Summer Camp 2024: Rocky Mountain National Park

What an incredible week at Rocky Mountain National Park last week with Ashlyn's BSA Troop 219 from Denton, TX.  This was the troop's summer camp this year.  We started our journey on Saturday, June 8th and arrived at Sugarite Canyon State Park in New Mexico.  Prior to arriving at the state park, we took a detour and visited the Capulin Volcano National Monument.  This was Ashlyn's first time to visit the volcano.

We had a windy evening while at Sugarite Canyon State Park in New Mexico.  The girls tented in one big tent, which collapsed on them.  The stories were funny between the seven of them since one slept through the tent collapsing and another was content and chill through the whole thing.  They were laughing and telling stories the next morning.  They ended up packing it up and just slept in a few vehicles instead of dealing with the hassle.  Prior to bedtime, we had one of the most beautiful sunsets.

After arriving to Rocky Mountain National Park on Sunday June 9th, we stayed at Glacier Basin Campground which had incredible views from our hikes.  Our focus for our hikes were within the Bear Lake Corridor Trails.  We would either walk over or take a vehicle to the park & ride to catch a bus.  This bus would then take us to three specific trailheads: Bierstadt Lake Trailhead, Glacier Gorge Trailhead, and Bear Lake Trailhead.

On Monday, June 10th, we hiked up to Emerald Lake.  It was about a four mile hike overall with a variety of terrain changes including snow!  This hike was the most challenging out of all the hikes we completed and I am thankful we completed it first.  However, the end result was worth it and we had lunch prior to hiking back down.

 

The following day, Tuesday, June 11th, we hiked about two miles and saw the Alberta Falls.  Originally, we had a tubing excursion planned but were unable to complete due to the water speed.  Six of the seven scouts went to a water park and had an enjoyable day while the rest of us stayed at the campsite area.

Wednesday, June 12th, we all traveled to Colorado Adventure Center and scouts and adults completed a ropes and zip line course.  It was pretty impressive to watch them maneuver through the obstacles.

On Thursday, June 13th, four of us hiked another four miles.  We purposely started near the Bear Lake Trailhead which resulted in only a bit of incline and the remaining was primarily downhill.  In about three hours, we casually hiked four miles.  Our goal was not so fast paced as our previous two hikes had been from Monday and Tuesday!  Here is the picture of Bierstadt Lake from the hike.  Near the end of the hike, the four of us hiking could see our campsite from the hill.

Also on Thursday, June 13th, scouts and some adults completed rock climbing!  I suspect many were tired from the previous day's ropes and zip line course.  Those attending rock climbing stated the hike to get where they had to go was pretty brutal.  However, from all the pictures it appears they had a great time and experience.  Ashlyn mentioned rappelling was a bit challenging and required the most trust from the other person.

As scout led, they did a fantastic job planning out the meals for an entire week.  The girls decided to work on a variety of merit badges including astronomy, climbing, camping, cooking, citizenship in the nation, and first aid.  A few of the girls also worked on trail to first class.  Ashlyn completed climbing, cooking, and the astronomy merit badge.  She is almost completed with her camping merit badge too!

Between the scouts and adults, we hiked the trails at RMNP, went to a water park (due to the tubing plans getting cancelled), completed a ropes/zip line course, rock climbing and rappelling, shopped, and a few a scouts visited a Colorado University!  It was such an amazing experience and thankful I had the opportunity to attend.