My Brother-in-Law’s Resting Place…in the Rockies

At Sunset Point Campground, Lake Granby, Colorado

In 2003 I got one of those phone calls that everyone dreads…a member of the family had passed away.  My sister Patti married Terry around 1994, he quickly adopted her daughter Ashley.  Terry had been plagued with Cystic Fibrosis for many years, most of his life.  Around 2001 he had a lung transplant, and all was going well.  One day, either a Thursday or Friday, he was at work at a Counseling Center…within just a couple of days, he died…complications from the transplant a year or two earlier.  No signs before this…it just happened.  We were all devastated.  Stephanie and I drove up to Kansas City area where mom and dad lived, and the four of us drove out to California for the funeral.  Years later, Patti finally made it to Colorado, with daughter Ashley and Terry’s two surviving brothers and other family members of his, to spread his ashes into a pond near a lodge he worked at in Colorado, and to celebrate his life.  Terry’s oldest brother died at age 1 months, Christmas Eve, most likely of Cystic Fibrosis…and he had another brother who died of Cystic Fibrosis about 10 years before Terry did.  What a terrible disease that is…

Meeker Park Lodge is located on highway 7, near the foot of Long’s Peak, the highest point in the Rocky Mountain National Park at 14,259 feet.  The lodge itself has 8 sleeping rooms, a restaurant, a store, and there are also numerous rental cabins on the property.  Also on the property…a large pond…which contains the ashes of many longtime locals, including Terry.  The Dever Family has owned and operated the lodge since 1922.  I stepped into the lodge, made my way to the store, and inquired as to if the young worker was part of the family that owned it.  She acknowledged that she was, and another older lady says, “And I am the Aunt…”  I explained who I was, and mentioned Terry’s name….  “Oh, what a sweet young man that Terry was…and your sister came through a few years back.”  Terry had worked at the lodge during the summers that he was in college.

At the spot where I took the first picture are these markers, Top Left: Keith Dever, 1923-2011, Marian Dever, 1927-2017, Bottom Left: Bambi Darnell, 1978-2012, and the large one: Crete Dever1892-1993 and Danny Dever 1885-1973.  However, the ‘Aunt’, who I assume is Laura Dever, the general manager of the lodge, said that countless number of people have had their ashes spread at the pond…she wishes that they had a list of all the people over the years.  (You are permitted to scatter ashes on your property that you own or other private property with the permission of the owner.)

   

   

The entire time Patti was married to Terry, and during the time they knew each other before marriage, I was living far away from Sacramento.  Yes, I met Terry a number of times, but we never had the opportunity to become close.  At his funeral I learned more about him from friends and family and the Priest who performed the service than I had ever known about him…for that, I was always sad that I never got to know him better.  You always think, “There will be time…”  Well, that is not always the case.

  

Just down the highway from the lodge is Chapel on the Rock, officially named Saint Catherine of Siena Chapel.  What a pretty Catholic Church built in 1936, but first envisioned by Monsignor Joseph Bosetti in 1916.  It is still in use today, and if you click on the far right picture, you can even see some people coming out of a church service as we drove by.

And here is a picture of Long’s Peak along highway 7.  Colorado has 58 mountain peaks exceeding 14,000 feet, and Long’s Peak is the farthest most northern peak that is over 14,000.  Long’s Peak is named in honor of explorer Stephen Harriman Long, a U.S. army explorer, topographical engineer, and railway engineer, and is featured on the Colorado state quarter. 

   

 

It was a 65 mile trip over to Meeker Lodge, and on the way back we took a side trip up to Bear Lake.  Today we saw two moose, three deer, three or four elk (only showing picture of two), and a family of turkeys…that is momma turkey in front of that bus shutting down the road while the babies have just crossed (babies along the right side of the roadside).

Bear Lake is a very pretty place, but getting a parking place, even on a Wednesday afternoon, is very difficult…easier for us with the ADA parking tag. 

Other lakes we passed included Mary’s Lake…

..Lilly Lake…

  

…and a few un-named (to us at least), high altitude (11,500 feet level at least) lakes, some of which were green due to the glaciers which feed them.

Our trip today took seven hours, most of it spent in the car driving and/or viewing.  The Rocky’s are so massive, and so is the Rocky Mountain National Park, where vehicle speeds are normally 35 mph, with sharp turns, and amazing views. 

We both feel that it probably ranks in the top ten of places we have been…if you lump the Alaska trip into one big place.  Although we are here at Lake Granby for another five full days, due to the crowds of Labor Day I doubt we will enter the park again on this trip.  Yesterday (Tuesday) we went to Berthoud Pass, and I will post a blog about that on Friday or Saturday.

Rest in Peace brother Terry…I know you are enjoying the view….

Lake Granby Weekend

At Sunset Point Campground, Lake Granby, CO

  

Having driven through Rocky Mountain National Park, I knew that we did not want to stay over in the Estes Park area…’WAY’ too many people.  Thought about trying to get into the Timber Creek Campground, which is inside the National Park…but when I saw all the various camping options between the cities of Granby and Grand Lakes, with three large lakes, Lake Granby, Shadow Mountain and Grand Lake…well, I decided to look into this area a bit closer. 

The Stillwater Campground, as seen Saturday late afternoon above from across the lake from us, is the biggest campground, mostly through reservations, but with a handful of first come-first camp situations.  I am sure this campground was much more appealing when it had more trees…which were removed years ago due to the Pine Beatle infestation.  I am sure most campsites have a view of the lake now…but they also have a view of just about every other campsite in the campground. 

When I saw that Sunset Point Campground was all first come-first camp type of park, that appealed to me.  When I saw that the campground still had trees, that appealed to me.  When I saw that it is laid out along the lake, all on one road (no loops) along the lakeside, that appealed to me.  Now, as a first come-first camp park, you have to have a plan…our plan was to arrive on Tuesday around 11 am…that worked real good.  We immediately met camp host Suzzie and her friend Elaine who were riding a golf cart up and down the road.  Suzzie, who works along with her husband Rick, rattled of a list of campsites which were available…and suggested campsite #12.  We got down to 12, and yep, did not need to go further.  As we were setting up, she comes by and hands us a pay slip, says she will be back through later to pick it up…cool.  Later, when talking to Rick, I found out they have worked here for 8 years straight now…come up from Fort Worth each year.  The picture above is what we see right outside our entry door…and the park is full.

Yesterday late afternoon, soaking up the 78 degree weather, I sat at the rear of the motorhome in the shade and took this picture above of a gal walking her dog.  Look at how hard it is to see her and the dog, yet they are right in the middle of the picture.  The picture to the right is a close up of them.  There are lots of dogs here this weekend, and keeping them all on leashes has been a slight issue until Rick catches them and says, “only one more warning, after that you and the dog are out of here!”  But the point I want to make is that with all the trees, yes, our view of the lake is impaired a bit…so is the view and noise of the neighbors…especially distant neighbors.  And the nights have been so quiet, especially after 10 pm when generators have to be off.  Honestly, I have heard a few generators, but nothing that caused us any grief. 

    

With no campers behind us, it is where I normally walk the dogs…away from the street and away from the view of other dogs.  Had a Long Haired Dachshund, who was being walked on a leash, get away from its owner as it was being put into their motorhome…and it rushed over to say hello to Skruffy and Bubba.  Bubba just stares and wags his tail, Skruffy and the other Dachshund have to bark at each other to let each other know that they are related…honestly, their barks was like listening to a stereo of Dachshunds barking.

    

Have not seen any wildlife on this end of the lake, but I did find two Osprey nest nearby.  The one on the left is further away from us, but right alongside the road…the one on the right is closer to our location, but much further away from the road, but down an embankment so you can see more of the nest.  I have seen these birds flying through the park, but with the trees, they suddenly appear, and then they are gone, headed to or from the lake.

As I drove over the dam yesterday, I got this shot of the Colorado River.  They won’t let you stop on the dam at all…safety issue they say from 9-11 attacks.  The Colorado looks so small…

…but this picture above was taken of the Colorado up in the National Park.  The headwaters of the Colorado are up in the park, and to see those headwaters, one has to hike about 10 miles along the river.  This picture was taken just a mile from the Visitor’s Center.  Now that the weekend is over, we plan to head back up into the park…probably Tuesday since Monday is going to be laundry day.  Today we will just sit back and enjoy the departure of about 1/3 of the parks occupants, and the rush of newcomers looking for a spot for a day or two.

Rocky Mountain National Park -- Trail Ridge Road and Old Fall River Road

At Sunset Point Campground, Lake Granby, CO

One thing we found about being up in the high Rockies…it still is not high enough to get away from the smoke from California, Oregon, Utah and Colorado fires.  Still, the views were just amazing.  (of course, the locals blame it all on Cal fires)

We saw many Elk on our drive, but these ones here were the closest…

And of course, despite signs, and even the presence of three rangers in the area, some folks just have to get out and try to get close…amazing.

This view is still of the western slope, and you can see the smoke hiding the mountain afar.  The Rockies are the Continental Divide, separating where rainfall and snow melt will flow…either to the west to the Pacific, or to the east to the Atlantic through the Gulf of Mexico.

  

These are views along the eastern slope…that smoke just won’t let up, even with the 30-40 mph wind gusts.

At the Alpine Visitor’s Center, what I call “Heart Attack Hill” was full of those sucking in the 12,000 foot air as they climbed up the Alpine Ridge Trail.  The hike is only .6 of a mile, but it is steep, does not include oxygen, and with the wind…well, it was hard enough just getting Marcia into the Visitor’s Center, let alone having me even attempt this trail.  The parking lot was pretty full, but we scored with an ADA spot right at the door…and yes, Marcia said, “I am staying in the car next time” because the wind was blowing that hard.

But the view out the back of the visitor’s center, where one is mostly protected from the winds, is fabulous.  In fact, the Old Fall River Road is down there somewhere, a bit to the left of the valley.

And in the valley, way off to the upper right of the previous picture, you can find a large herd of Elk…of which this picture above captures about half of the herd.

As the Trail Ridge Road continues east, we come to a viewpoint of Hidden Valley.  Yes, that is our road down there, and also along the ridge of the far right mountain.  So far the road we have been on from leaving our campground area has been a 2 lane, well paved road with many pullouts or viewpoints.  Well, that is going to drastically change…

…because the Old Fall River Road is a dirt road, one way (heads east to west and upwards), and wow, was that nice 9 mile stretch of nearly deserted road, compared to the Trail Ridge Road.  Also, since it is down in valley and heads up to Alpine Visitor’s Center, the winds were light.

Marcia and I take turns taking pictures along the 9 mile route.  We might be traveling west, or traveling east, because there are many hairpin turns to help you climb up the mountain side as you eventually make your way to the west.  Above is a picture Marcia took (I can tell due to the mirror of the car) and we were headed to the east (I can tell by the angle to the sun).

Here she got a picture of the rugged mountain tops as we were headed west.

We stopped at this hairpin turn, and one of the few cars we saw passed us.  Our only minor complaint about this dirt road is that on many of the hairpin turns, there was a rut or two that you had to position your vehicle over just right or you would bottom out…I only bottomed out once.  Otherwise, the dirt road was not as bumpy as many dirt roads that I have taken Marcia on…did I mention, she is not a fan of dirt roads…but I got permission for this one…sometimes I just turn onto one.    Although it looked like it was going to rain, the rain did not come until after we got back to the motorhome…seems to rain just about every afternoon…but it does not get rid of the smoke which keeps pouring in from the west.

The road has mile markers, and I am also watching our odometer…at an average speed of around 10 mph, and with numerous stops, it takes us about an hour…but it did not seem that long.

We finally see the visitor’s center above (arrow)…we still had around 2 miles to go, but the road is better at the top.

I look off into the rocks and see this Marmot moving about…unfortunately, I missed the one opportunity to get its front side…

One last look at the valley that lies below the visitor’s center, off to our left as we drive west.

And one last look at the herd of Elk in the upper far side of the valley….

We did not stop at the Visitor’s Center, just headed straight home, with a stop at a picnic area which had some vegetation that the dogs were allowed to walk on.  (Why do dogs destroy the tundra but Elk, Moose, Deer, Marmots, etc. don’t?)  Anyway, got this picture of what I think is a google maps car…had California license plate, and those are cameras and satellite equipment up on top of the car.  Will have to check back along this highway in a few months and see if we have been captured in Google Maps!

 

After posting the blog on Wednesday, I captured these sunset pictures after a thunderstorm had passed through…

As I do with all sunsets, I turn around to see how it is affecting the landscape opposite the setting sun….

With that, I will say goodbye.  Due to bandwidth, I go down to the public library to post my blogs…don’t even have to get out of the car.  Another 13 nights here in the Rockies!