Rocky Mountain National Park - Morraine Park

Later that evening, Jonah and I headed back into the Park. It was after 6:00 so we didn't need a timed entry pass for Bear Lake Road, and there was a lot less traffic than earlier in the day. We stopped again at Morraine Park, and walked to a spot along the Big Thompson River. My hope was that we would be able to catch some good sunset light and maybe some alpenglow on the mountains that tower over the valley.



It's a little confusing that we are in Morraine Park, which itself is part of Rocky Mountain National Park. But up here, park is used as a term for any "high-altitude, open valley or meadow." Morraine Park was formed by the movement of ancient glaciers. Before it became a National Park, this area was home to a large resort and golf course. Only the old resort's lodge still remains, and the land was allowed to revert back to its natural state.





The Big Thompson River begins inside Rocky Mountain National Park, at a place called Forest Canyon. It then flows through Morraine Park and then out of the National Park, through the town of Estes Park and eventually flowing into the South Platte River.





There was a little bit of alpenglow, but we didn't have a good view of it. It hit on some of the distant mountains on the other side of the valley. And there was not really any cool sunset light either. But it was a great place to spend some time that evening. The sound of the flowing water, mixed with the wind blowing through the grass in the meadow, was relaxing and peaceful.







We were even joined by a mule deer, which walked over to the river to get a drink and was then surprised to see people standing nearby. It was kind enough to stand still long enough for a few pictures, before it turned tail and bounded back into the meadow.

Rocky Mountain National Park - Bear Lake Road

Estes Park sits at an elevation of about 7,500 feet (compared to Little Rock, which sits at an elevation of about 350 feet or so). So the next day we were already feeling the effects of elevation sickness. I had a pounding headache, so when we left to go to Rocky Mountain National Park we stocked up on Tylenol and lots of water.

This is our second visit to Rocky Mountain National Park. Our first visit was in 2022, but we were only there for one day. So this time, I was eager to be able to see more of the park. We managed to secure one of the timed entry passes for Bear Lake Road, which is one of the most popular areas of the park. Our timed entry was from between Noon and 2:00, which was the earliest entry I could get (I logged on the website on the day they were made available, and the earlier entry tickets had already been taken). 

There is a good reason why this is the most popular area of the park. Bear Lake Road is only about ten miles long, but it passes by several lakes and trailheads. The first place we stopped was at Morraine Park, a wide valley filled with a meadow and the meandering Big Thompson River. We stopped at a pullover and walked down to the river, which here was a fast-moving stream.



It was a scenic spot, with the towering mountains rising above the valley.



We decided that this might be a good spot to return to later that evening, when there might be some nice light around sunset.





We followed the road all the way to Bear Lake, and somehow lucked into actually getting a spot in the parking lot. We then did the short hike that runs along the length of the lake. It was really crowded with people, but it was a nice stroll with some great scenery.







It was bright and sunny, so the light was a little too harsh for pictures.



We got back in the car and made a few stops at some of the other pull-offs. This was the trail at Hollowell Park.



By this time, the elevation had gotten to the kids and they weren't interested in stopping at every single overlook and pull-off in the park. But we stopped at one last overlook that had this great view of Horseshoe Park.

Welcome To Colorful Colorado

The next morning I went out and checked on the car, hoping that the tire hadn't really been leaking air or that it had magically fixed itself overnight. Alas, it did not. It was completely flat. This was on a Sunday morning in rural Kansas, and I was nervous that there wouldn't be any places around that would be open and could fix the tire. But after some calling, we found out that the truck stop in Oakley could look at it for us (which was nice, since they usually just handle truck repairs).

The maintenance guy at the hotel was kind enough to pump some air in the tire, enough for us to limp over to the truck stop. Elliott (who is still obsessed with cars) wanted to tag along, thinking that the truck stop would be more exciting than a hotel room. Which I don't think it was as exciting as he thought - we ended up in a tiny waiting room where the only entertainment was a TV showing Fox News. Fox was showing some of documentary about Wall Street, talking about its history dating back to Alexander Hamilton and going all the way to the 9/11 attacks. A trucker, who was also waiting there, decided this was a good moment to begin talking about how he thought the 9/11 attacks were faked using remote control air planes. So yeah, probably the hotel room would have been a more exciting place to spend the morning.

Luckily we didn't have to wait too long, and the tire was fixed and we were good to go. We went back to the hotel, loaded up the car, and then continued on. We crossed over the state line into Colorado, who greeted us signs saying "Welcome To Colorful Colorado." The landscape of eastern Colorado is flat, but the drive starts to pass by some hills as it heads further west. We were eager to get to the mountains, but I did exit the freeway one time to get some pictures of this neat old barn (it worked out because the kids were wanting snacks anyways).





And next to the barn was this little dirt road, heading off toward some fields.



We then headed further west, heading towards our destination of Estes Park. We were staying at the YMCA Of The Rockies, a massive complex of cabins and lodges situated right next to Rocky Mountain National Park. It's a good place to stay, especially if you're traveling with children. There are a ton of kid-friendly activities there, and it is located just minutes from the entrance to the Park. This is the view from a fishing lake there, just before sunset.



That evening I went into Estes Park to get some groceries. Estes Park is a charming little city (population around 6,000). It's a touristy town, but nowhere near as tacky and overcrowded as Pigeon Forge. Probably the most prominent building in Estes Park is the historic Park Theater. The movie theater was built in 1913, and it is the oldest single house motion picture theater in the country that is still in operation.



It was showing Toy Story 5 while we were there, with future showings of Minions & Monsters and The Odyssey.

Monument Rocks

We crossed the border and entered Kansas. This was my second visit to the Sunflower State, the first was way back in the 90s during a road trip with my family. On that trip we went out of our way to visit Dodge City, because my mother wanted to see where Marshal Dillon and Miss Kitty lived (she was disappointed to get there and find out that they didn't actually live there because they were fictional characters from the TV show Gunsmoke).

We didn't stop in Dodge City this time, instead we stayed on the freeway as it cut across the state. Now you do see a lot of people complain about this drive being really boring, but I didn't think it was all that bad. The terrain is flat, but it was dotted with numerous silos, windmills and old buildings. Or maybe I've driven through the Arkansas Delta so much that I've gotten immune to flat lands. But that evening we stopped at Oakley, a small town in western Kansas. And after checking into the hotel and getting dinner, Jonah and I got back in the car and headed south towards Monument Rocks.

To get there we drove through what truly did feel like the middle of nowhere. We went through what seemed like a vast expanse of farms and fields, along with an occasional oil derrick or an old wind mill.



The road also passes through rangeland, and there were several places where cows were lazily grazing alongside the road, without any fences to keep them from strolling out in front of a car. After about 45 minutes of driving we finally saw Monument Rocks, sticking up from the landscape like a natural Stonehenge (seen here in the distance with an indifferent cow grazing in the foreground):



Monument Rocks (also known as the Chalk Pyramids) look almost surreal, definitely not what you'd expect to find way out here in the prairie. It looks like someone scooped up part of Death Valley and just dropped it off here amongst the farms and ranches.







The rock formations began to form over 80 million years ago during the Cretaceous period. Back then, this area was all under a vast inland sea that used to stretch across the North American continent. Sediment from that sea became layers of shale and chalk, which were then lifted up through tectonic forces. Over time those rocks were eroded into their current shapes, which includes arches and pillars that are up to 70 feet tall.











A large number of fossils have been found in the area, including giant swimming reptiles called mosasaurs and plesiosaurs. There were also fossils of aquatic birds, fish that were 20 feet-long, and clams that were six feet in diameter.



We didn't see any swimming reptiles or large clams while we were out there. But there were a lot of birds - a bunch of cliff swallows were perched on the chalk spires. The small birds use mud to build nests on the side of rock formations, and they are good hunters of insects. Thanks to their hard work, we weren't bothered by mosquitoes at all while we were there.



The rocks still feel ancient, maybe because the area around it hasn't been developed. There are no bathrooms, no tacky souvenir shops. Nothing except the lonely dirt road and the wind. It doesn't seem like it'd be much too different than what it must have been like here centuries ago. The only difference being just the chalk formations getting slowly eroded over time.







As it got closer to sunset, the chalk formations took on a deeper golden hue. And the full moon slowly rose higher across the sky.









We headed back over to this arch to catch sunset. There were a few other people out there taking pictures, including one car that sped to a stop nearby. A woman ran out and started taking pictures, saying they wanted to get there quicker but some cows were blocking the road.





And another view through the arch, of the moon rising slowly above the rocks. Above the opening, you can see some of the cliff swallow nests.





It was starting to get dark, so we took a few last pictures:



We got into the car to start the drive back to our hotel in Oakley, only for the car to give an unpleasant little chime and warning - low tire pressure. Somewhere on our road trip we managed to pick up a nail, and it was slowly letting air out from one of the tires. I got out and looked at the tire, and it looked like it was ok to still drive on for a bit (I guess, I am not a mechanic). The last thing I wanted to do was have to change a tire along a dirt road in the dark in the middle of nowhere. So I slowly and nervously started driving back, constantly keeping an eye on the tire pressure. And it steadily decreased, dropping a few PSI along the way.

The dirt road back from Monument Rocks seemed even more eerie at night, especially with the looming threat of a flat tire hanging over us. It didn't help that the "quickest" route the GPS decided to guide us back to civilization just happened to go across a bridge that had been washed out and was closed. So we had to double-back, adding more time and mileage on our leaking tire. But thankfully we eventually made it back to Oakley and to a truck stop that was still open, so we could put some air in the tire. We made it back to the hotel all safe and sound, glad to have been able to visit a scenic spot like Monument Rocks. It was worth the drive out there, even with the air slowly leaking out of the tire in the hotel parking lot.