Nederland, Mt Evans Summit, Diosaur Ridge, Pole Hill

The Nederland Carosel -

 Each time we have camped up near Nederland, we have wondered what the strange round building was in the center of the quaint little town.  Finally we stopped there to check it out.  Inside the circular building is an ornate hand carved carousel, a wonderland for children and a merriment to the parent's eyes.  It was beautiful.  Apparently, it was carved by hand by a man who donated it to the town and it is preserved as an indoor carousel to enjoy.  Each "horse was unique and creatively painted: rabbits, moose, a mermaid, snake, bear, to name a few.  The musical instruments piping in the music are so loud that they have to be kept inside a plexiglass box with only a few holes or it would be too loud in the enclosed space.  It was a beautiful place.  Upstairs there was even a puppet theater for the kids to explore and create their own narratives with quite a few puppet options.  Jadeyn of course immediately went for the carnivores and began a play of mayhem while a little girl beside him reached for the unicorn!!

 We enjoyed homemade donuts and a delightful Irish Soda inside a railway car converted to a restaurant and candy store.  They actually had "penny candies" for sale, but of course they were five cents! Kevin and I bought some Zots and tried to convince Jadeyn to try Pop Rocks, but he wasn't quite ready for that one yet!!  We were so glad we finally explored Nederland!

 Mt Evans, Colorado
 The highest paved road in the United States!  We traversed the windy (or serpentine) road as Jadeyn said) up switchback after switchback way above treeline to reach the summit of Mt Evan.  At 84 degrees at the visitor's center way down below, we quickly plummeted to 48 degrees at the summit.  Wow!  The view was amazing as we could see many of the other peaks in the distance and even the buildings of Denver 36 miles away.

 One thing we didn't calculate, was that this was a holiday weekend, and normally we get out as early as we can.  Shawn & Stephanie and kids as well as Stephanie's siblings Chris and Brie joined us so we didn't arrive until around noon.  The mountain was packed with people!!  The parking at the top was insane!  People packed in tightly, but even just driving through the tight spaces to get turned around was crazy.  Shawn even had to fold in the mirrors on his truck to fit through and had to park below on a switchback.  There was a bit of confusion when we all got separated, but eventually we all got our turn at the actual summit.

 

 There is a 1/2 mile hike up multiple switchbacks to get to the actual summit of this grand mountain. Like mountain goats, I got to scamper up with Kevin, and Jadeyn and Austin clambering around with us.  At the summit we took in the beauty that surrounded us.  It was a clear day and we could see for miles!!!!  Amazingly enough, it wasn't even that windy at the top.  Breezy yes, cold yes, but I expected a much stiffer wind.  We enjoyed it and headed back down to meet the rest of the group and wind our way back to the bottom. (By the way, don't you like the death grip that Kevin has on the two boys!?  They were literally a few steps away from plummeting...for me, well, sit the boys down and you can actually smile for the picture!)

 On the drive down we were please to see several beautiful Mountain Goats.  Their coats shimmered pure white as they are getting ready for winter!

 

Off to Dinosaur Ridge!  

Since it was after 5pm when we arrived, we got to do the self-guided tour version of the dinosaur tracks.  It was a perfect evening, perfectly warm, and the sun was just hidden enough by clouds to not need sunglasses, perfect hiking weather.  This area is full of dinosaur remnants and remains.   Along the walk we got to see the rippled rock surface from ancient sea beds, impressions of trees in the rocks, and then coolest of all was a whole area scattered with dinosaur footprints where the conditions of the mud were just right to preserve them!  It was sweet! 

 

 

We took a beautiful side hike that progressed swiftly up the mountain over rocks and sagebrush.  We took the trail quite a way before beginning to wonder if it was actually going to a destination and finally we turned back as the kids were starting to waiver.  (Later as we continued around on the paved trail, we found where our side trail came out on the other side.  We were almost to the end!!!)
Dinner of good ol' home cookin' at Mimi's Cafe was delicious and all in all it was a really fun day!


Pole Hill - During the rest of the holiday weekend we enjoyed a nice ride int he RZR up a trail that overlooks Estes Park.  It was a beautiful almost fall day and the leaves have just started to change!