Nymph Lake (and almost to Dream Lake) Hike

Saturday morning was overcast and sprinkling with many ominous dark clouds rolling in but we weren't deterred by a little rain and set out for Bear Lake with hopes of making at least a mile or two on the trail before lunch. Up at the trailhead elevation it wasn't raining, it was snowing. Better, right? We were bundled up and the kids didn't seem to mind the precipitation one bit so we set off. 

Hiking in the snow was actually quite beautiful, my little camera doesn't do it justice.

 

At the top of this rock, our oldest trooper began acting up. I'm sure this will embarrass her to no end when she gets older but she was absolutely miserable so we had to turn back earlier than we intended. I didn't realize what the issue was until we were twenty yards from the parking lot but suffice it to say that for every hike following her experience she was more than happy to "try and go" at each and every outhouse along the trail. She deserves a Super Bladder award for that morning's hike! Poor Bean.

The Bug took a little snooze on the way down.

And was SO happy when he woke up!

 

The rain was really coming down when we made our way back into town so we stopped at the little Estes Park museum and (don't laugh) really enjoyed it. Every time I come to the mountains I'm always a little bit awed by the people who forged through them on horse or by wagon. I cried when Joe wanted to move us to Arizona. And we have cars. And planes. And technology. And hospitals. Guess I'm not pioneer material!

Some interesting historical tidbits:

"The first settler in the area was Joel Estes, a Kentuckian with wanderlust. In 1860, Estes moved into a hunting cabin. At the time, his family stayed with him. It is said that his wife, Patsy, swept the cabin's floor with the wings of eagles. Winters proved too harsh for cattle, so, six years later, Estes sold out for a yoke of oxen. (!) The Estes homestead is now at the bottom of Lake Estes."

"Isabella Bird, an English-woman and the first female member of the Royal Geographic Society, arrived in Estes Park in the fall of 1873. Bird's book, A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains, attracted many people to the area."

There was a small exhibit about four women who homesteaded on their own in the Rockies (of course I can't remember all of their names) in the 1800's, can you imagine? One of the women, Esther Burnell wrote a book called "A Baby's Life in the Rocky Mountains", would love to get my hands on a copy of that!

Anyway, we're suckers for a good history lesson.

Also during this rainy day was a trip to the grocery store where joy of all joys, they had a pink car shopping cart. 

 

It really was meant to be seeing as how the steering wheel had her moniker imprinted on it.

We ended our day eating snacks and playing board games in front of the fireplace. Good grief, we really are nerds aren't we? Museums and board games, the rain can't ruin our crazy fun!