Due to popular demand, I have written a journal of our 6-day journey to Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) cut short to 2 days. Welcome to part I. It all started on Sunday as we arrived at the ranger station to get our backpacking ticket...
Park Ranger Victor Hall was kindly giving us the new rules for backpacking in RMNP. With their total bear count down to 23 from 30, they were taking no chances. And Rick was obviously a bit peeved with prior hikers getting sloppy. Bears are not leaving, you see. They are being put down. And according to Victor, that number would soon be 20 due to 3 brown bears aggressively going after hikers' food supplies. As the corners of Victor's mouth turned from concern over a potential lack of preparedness on our part to approval as David affirmed "yes" to his myriad of questions, my eyes wandered over their bulletins pasted to the wooden walls of the ranger office. For instance...
David was assuring Victor that he not only had a map of the area where we planned to stay for the next three days, but he had also downloaded photos of our final summit to Long's Peak and our course upward. David had charted our course with a ranger over the phone prior to arriving. We were hiking 4.5 miles with our big packs on day 1 to Sand Beach Lake. Then we would ascend the next day by bushwhacking with our big packs (David's at about 50 lbs., mine about 40) again to 10,000 ft. on Mt. Orton. The third day we planned to take our small day packs and summit Long's Peak. Piece of cake, Victor! As we prepared to leave, Victor ran through the quick list of what to do when you see a bear. You know...look big, throw rocks, holler. The norm. Then for mountain lions...same thing. Just don't leave children or pets unattended. Or be alone on a run or bike ride at dawn or dusk. Apparently that's when they prefer to pluck their victims caught unawares. Finally, just to drive the message home, he also offered us a free cup of coffee if we sprayed a bear guilty of stealing a backpack with food in it. Apparently that is good discipline for black bears. Gulp. Sweat beads on the nose. Later, Vic. See you soon...um, hopefully. Needless to say we quickly texted our itinerary to Debbie and Mikel and hopped in the car for a quick drive to our trailhead. Surely Ranger Vic was a bit overreactive.
When we pulled into our parking lot by the trailhead, the rangers wanted $20 and had further advice for black bear encounters. After all, they said, chances were ripe to see them as activity was unusually high. When we mentioned we were packing a canister of bear spray a blonde ranger dude was quick to inform us that spraying a bear was a last resort. Last guy wanted to give us coffee. Awfully confusing.
So with a heavy dose of bear (not to mention mountain lion) fear, my 40 lb. backpack and a one last stop at an actual restroom we were off. Click here for our parting words before hitting the trailhead. We were so adorable and excited. Bless our hearts.
No comments:
Post a Comment