Day 7 - Hiking Through the Beetle Infested Rockies

Getting up, I figured that I'd find a place to eat on my way out of Laramie (that wasn't McDonalds). Unfortunately, it turned out that I was far enough on the outskirts of town that I didn't see any restaurants heading out. So, I shelved my hunger until the first opportunity, which turned out to be in Walden, CO over an hour away. I ate at the Moose Cafe, but, of course, by the time I got there, they had stopped serving breakfast. So, I enjoyed some french dip and the sight of folks wandering around the touristy little town.

From Walden, I headed south so that I could enter Rocky Mountain National Park from the western side. This meant going through a nice forested pass. Well, it would have been nice except that the hills looked like it was autumn, and these were pine! It was astounding all the damage that the pine beetle was doing to the area. They figure that it's mostly caused by the warmer temperatures recently from global warming, which mean that in the winter, there isn't a harsh freeze so the beetle is surviving the winter to proliferate during the summer months.

Anyway, once out of the pass, I stopped in Granby for some gas and there was a farmer's market. So, I got some sweet juicy peaches, peppery elk jerky and a gooey cinnamon bun. Yum!

After that little stop, I made a beeline for the park and the campground therein. By the time I was done setting up my tent, it was late afternoon. Plenty of time for a quick hike which I was itching to do. Just as Yellowstone is all about driving from one weird scene to the next, Rocky Mountain is all about getting on your feet and walking through the wilderness to discover nature's hidden secrets. So, I decided to hike the Green Meadow loop which was a 7 mile hike up to a large meadow nestled in a ridge in the hills.

I got really lucky on the walk. Not only was it invigorating breathing the crisp fresh air, but I ran into some wildlife. First, in the meadow, there was a gorgeous bull moose chomping away on the grass, completely oblivious to all the people watching it. Then, when I was nearing the end of the hike. I came across a family of deer. Oddly, I didn't notice them until I was about 30ft away and they moved slightly. We stood there staring at each other for a few minutes until I decided it was time to jet and headed off.

When I got back to camp, it was almost dark and I didn't feel like cooking, so I just used one of the MREs and waited for the program to start at the amphitheater across the road. It was just a nice little show about various hard to find species that are present in the park.

After that, it was pitch dark and since the Perseid meteor shower was on, I figured I'd try to do some star gazing. I drove down the road away from the lights in the campground and lay out to stare at the breathtaking bejeweled sky. It was one of those nights where it's hard to find the constellations because they are drowned in a sea of sparkling diamonds. Unfortunately, I was only able to see a handful of meteors. I think I was just out too early in the night (around 10:30pm). I would've stayed out longer, but I was having problems keeping my eyes open, so I went back to my tent while I was still able to find my way there.