Colorado Family Vacation ~~ July 1992

We took annual vacations to somewhere, but a few times they were out west to Colorado. Jim saved up his vacation time and I took my two weeks. During this trip to Colorado we took our nephew, Jonathan. We had a big brown van which we called the Brown Beast, which was a great vacation vehicle with bucket seats in front, a bench seat in back and a huge area in the back to lay down. Jim built a deck so we could cram all of our camping supplies under the deck and had sleeping bags on top of the deck to lay down on.
 

The Brown Beast

As you can imagine, with only two weeks a roughly 1500 mile drive from Stone Mountain, Georgia to Colorado, we usually made it in three days. One stop was St. Louis, Missouri where we visited the Arch and even rode up to the top.

St. Louis Arch

From St. Louis we continued west to Denver and got to Dennis & Judy Hunter's house right at rush hour on Monday night. We stayed with them Monday night to visit and talk, then on Tuesday we did some sightseeing. Dennis took the day off and we went to the Alpine Slide, a small carousel and a slide which Josh, Jacklyn and Jonathan had fun on. They all wanted to go faster on the slide, even Jacklyn, who went down with her dad. 

We finally made it to Estes Park, just outside the boundaries of Rocky Mountain National Park. We found a nice area to put up the tents, one for Jim, me and Jacklyn, and one for Josh and Jonathan. We also had a screened canopy where we put the picnic table and some of the food. I think we kept most of it in the back of the van (because of bears). Estes Park is a nice little town with lots of stores and restaurants. It is right next to the Rocky Mountains National Park, so we were able to go right into the park easily. We did a lot of hiking and of course, shopping. It was cold in Estes, especially at night. One night it got down to 39. It did not always feel that cold, probably because there is no humidity to chill you to the bone (like Atlanta). We saw deer and elk and other little animals.

Estes Park campground

Scene from our site

We drove into the park, and enjoyed the scenery quite a bit.

The Day Roaring River Roared

Before July 15, 1982 this was a pleasant place of scattered aspen and ponderosa pine. But that morning the dam at Lawn Lake gave way, and the cascading stream below it became a raging flood. Some 300,000,000 gallons of water smashed down the five mile length of Roaring River. The water snapped trees like matches, tossed boulders like playthings, and filled the air with its awful roar. For several hours the water tore at deposits of glacial debris, then disgorged its chaotic load onto the floor of Horseshoe Park. This alluvial fan seen here and the violently carved streambed are what remain.

Air pollution has a big impact on the visibility of the mountains. The two pictures below are of Deer Mountain, which lies one mile from this point. Color photographs were taken three times daily to document changing pollution levels, weather patterns and sun levels.

On a clear day in Rock Mountain National Park, average visibility is 83 miles. Ninety percent of the time however, here ~ and at all National Park monitoring sites in the lower 48 states ~ spectacular vistas are degraded by manmade pollution. 

Fossil fuel burning creates tiny airborne particles that scatter light and reduce visibility. Later, these pollutants settle, forming acid's deposits in streams and lakes. In eastern parks, average visibility in the summertime is only nine miles. With such air quality here, Long Peak would be masked by haze.

We had a close encounter with the brakes on the van. On Friday we packed up to leave and take the Trail Ridge Drive over the mountains and around the west side of the mountains to the southwest side. As we were turning the bend to go into the park, the brake pad fell off. Luckily a repair shop was about 500 feet away so we were able to pull in there and get new brakes put on before we started on our journey again.

Driving over the mountains was quite an experience with elevations reaching over 12,000 feet. It was breath taking; words cannot describe the grandeur of the mountains. The kids even got to slide down a glacier at one point.

After our visit to Estes Park, we went back to Denver and spent a couple of days with Dennis & Judy. After our visit with them, we drove down to Colorado Springs and camped there for three nights. We went sightseeing around the area but not too much -- it was all so expensive and seemed real over-priced.  We visited the Cliff Dwellings and Garden of the Gods.

In the middle of the week Dennis & Judy drove down and we all drove down to the Great Sand Dunes. The Dunes were incredible -- they reach 700 feet from the floor (Stone Mountain is 500 feet) and cover 55 square miles. We walked up part way one evening but the wind started whipping and Jacklyn did not enjoy getting her legs whipped by the blowing sand. 

Next day Jim and the kids walked back up the Dunes all the way to the very top. Dennis hurt his foot and could not go and Jonathan did not get out of bed to join them. We packed up and left Thursday afternoon for home and arrived back in Stone Mountain Saturday evening.

Dennis & one of the twins

Jacklyn & Amy

Nice socks, Jim

Everyone did quite well camping. Even Jacklyn enjoyed herself. Josh and Jonathan had their own little tent, and Jim, me and Jacklyn had the big one. It was a wonderful vacation.