Our Hike in Rocky Mountain National Park

In August 2003, on the last day of MathFest, Eric, Ken, Stacey, Dave, and I drove from Boulder, CO (the site of that year's MathFest) to Rocky Mountain National Park and hiked to the summit of Deer Mountain. It didn't take long for me to discover that I'm too out of shape to be hiking at anything near 10,000 ft above sea level. Or even at sea level. The trailhead was at about 9000 ft, the round trip hike to the summit was about six miles, and the elevation change was about 1000 ft. That may not sound like much, but when you have a resting heart rate of 120 bpm like me, it's a tough hike.

Click on the photos below to see larger versions
(Why anyone would want to is beyond me)

View from a "scenic overlook" on our way to Rocky Mountain National Park	Another such view - notice how the trees block much of the scene	The splendor of the scenic overlook (We didn't stay there long)
Dave, Ken, Eric, and Stacey (nowhere near the summit)	Dave, Ken, Eric, and Stacey after I asked them to look at the camera (I am such a rotten photographer - notice how the light is behind them)	Random scenery (nowhere near the summit)
More random scenery (nowhere near the summit)	Yet still more random scenery (nowhere near the summit)	Our rental car is down there somewhere
Stacey, Ken, and Eric preparing for a game of ultimate mountain frisbee	Dave	Random scenery (nowhere near the summit)
At this point we had hiked 2.8 miles and our reward was getting to walk in horse-free territory	Finally, a view from the summit	and another...
and another...	and another...	Stacey (injured), Ken, Eric, and Dave on top of Deer Mountain
Stacey's injury after treatment (thanks to the kind stranger who provided us with first-aid assistance at the summit)	The road into Rocky Mountain National Park from about 1000 feet up	Some local fauna (I think one of us named it "Minnie")
Another shot of Minnie and further documentation of Stacey's injury (It didn't slow her down a bit)	A crow (I really wanted it to be a hawk)	Eric, Ken, Dave, and Stacey at the summit (once again with the light behind them - I should have my camera privileges revoked)
A fascinating Bureau of Reclamation marker at the summit	Eric, King of the Mountain	Ken and Stacey demonstrating their fierce competitive nature
Another view from the summit	and another...	and another... (but this time, featuring Dave)
and another...	Almost back to the trailhead	A shot from near the trailhead on our hike back down
This is what most of the hike was like - Eric, Stacey, and Ken out front, then Dave, and finally me struggling to keep up (I shouldn't have taken this picture while walking)	We close with a couple of shots taken from the trailhead - We were up there somewhere	All in all, an excellent day

K. Peter Krog
Department of Mathematics
Marist College
Page Last Modified: Wednesday, 09 Jan 2008, 09:04:19