Doug’s great at planning our routes and was able to secure an entry time and date to Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park in mid-September of 2020 so from Medicine Bow we made our way to Loveland, CO and then to Estes Park.
We were also fortunate to have a family friend, Gareth Saxe [who is not only a talented actor (playing the best version of Scar in the Lion King on Broadway), but also a very generous guy], who allowed us to park in the driveway of his home in Estes Park while we were there. It was a friend of Gareth’s who suggested that we hike the Gem Lake/Twin Owl trail. Gareth, his friend, and their young kids hiked this and really enjoyed it. Little did I know that this hike would be just the beginning of my Colorado crisis.
The day was bright and on the cooler side, perfect for an easy to moderate hike in the Rockies…I’m not sure this was that, but I’ll get into those details soon. It was early fall so the male elk were bugling and rounding up their harems all over downtown Estes Park and in Rocky Mountain National Park so getting around the area was sometimes a bit challenging but hey, if you want to see Elk up close, schedule your trip during the Fall.
The parking lot at this trailhead fills up by around noon so we arrived in the morning. The Gem Lake loop was just a little over 4.25 miles round trip. The trail was well groomed, well marked, meanders among gorgeous foliage and trees and provided a great perspective on the Rockies that we would see more of the next day inside Rocky Mountain National Park. The Gem Lake hike, as promised, is truly a hidden gem! The catch? This trail climbs 1000 feet in elevation in the first 2 miles (Estes Park itself is already at over 7500 ft) and I counted no less than 600 stairs on this loop hike up to the lake and back down past Twin Owl rocks.
Now, I’ve celebrated my 39th birthday more times than I can count and I know at this stage I’m not fooling anyone! I also don’t expect that I’m going to hike faster or further than any woman under the age of 35, but until this hike, I still considered myself capable, hip and young. As on offset to the identity crisis this hike induced, the hike, luckily, also included some comic relief.
COMIC RELIEF INCIDENT#1
About an hour into the hike, we came upon a family of four and the eldest girl (~age 8) was whining a bit, which I completely understood, but the conversation with her father went something like this:
Girl: Stop. I need applesauce.
Dad: We’ve only hiked a mile.
Girl: What, are you carrying that applesauce for nothing?!
I wanted to belt out a big guffaw but managed to pass them on the trail with just a smile as they stopped for the snack.
THE HIKE CONTINUES
The rock staircase weaved through some not yet turned Aspen. I love Aspen, particularly when they’ve yellowed but even when they haven’t, they have a friendly way of waving to you in the breeze! Huffing, puffing, sweating, and stopping maybe more frequently than necessary, we finally made it to the lake. I made some snide comment that the promised lake was more of a pond (mostly, I suspect because it was late in the season) and that I wasn’t sure it was worth what we’d just been through. Doug did the right thing – ignored me, found a pretty spot to sit overlooking the pond, dug out our picnic lunch, and commented on some randy trees.
WENDY REALIZES HER AGE
As my heartrate slowed, my breath became steady and my mind returned from its perceived death march haze. I looked around the lake, finally noticing others in the area, when age punched me squarely in the face!
There were 3 couples at the lake – all Millennials – and here’s why my self-esteem tanked.
The first woman I spotted was casually walking the length of the lake with her Starbucks in hand (likely a reduced calorie Grande skinny vanilla almond milk latte) as if she’d just strolled from the café to her car! Beautiful. Not a hair out of place. Not a drop of sweat. In a dramatic gesture, I face plant into my palm at the sight.
When I’m able to raise my head again, I see a woman strapping into leg harnesses and affixing ropes so she can climb the sheet of a rock at the far end of the lake. Guess the hike wasn’t enough exercise for her?!
It was the third woman that spurred a little tear to roll down my cheek. She was taking her baby (yes, her newborn baby!) out of a little pack SHE had carried up the trail and was getting ready to lay the baby down on blanket on the rocky bank surrounding the lake. She gave birth like a week ago and then hiked this trail? No, NO, NOPE!
I have never been more humiliated by the fuss I had been making about the elevation gain and the number of stairs. I was a mess. I was spent. I was mortified. I was depressed.
COMIC RELIEF INCIDENT#2
Lucky for me, the precocious 8yr old from mile 1 had arrived with her family and the next exchange went like this:
Dad (pulling a notebook out of his pack): Since you brought this journal, you need to write something in it.
Girl (hand on hip): Technically, it’s not a journal. It’s a sketch book.
Dad (annoyed and barely keeping it together): Well sketch something then.
This little comic relief gave me just enough pause to glance once more around the lake at the woman casually sipping coffee, the rock climber, and the new mother and I suddenly thought wow, these women are badass! Then I realized, I may not have hiked the trail with as much grace (much to Doug’s chagrin) but I made it to the destination so maybe for my age, I’m pretty badass too?
I wiped away the tear and offered my hand to Doug who stood above me as I thought “Okay, now help me up so I don’t break a hip and let’s get going before the late afternoon lighting makes it difficult for me to see the trail.”
Okay, now help me up so I don’t break a hip and let’s get going before the late afternoon lighting makes it difficult for me to see the trail.
Wendy
