Weekday trip to Estes Park (Denver, Fort Collins: safer, vacation, vehicle)

[hikernut]

Originally Posted by jonwb

Thanks Mike and hikernut...

Well, unfortunately we won't have a lot of time to hike. The trip is mainly set up around visiting FC and Wellington for possible relocation. We're drawn to water, which is why a short jaunt up to Estes to walk around the lake sounded like a good plan.

Another alternative would be Red Feather Lakes. It's closer to Wellington than Estes, and would be far less crowded.

[jonwb]

Originally Posted by hikernut

Another alternative would be Red Feather Lakes. It's closer to Wellington than Estes, and would be far less crowded.

Hey, that might do it.. thanks! Another poster here (Karen) ventured out to that area, along with a trip to Poudre River, north of FC. We were thinking about dropping by Lee Martinez Park to see the river flow through, but maybe there's a better option???

Red Feather looks great by the way...

[hikernut]

Originally Posted by jonwb

Hey, that might do it.. thanks! Another poster here (Karen) ventured out to that area, along with a trip to Poudre River, north of FC. We were thinking about dropping by Lee Martinez Park to see the river flow through, but maybe there's a better option???

Martinez Park is a good choice in town. Up the canyon is more scenic, but if you're limited on time you'll probably have to choose between visiting either Red Feather Lakes or the Poudre Canyon. They're both nice.

[StealthRabbit]

If you want to include the sights from Red Feather.. Head to Snowy Range, It is VERY nice!!! and some very pretty lakes and streams.

What type of water are you DRAWN too?

I have retired friends in Ft Collins (on a small private lake) and also in Wellington.

Do look at north Lake Loveland for a nice area (Near Benson Sculpture Gardens.

Boedecker and Mariana Lake (west of Loveland) are pretty sweet spots. Our home (childhood) was on Buckhorn River (near Masonville)

If you are drawn to water... my current income tax free domicile of WA State has PLENTY (ocean, Puget Sound, BIG rivers, Mtns, Mtn lakes (check out north Cascade National Park and Olympic P). + 200_ days / yr of drizzle (only in We_tern WA). Spokane and north on Pend Oreille / Sandpoint and Coeur d Alene is some very nice "water centric" retirement sites. For Colorado... Consider nearby Glendo (WY)

Estes Park + Water... do a web search, there are several VERY nice pretty lakes and settings within 10 - 20 minutes (south & west). Lots of EP retirees near Mary's Lake.

[SkyDog77]

Leave it to stealth to try to sell you on Washington or Wyoming for your Colorado vacation.

Originally Posted by jonwb

Hey, that might do it.. thanks! Another poster here (Karen) ventured out to that area, along with a trip to Poudre River, north of FC. We were thinking about dropping by Lee Martinez Park to see the river flow through, but maybe there's a better option???

Red Feather looks great by the way...

The Poudre Canyonis beautiful, but this time of year the river resembles more of a creek from a flow perspective. Add the time of year to the fact that it was a pretty low snow year and hot summer and you come up with one conclusion; there’s not much water this year!

The river is currently running around 175 cubic feet per second. The average for this date is more like 350. At peak runoff, it averages 2,000 cfs.

I still think it’s worth seeing, but I want to set your expectations properly.

[Thoreau424]

The Cache la Poudre anywhere else would be referred to as a creek. It's small compared to the grand and true rivers of other states.

[SkyDog77]

Originally Posted by Thoreau424

The Cache la Poudre anywhere else would be referred to as a creek. It's small compared to the grand and true rivers of other states.

I think that could be said for most of the rivers in Colorado.it’s part of living in a low moisture headwater state.

[jonwb]

Well, we're all booked and set up so we'll make the most of it... thanks. When I mentioned we're "drawn" to water, I basically meant that we'd like to see "some". Lakes, rivers, streams, creeks, irrigated sidewalks.. whatever? It's been a long hot, muggy, fire stormed summer here in California so anything will do. (I read you're getting our smoke!.. uh, sorry???)

We're actually headed to WA in September for my nephew's wedding. I KNOW we'll see water there! Heck, the wedding is at a beach park overlooking Lake Washington! Hard to do better than that.

See you CO in ten days!

[SkyDog77]

Originally Posted by jonwb

Well, we're all booked and set up so we'll make the most of it... thanks. When I mentioned we're "drawn" to water, I basically meant that we'd like to see "some". Lakes, rivers, streams, creeks, irrigated sidewalks.. whatever? It's been a long hot, muggy, fire stormed summer here in California so anything will do. (I read you're getting our smoke!.. uh, sorry???)

We're actually headed to WA in September for my nephew's wedding. I KNOW we'll see water there! Heck, the wedding is at a beach park overlooking Lake Washington! Hard to do better than that.

See you CO in ten days!

Ha! Nice. You’ll be just fine.

If you decide to drive a little bit further in to RMNP, the Bear Lake trail isn’t really much of a hike. It’s 0.8 miles round trip.

Bear Lake - Hike the Bear Lake Loop in Rocky Mountain National Park

[hikernut]

Originally Posted by jonwb

Well, we're all booked and set up so we'll make the most of it... thanks. When I mentioned we're "drawn" to water, I basically meant that we'd like to see "some". Lakes, rivers, streams, creeks, irrigated sidewalks.. whatever? It's been a long hot, muggy, fire stormed summer here in California so anything will do.

If it gets too hot, of course elevation is your friend. We were visiting a couple of years ago, camping in RMNP. It must have been close to 90 F at the campground so we got in the car and drove up Trail Ridge Road to the top. Temp was in the 70s up there at least.