loose change

1 september 2025 – moraine park campground

before we get into it, our stats:

miles driven: seventy something

miles hiked: 4

elk seen: maybe a hundred, maybe fifty!

mule deer at campsite: 2

amount of cars at hessie trailhead: too many

marmots spotted: four

percentage of annual visitors that camp in rocky mountain NP (per NPS): 3%!

and the music that carried us:

legend – bob marley

asterisk the universe – john craigie

10/9/76 oakland coliseum – grateful dead

picking up where we left off – after about an hour on the road we reached estes park which was about as crowded as you can imagine on labor day. first stop was the wilderness center to pick up permits and establish a solid itinerary for our two nights in the backcountry. we were helped by the most lovely individual named alec who ran through a bunch of options with us with variable campsite views & elevation gain/loss. he recommended his favorite backcountry site in the park, odessa lake, which had two campsites & one open reservation available. from there he suggested we do a loop & spend our second night at mill creek basin. we’d originally been planning to do an out and back and the idea of a loop was so alluring! thanks to alec we left with permits and two reservations in the rockies for the price of thirty-six dollars. 

post-permit pick up we went to rent a bear box and following that a stop at safeway. backcountry nourishment included but not limited to: four packs of instant ramen, one bag of jerky, handfuls of dried berries & cherries, dehydrated chili & instant mashed potatoes, a couple of tangerines, an apple & pb, and a coupla montuckys. from the store we headed into the park and set up camp at a secluded site in moraine park. there’s mule deer everywhere in and around the sites; they’re big enough and some pronged enough that we thought we were surrounded by elk at first! after the fact i learned to tell them apart–elk have dark manes & mule deer have white buttcheeks. below is a pic of some elk on the side of the road in the park: 

we had some time to kill before settling into camp and we knew we’d benefit from an altitude adjustment so we took donna and serge to their Highest Heights Yet at 11,796 feet! a couple miles on the ute trail yielded a lot of marmot sightings and jumbo views of the rugged peaks & crags of the rockies. the scale of these mountains is so grand that it’s nearly impossible to take everything in at once. i feel the same about the grand canyon, a little bit. you can see the vast landscape in front of you but you can’t really grasp the vastness of it until you’re well within it. the peaks are often glowing with this hazy kind of light, like you’re seeing them through a veil.

we had canned soup for dinner, which has been a burgeoning resource for us on this trip. tonight’s special was minestrone with a demi baguette grilled over the fire. sam’s first time having minestrone and it was a big hit! we were in bed pretty early. every night we’ve spent camping–nine of them thus far, i think–i’m ready to get in the tent earlier than before. a good deal of this is probably due to the poisonwood bible. i’m maybe halfway through, maybe a little more. right around seven thirty when the sky starts to darken all i can think about is getting into my sleeping bag and turning pages.

early morning tomorrow! this trip to rocky was rather impromptu or like, we knew we’d probably stop in rocky but didn’t have anything hashed out until quite literally the day before (shout out to sam for the OTR (On The Road) planning) so there’s quite a bit of late set excitement as we wait to see what the mountains have in store! gn for now xxo

2 september 2025 – bear lake ➔ odessa lake

the day in numbers:

miles hiked: 4.4 (i think the day total shook out to 5.5)

packs of ramen eaten: 4

people seen on trail: 3

highest elevation: 10,700 ft

elevation at camp: 10,020 ft

estimated water temp: 48º

pikas seen: 6

beers drank: 2

yours truly was a littleeeeee dramatic about the 543a wakeup this morning so naturally we pushed the alarm off until six. the parking lot at bear lake the day prior was full by 7a so our main goal was getting out of our campsite and into the parking lot as quickly as poss. we made it at about 658 with plenty of spaces to spare! in spite of a very comedic & very ~national park~ three car traffic jam this morning for…a few turkeys on the side of the road. wildlife is wildlife! the morning light was stunning and so well worth the early alarm. once we secured our spot we took our sweet time sprawling all of our gear out and stuffing our packs and brushing our teeth and eating breakfast. on trail by 9a!

we started out on the ascent, the trail was so well maintained and we were under canopy for most of the uphill. after the first mile or two we began to lose elevation and gain vistas. we passed through huge boulder fields & moraines and saw a bunch of little pikas weaving in and out of the rocks. the downhill treated us so well! the trail led us around a wall of sandstone to reveal our sweet odessa, our destination in sight! we reached camp by 11a.

the deal as alec had explained it was this: there are two sites at odessa lake that can be reserved on a first-come, first-serve basis. there is no ~bad site~ so to speak, but there is one site with a view of the lake and within short walking distance to the little sand beaches and in an ideal world, we would be able to snag that site. i had a little pep talk with myself about a half mile out from the lake: we may not get the site we’re hoping for and that’ll be perfectly alright! it’s been a gorgeous hike thus far and we’ll have a lovely time wherever the trail takes us. just before odessa, the trail meets up with fern creek. excitement was all-time as we got closer to camp.

as we crossed the bridge into the campground, we passed a man collecting water from the creek and assumed he was our neighbor for the evening. we were nearing the lake and i noticed a tent to our right kind of obscured by trees. could it be that the lakefront spot was not yet occupied?! lo and behold! upon reaching what would be our camp, we ran into a couple from denver, the man helping the woman put on her pack. lake views secured! we had a lovely conversation as they bequeathed us their campsite; they’d planned to be around for two nights and had canceled night two at the last minute, which allowed us to take it. they informed us that a fellow camper had left their hammock straps in the most pristine position by the lake, and that they’d seen no bears during their stay! we unpacked and headed down to the beach.

lunch was baguette with avocado & peppered salami off the stick, sam’s a proper sando and mine open-faced. we were in and out of clouds as it often goes in the mountains but found a lovely window of sunshine in which we submerged ourselves in the sub-fifty degree alpine water; if i’m being honest sam submerged but i was reticent to fully commit given the ever-changing cloud cover. after being out of elevation for a few months i’d forgotten how quickly the sun’s heat reaches my skin. it’s such a warm sunshine, so prime for basking. i dipped about up to my hips and decided to wait for a better window to dunk. we sat on the beach in reverence of the peaks surrounding the lake, the tallest one being little matterhorn at 11,586 ft.

after a little while the rain prevailed and the band retreated to their tent for another reading hour. it was truthfully the laziest and most anticlimactic rain we could have endured and we were grateful for a reason to be cozed up! few feelings compare to the sound of rain on a tent while you’re inside and warm and dry. it’s different from rain on a roof in that you’re much more vulnerable to getting wet so therefore you’re much more grateful for the privilege of being dry. after a few hours the clouds subsided and we were back down to the lakeside for the late afternoon into evening program.

at a quarter to four when we stirred from our prone positions the sun was out in full force and it felt like the most idyllic window to bathe in. it was a quick in & out for me but the water was cold enough to set my body on fire as a cold water plunge does, making me feel awake and present and extremely grateful for the moment at hand. we had a two-course ramen dinner and in between courses spent a little time in the hammock with a little bit of whisky. while we were enjoying the view two day-hikers came over & one of them, colleen, asked if she could take a picture of us on her ~fancy camera~ because we looked so cute and she couldn’t resist. we also had her take one on sam’s phone.

really really gorgeous photo for the history books!! shortly after it was taken we made our second ramen and started getting ready for bed. this pic of me brushing my teeth was taken at 721p and once i finished i was kind of twiddling my thumbs, communicating to sam via body language and a couple of eyebrow raises and a couple of executive “well!” accompanied by clapping my hands once that i was ready to get in the tent. not sure if this is coming across in narrative the way i’d like it to but it’s such a funny little window into our evenings outdoors. sam thought it was a little ludicrous to be in tent before 730 so we convinced me to stay outside for the moonrise.

we were in the tent by eight with sleepy bodies and minds full of thanks! we could not have been luckier for our campsite and weather circumstances on this trip. we went to bed with no alarm and hopes to leave around 9a tomorrow.

3 september 2025: odessa lake ➔ mill creek basin

total mileage at end of day: 6.2 backpacked, 7.9 total

waterfalls passed: 3

elevation lost: 1700 ft

elevation gained: 900 ft

elevation at camp: 9,010 ft

people seen: 12

our first no-alarm wake up in a little while! per usual i woke a little before seven and tried to trick myself into falling back asleep to no avail. i burned through fifty or so more pages of the poisonwood bible, which at this point is becoming increasingly difficult to put down. sam woke up at around 815 and we lounged in the tent until 830 or so before packing it all down.

it’s always a funny scene in the morning. sam pointed out the other day that if we have an alarm set, i am most often very obstinate and unwilling to arise without complaint. if there’s not an alarm set, i wake up very early with a lot of energy and usually have to wait thirty to forty-five minutes before sam’s up. sometimes i can tell by his breathing pattern if he’s about to wake up. sometimes he rolls over and itches his arm or face and i know he’s almost awake. regardless, usually the first thing sam sees when he opens his eyes is me looking eagerly over at him waiting for him to be awake so we can hang out. this usually happens about three or four times until he cedes to my excitement and takes out his earplugs. sometimes i am a little less-than-polite and make a bunch of noise or unzip the tent zipper a few times to expedite the process.

breakfast today was oatmeal packets (from the marriott in fargo) and lemon ginger tea. we were on trail by 930. we were in for a little more of a surprise in terms of topography. after crossing a huge moraine full of lichen-covered boulders we reached fern lake, around which is a huge swath of burn scar from fires in 2012 & 2020.

we were covered by the shadow of the mountains to our right for the first part of the hike. the trail winds all the way down to big thompson river and largely follows small tributaries and waterfalls down 1700 feet of elevation. we made decently good time during those first three miles. after fern lake, the trail opens up into acres of charred trees and invasive species choking out what was once the forest floor. this open stretch of trail smelled like sun baked raspberries and crispy autumn aspen leaves. young aspens were everywhere on the trail, piquing sam’s interest and providing small moments of shade amongst the otherwise skeletal forest.

there was a warm breeze blowing, rattling the aspen leaves and wafting through the tall grasses on the trailside. after three miles, we reached “the pool” in big thompson which sits at 8319 ft elev (pictured below) and took our packs off for a quick snack and water break. from the pool we had about three miles left of trail that took us up toward the boundary of the burn scar and over a 9200 ft ridgeline.

we reached a fork in the trail with a sign pointing to mill creek basin and passed a three-generation group of backpackers heading the same way, a grandmother, mother, and daughter of about 12. we just saw a guy coming down from mill creek; he said this section is pretty brutal! we had 900 ft to gain in about two miles.

about a half a mile into it i began to feel the effects of the sun and the altitude and dehydration and a heavy pack and it became quite a grueling part of the trip for me. there’s nothing like a steep trail grade with not much canopy to send the brain into a hyper-individualistic spiral. with each step i was questioning my strength & somehow the question of my physical strength was also translating into one about my mental fortitude and i did not want to stop for water or a snack because god forbid it’s my fault it takes us longer to get over this ridge. in spite of the obvious factors against me–the thinner air, the heat, the weight on my back–i could not find rationale and felt like an absolute loser trudging uphill. there was another part of me battling back and suggesting that the difficulty i was having didn’t necessarily mean i’m an objectively weak person. eventually i gave up on thinking and resorted to one step in front of the other until we crested the ridge and began the mile descent into our campsite.

again we’d secured the first pick of two campsites and chose one overlooking a meadow beneath an aspen grove. practicing bear awareness, we quickly set up camp and then headed down to mill creek to spend the afternoon and eat a little lunch. we were both feeling pretty gassed from the hike and with sam’s support we’d had a good reckoning giggle at my earlier uphill plights. in search of a further morale boost we had our final packs of bob l’eponge fruit snacks and sprawled out by the river to read and bask a little. i finished the final chapters of the poisonwood bible in this most idyllic setting.

sam was very compelled by the proliferation of aspens we found ourselves amongst. here’s some notes from his annals:

Without a doubt, the highlight of my day was the legions of baby aspens we traversed through. Their genesis stemmed from two fires that severely impacted the area, one in 2012, and another in 2020; in the wake of fire, aspens sprout prolifically, a fact readily available to us as we bore witness to their sheer abundance. This, of course, led me to googling “facts about aspens” once returning to the front-country, and I learned some marvelous things about a tree I had long since considered my Favorite. They are not only my favorite tree but the most widespread in all of North America, so obviously I selected well. Aspens sprouts originate as “suckers” (killer name) that are formed in their extensive underground root systems, and in a single acre of fire-impacted terrain, as many as 100,000 suckers can sprout. In this post-fire period, they dominate the forest growth game, taking advantage of plentiful sunlight and their rapid developmental tendencies to make magic. In an area aggressively marred by the fires of the past 15 years, their quintessential flutter enlisted great hope for woodland return, no matter the obstacles that stand in front of it. You may temporarily kill a forest, but created in the wake lies aspen suckers by the millions, just awaiting their chance to shine.

We camped in a lush meadow that seemed right on the fire line. Most of the trees directly encircling us were spared, but the fire had claimed trees in all directions. Amongst the surviving groves were some of the most robust and monstrous aspens I have yet seen. A quick google reveals that most aspens top out at about 50 feet, with the outer range of height being 80 feet; I am sure, through zero scientific process, that these trees were taller than that. Spared by but a few feet in places, these behemoths stood watch over the scores of juvenile aspens gathered around their bases, like pre-school teachers leading a lesson in forest renewal. I have always been most enamored by aspens, and have often listed the sound of wind-through-aspen-grove to be one of my favorite sounds out there. Even with this, I left Rocky with a significantly heightened appreciation for these ghostly Saints of the Woods. Getting the chance to witness their arboreal leadership in the wake of calamity was extremely memorable.

such a treat to have him guest featured in this piece! pictured above are some of the aspens to which he was referring. we realized too late that we (for once) took too few pictures of these beautiful creatures.

tonight’s dinner was hearty yet experimental. we brought dehydrated chili and instant mashed potatoes but had quite a small pot so we had to batch it in two. the first batch took maybe half an hour to get the chili just right, and we added far too many mashed potatoes and not enough water. it was nourishing but not quite right. the second batch we knocked out of the park, making kind of a thick chili-potato stew. we’ve been especially excited to share this recipe with our sweet friends cammie and ethan, Local Experts On Idahoan Instant Mashed Potatoes. it’s not going to look very appetizing, but we know cam and ethan at the very least will be impressed:

we finished eating just before seven, at which point it was time for the nightly game of how-can-we-keep-ryder-out-of-the-tent-until-at-least-seven-forty-five. thankfully sam had backup tonight! we stood in our campsite upon the aspen trees at the edge of the meadow and were mesmerized by a family of mule deer eating their little hearts out. there were five of them, maybe more hidden in shadows, and we think at least there were two moms and two babies. we were rapt as they–clearly aware of our presence–meandered through the field, coming as close as thirty feet away from us. sam sneezed just as i was taking this picture. they have satellite dish ears for any perceived noise in the distance.

s and i swapped books in the tent, my turn to read under the banner of heaven and his to read the poisonwood bible. we were excited for a good night of sleep and an early morning return to serge the following day. although we both felt like we could have done a few more days in the backcountry, it still feels incredible to get out after just 48 hours. we talked about this phenomenon at dinner. sam puts it very eloquently in recognizing that the backcountry makes you appreciate the very simple things you have and upon return to civilization, most of the things we take for granted feel extremely luxurious. we’re talkin’ potable water or a running tap, a hot shower, a cold beer, even just a chair to sit down in. it seems that gratitude levels across the board skyrocket after immersing yourself in the outdoors. not only do we have this augmented appreciation of the pure land upon which we’re standing and the environmental factors that shaped it but for a few hours or–if we’re cognizant enough–a few days afterward, we take none of our material possessions for granted.

4 september 2025: mill creek basin ➔ bear lake

the morning passed quickly and we were back to the car by nine thirty! our feet and packs were lighter as we headed back to reality, passing not a single person on the trail until we got to the bear lake parking lot. we grabbed our camp chairs, some chips, and a beer to split and set up right on the edge of bear lake for a bit, having a couple hours to kill before estes park brewery opened. total mileage this morning was 2.3 miles.

we were aglow after such a phenomenal and unexpected chapter of this road trip. here’s another reflection from sammy:

When thinking of this trip, I was focused primarily upon Voyageurs, a long-pined over destination that offered us elite opportunities to utilize our new beloved vessel, Donna Jean. Thus, my mind rarely considered our time in Rocky Mountain, despite my immense affinity and connection to the place, until we were on its doorstep! Some classic sentimentality kicked in as we approached Estes Park, the eastern entrance to RMNP, as we wove our way closer to the peaks I had spent such considerable time under in college. In our first day in the park, we drove right past Hidden Valley, the site of my Avalanche-1 course and the first backcountry zone I embarked upon with my newfound (read: old as fuck) touring setup. Pulling up to our backpacking trailhead at Bear Lake, I realized then the countless times I had readied myself for a day of backcountry skiing in that same cement loop. The first mile of our trek even took us up the skin track I had traversed time and time again to reach my favorite zone in that area, the coveted Banana Bowl, an area I had never seen without snow. Thus, for the majority of the morning, I geeked myself out on seeing the rocky scree field void of snow for the first time, and surely told Ryder an obscene amount of stories of my ventures in snow-laden RMNP. A righteous homecoming to areas pivotal to my life’s current direction, and an unexpected one at that! I felt extremely grateful for the privilege to see parts new and old of the mountainous playground that was my backyard for four seminal years.

our spirits had been slightly dampened by some evidence of a creature in the car. a little bit of the chip bag was gnawed off, teeny tiny little bite marks that we chalked up to be from a very hungry and somewhat menacing ant. after we loaded up and returned our bear box we headed to estes park brewery, which sam hadn’t been to in a couple of years.

it turned out that the whole place is under new ownership and not at all what we had expected of a brewery. they’re calling it ~the hive~ now. there was a little bit of big brother energy in the place, with probably five employees on the floor at any given time and at least two managers overseeing the whole place. you got the vibe that the employees were like, kind of scared to fuck anything up or not perform according to the manager’s expectations. the hostess was wearing an ear piece, michelin style restaurant communication, although in an 800sq foot restaurant with plenty of open tables i cannot imagine why the secret service vibe was necessary. i had an extremely subpar ipa and we sat in a booth overlooking the tap room, which felt very out of place in contrast to the dining room. they had all these table settings on every table but were serving regular brewery food. it was fully trying to be too many things at once and the worst part of all was the music they played; very ethereal 21st century ai house music covers of classic songs like with or without you, lovely day, and here comes the sun.

we finished eating, both kind of overwhelmed by the vibe of the place, and our server (who was perfectly timely and kind but blatantly trying very hard to adhere to some kind of script) put a qr code on the table asking us to leave a five star review if we enjoyed our time. out of the dozens of restaurants we’ve patronized, good or bad, we have never left a cold hard review on the internet. sam gave them two stars. this kind of feels like a lot of wasted exposition on an underwhelming and forgettable restaurant experience but we both felt rather passionate about the aesthetic dissonance of the place!

from there it was off to winter park for georgia and finlay’s wedding weekend! i’ve been adding a few touches to the piece at hideaway brewery while sam showers at the local rec center. lucy & eliza get into town very late tonight and will head up to tabernash tomorrow where we’ve rented an airbnb for friday & saturday night. we’re so thrilled to celebrate and i’m so thrilled to see these two ladies! tonight we’ll camp on some forest land on the outskirts of winter park.

this concludes our time in rocky! i’m hoping i’ve not left out any details but this was a real behemoth of a piece to report after the fact and i’m so appreciative to you for reading all the way through. it’s been quite lovely to get messages from our friends and family about how much folks are appreciating these insights into our travels. these documents began mostly for our parents and for posterity’s sake but have turned into one of my favorite parts of the trip. writing this all down has been really fun for me and i’m so glad to be able to share.

next time i check in we’ll be on the home stretch! love ya thanks for reading!

xxo ryder and sam