Rocky Mountain NP has a lovely town at its border. Grand Lake is right at the foot of the park and is one of three towns in which the CDT passes through town. I had a great opportunity to explore the town, eat much and fill up on some much needed calories, then relax. As Fearless was leaving this morning, a parade started outside my door. There were horses, fire and police vehicles, City Mayors and would be gubernatorial candidates, along with the High School Marching Band and many others.

Hogged Up was enroute from Granby, the neighboring town. Her husband John flew in from Maine and plans to hike with us for the next week. After packing up, I met the two of them at Blue Water Bakery in town. We had coffee and I indulged in a Raspberry Peach Scone that was incredibly delicious.

The trail took us out of town, across the bridge and onto a peninsula that wrapped around Grand and Shadow Mountain Lake. This route was just reopened, as there were nesting Ospreys that precluded hikers from entering this section. But the baby’s have hatched and we were free to continue south.

As we hit the fork in the road, we saw close to 15 or so Scouts sitting by the trail. When the three of us arrived, all eyes turned and before we knew it, Sabine, John and I were the new lesson plan! They had more questions about what we were doing, how long we had been out, where we were going and anything 12-14 years olds could fathom. It was so much fun sharing with them our story and hopefully, inspiring these girls to do the same.

The clouds started to buildup and we had a sprinkle or two, but nothing like we’ve had for the past few weeks. Our trail passed by the lakes, then through a low meadow with sagebrush and pines. Before long we had a brief climb and were hiking next to the Colorado River. The same river that rushes down the Grand Canyon. Here we are at the foot, where it’s much smaller and not nearly as powerful.

Colorado is in the midst of a severe drought and many of the rivers, streams, reservoirs and lakes are nothing compared to what they should be. Yet, they are still flowing and thankfully for us, we will never be without water. After a few more miles, we arrived at the southern terminus of RMNP. We camped on the bluff overlooking the Colorado River and commented on this being one of our nicest campsites in quite sometime.

The sun came out and warmed us up as we sat and watched a few boaters going up and down the river. Geese were getting ready to take flight to warmer destinations and we were building our homes for the evening. Hogged Up was as “happy as a clam” being the love of her life John, is here with her. And it became clear that the Lord rejoices with us, and showed His delight for his children.

“For the LORD your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.””
‭‭Zephaniah‬ ‭3‬:‭17‬ ‭NLT‬‬