We left late in the day to spend some final moments with Grandma and cousins before returning to the relative wild.

This year, Rocky Mountain National Park is the reservation that got away. I was unable, twice, to lock down a campsite within the National Park. Six months ago every spot filled within seconds then for the few spots they keep for week early filled up even faster. I can’t complain, I won some pretty big lotteries this year with spots in Yosemite and permits for the backcountry. All is not lost, as long as we enter the park before the gates open at nine we should be good, in fact, we likely need to arrive way before that at our trailhead if we plan to park a bus and hike in the park.

To facilitate this, we found a beautiful campsite along Mary’s Lake right at the base of the national park. We arrived with enough time to swim, climb into pajamas, and scramble some rocks next to camp

Bonus Video: what it’s like to hike with these goobers.