27 July, Moraine, Rocky Mountain National Park

A memorable day for sure!

The day started with an early morning so that we could moto up the Old Fall River Road. 

Old Fall River Road

 This road is a one-way, winding dirt road, just the way it was in the 1920’s. At the top of the road (11,796 ft) we hiked up Huffer’s Hill, a path with many steps to the top (12,005 ft) and 360 degree views. The Alpine visitor’s Center was 1-1/2 hours from opening.   To descend back down we took the paved Trail Ridge Road (Hwy 34)which is the highest elevation road in the US at 12,183 ft.  It was amazing!  So fun; great views!  While the traffic was light, we were surprised to see so many cars at the parking areas where there were trailheads and vista points. 

Huffer’s Hill

Cut Rock

Looking down on Alpine Visitors Center 

Continuing down to the Moraine Visitors Center, we had other hikes recommended to us such as Long’s Peak.

After a bite to eat, we rode our bikes down to the Fern Lake Trailhead.  We locked our bikes to a tree and headed up.  The trail was beautiful with wildflowers and, of course, many ferns.  Unfortunately, in was not as beautiful as it would have been a year ago before a large fire from the other side of the Continental Divide ravaged the area.

Fern Lake

See Dave at the base of the rock?

  There were many bridges and small falls along the way.  When we got to Fern Falls, we welcomed the cooling mist.  Before we turned back, another hiker sold us on continuing up another 1.2 miles to Fern lake.  Up at elevation 9,530’, the water was cold and refreshing - Dave jumped in twice.  After eight miles of hiking we were happy to get back to our bikes.  But alas, some “one” destroyed the lock by jamming it with a piece of metal (maybe a key they were trying to open it with) so we could not use our key to open it.  After walking another 3/4 of a mile to the closest shuttle stop (I dug out a sprint for the last 100 yards when I saw the shuttle and feared missing it) we shuttled to the campground entrance , then walked a 1/4 mile before hitching a ride (so lucky) from a neighbor for the last mile to our site.  We contacted a Ranger who had bold cutters.  He drove us to the bikes, cut the lock, and we were able to ride our bikes the three miles back. A 9 mile hike & 5 mile MTB day, with total 1,700’ of climbing - we solid nights sleep tonight.