So we had one of our Rocky Mt. National Park hiking days all planned out a week or so ago (with our Mississippi friend, Char and her Casita, Matilda, whom we met up with in Estes Park, CO). But when we reached the Wild Basin Trailhead (about 20 miles South of Estes park) the parking lots were full and the only parking was about 2.5 miles from the Trailhead. By the time we parked & walked 1/2 mile down a dirt road back to the entrance booth to the park, the park rangers were allowing a very minimal number of cars in again, but with no time to go back to get our car to be one of them.
We jumped into “resourceful” gear pretty quickly and waved down the first SUV we could that had just been allowed through the gates to drive the 2 mile dirt road to the parking lot at the Trailhead … and in we hopped atop a backseat FULL of overnight camping gear. The young couple was from Denver and we quickly told them that they must be living right to have arrived at EXACTLY the right time to be allowed in ! We were sooooo grateful for the ride !
We LOVED the Wild Basin Trail that paralleled the most gorgeous fast falling river all the way up the mountain with a number of cascades and waterfalls along the way. After a pretty good rain shower when we reached our destination waterfall at the top, the weather cleared and we headed back down the mountain.
This is the video I took from the back of the pick up that graciously let us join two groups of other hikers who had found themselves in the same ride-sharing situation that we found ourselves in! We caught them just as they were pulling out of the parking lot.
It was a very good day. Reminded me a lot of living on my bicycle all over the U.S. back in the mid 1980’s! Nice to be surrounded by so many helpful, kind nature lovers on a beautiful Sunday of hiking in the Rockies.
‘Til next time …
Karole
