Trillcation: Utah To Colorado 2020 Day 5

Friday, August 28 (MDT):

7:30 AM-3 PM – Drive to Estes Park, CO with a stop at Trader Joe’s in Boulder, CO

3:00-9:00 PM – Dinner at house, chill

Oh yeah, Black Canyon was added at the last minute because originally we were going straight from Moab to Estes Park. Well, we were planning on stopping in Glenwood Springs, CO to sleep and maybe go to some hot springs but this was also when we thought we were the only ones still going on the Estes Park family vacation. Anyways, wildfires happened and we were being rerouted regardless so we could either head North or South, which was still the same amount of time, but if you head South, you get to hit up Black Canyon. I had never heard of it before, but because I am obsessed with maps, I just spend a lot of time zooming in and out of them on Google Maps, so I am aware of my trip surroundings ahead of time. I also do a lot of test runs of routes (digitally) before road trips because well, I’m crazy and obsessive which I own with pride, and that’s how I discovered the detour. Not to say that a natural disaster is a bonus for me, but being overly prepared with plans and then pivoting when needed worked out for us.

We booked Best Western Plus with Expedia, paid Under Canvas out of pocket and up front, and we were able to cancel Glenwood Springs and rebook Montrose through our credit card points portal. Also, we did book the rental car through our credit card portal which is a first because we usually book through Costco Travel which has the best deals. But after basically two somewhat costly stays and paying for those and horseback riding out of pocket, I argued my case to use the credit card points because what is the actual point of them if we don’t use them. Someone (Zach) likes to hoard them for I don’t know what. But knowing we would be paying for gas and everything else via credit card to rack up more points was a compelling argument, so we used the points.

We arrived in Estes Park around 3 PM and it pretty much rained all afternoon into the evening which was fine with us. We had dinner, chilled, then went to bed pretty early because I had determined that we would leave the house to go into Rocky Mountain National Park at 4 AM, meaning I had to wake up at 3 AM. I know my body and it’s ahem, movements, so I wanted to be fully prepared for our hike. Rain was in the forecast so we were going to go on a longer hike, then thought maybe a shorter hike, but then I YOLO’d and we landed on Sky Pond which is 9.5 miles roundtrip.

Let me stop here to inform you that the open 24 hours parks are free.99 if you get there before 6 AM. And out of all of them, Rocky Mountain was the only one that required a reservation to enter the park during opening hours due to Covid. Be sure to check the NPS websites for each park you’re visiting regardless, but especially during a pandemic. I made a 12 – 2 PM entry time reservation for Rocky Mountain as a backup, but as we got closer to our trip, someone on social media had just been there so I messaged them about the system and was informed that getting there early to avoid paying AND the reservation system was a green light. As far as the 2 hour window goes, as long as you get there during the time frame (not earlier or later), you’re allowed in at that time and for the rest of the day. I’ll give you an example of that later.