f gigantic swimming pool and a 104f therapy pool. There was also a slow lazy river chute type ride and a splash zone for kids.

The attention to detail on COVID was impressive. They limited people entering the pool, every lifeguard wore masks and people queuing for the rides were asked to social distance if they were too close together. I felt tempted to give them the number for our Wisconsin Dells resort to advise how to stop super-spreading COVID-19.

The only blemish on the morning was when our three-year-old decided to enter a pool without her life jacket. You could call it over confidence but given she can’t swim, she sank. Sarah and Zaria quickly extricated her, and she emerged spitting water and coughing. The young lifeguards seemed ignorant to this whole episode. Fortunately, Alaina carried on having fun on the slides.

We treated the girls to a Subway and joined the engineering marvel that is the i-70. Tracking alongside the Colorado river the highway splits, elevates, disappears into tunnels and effortlessly navigates the mountain landscape. Next to us a plethora of rafts carried thrill seekers down the river currents.

Suddenly we were ascending several thousand feet. The car engine let out a shrill whirring sound as it struggled to lift us up the hill. At the highest point, near Vail (-a ski resort,) we were 10,666ft above sea level. In the distance, snow covered mountains made their reappearance.

We turned north and saw incredible scenery – snow, mountains, pine trees, grass and sparkling lakes all caught in the same frame of a photo. We joined the US34 which passes Grand Lake, turns into Trail Ridge Road, and enters Rocky Mountain National Park.

The first part of the journey is sedate. Some flat grasslands, quite streams and wandering Elk and Moose feeding in the late afternoon sunshine. After a few miles we dramatically ascended 5000ft. Vertiginous roads with precipitous drops wind around the mountains. Lyra started screaming and Sarah continuously reminded me to keep both hands on the wheel and look at the road. I strangely enjoyed the increased sense of danger but made sure I stuck to the speed limits.

We exited the car at a visitor center and climbed up a series of steps to the highest peak on the route. A sign halfway up asked: ‘Out of breath?’ It explained about altitude sickness, and how oxygen molecules are 30-40% sparser at this elevation. It was cold – about 15C below when we entered the park. I carried Alaina up the stairs. “I’m sooooo cold Daddy. Soooooo cooold." I held her tighter and carried on walking, heart pounding, finding it hard to breathe. Stubborn some would say. At the peak we stood at 12,005 ft overlooking mountains and clouds. The highest peak in the US (outside of Alaska) is 14,000ft so this was high.

We took photos reaching out to touch the sky. Large clouds spread beneath us. We descended quickly and got back in the car. More precarious roads. More screaming and scolding. At the next mountain we stopped again. Clouds floated within a few feet of where we stood. Standing next to clouds at 11,000 ft is an amazing experience. It’s like leaving an airplane midflight without the mortal danger.

As we began to descend, we drove into the clouds. It was now 9c (48f) and visibility was down to a few metres. I closely followed the car in front of me, silently grateful the family could no longer see how close we were to one perilous wrong turn.

A couple of miles later we saw several cars stopped in the road. We parked behind and two large Elks stood within a few feet of the road. In the cloaked mist, their antlers gave them a magisterial presence.

I’ll be honest at the time we thought they were Moose. However, on exiting the park we saw another gaggle of SUVs (not sure what the correct term is). They were crammed around two actual Moose eating just by the road in rapidly fading evening light. In case you are wondering Moose have much more bulbous noses and flatter Antlers. The difference is quite stark. Elk look more like reindeer so seeing Moose had more novelty.

We grabbed the children and suggested they come with us to get some close-up photos. We crossed the road and stood within a few metres of the animals. The ranger announced that we should be careful as Moose are wild animals. Suddenly, there was a familiar wailing sound. The Moose looked up slightly startled. The group of photographers, some with fancy long lens', frowned and tutted. Lyra was upset that no one would be in the photo she was trying to take.

I wonder what the Moose made of this small human screaming “itttttssunfaaaaaaaaaair….”

I grabbed Lyra so quickly around the mouth she ended up wailing louder. We tried that pointless quiet whispering thing that parents do. Finally, we completed our walk of shame back to the car as the Moose decided they had seen enough and wandered back into the foliage.

We drove east and descended away from Estes Park. Jagged rocks lined the road and streams curved by our side. Sarah saw another moose wading in the water. The orange clouds lent an ambient glow to the scenery.

Finally, we emerged 7500ft lower, passed Lake Loveland and entered the town of Loveland. I asked Lyra if she liked the idea of staying in a place with this name. She answered, “As long as it’s not just full of couples.”

As we entered our hotel room, the receptionist had kindly left Alaina a bag full of birthday surprises including chocolates, snacks, and bath toys, ahead of her birthday tomorrow. She grabbed the bath toys and demanded to inspect her latest bathroom facilities.

Given we had travelled to the sky and back she had earnt it.

In addition to this daily blog, you can check out our Instagram feed for more photos and short posts documenting our 2020 road trip @fiveexplore