Rocky Mountain National Park |
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Hello Everyone,
It is time for fun in the snow in the mountains of Colorado!
Rocky Mountain National Park: As many of you already know, I was a guide in Rocky Mountain National Park for 16-years before I moved to the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. I have resumed my tours in Rocky Mountain National Park and this winter I will be offering Snowshoeing, Cross-country Skiing, and Winter Birding Tours on the Grand Lake side through March 2022. Next summer and fall 2022, I will be offering birding, hiking, and overnight backpacking trips in Rocky Mountain National Park on both the Grand Lake and Estes Park sides. In Rocky Mountain National Park, reservations for overnight back-country permits begin on February 1st and summer reservations book up fast, so plan ahead. All my tours in Rocky Mountain National Park are private due to the high elevation. (And if you were planning on visiting Olympic National Park, don't worry, I will still be offering tours there in the spring, summer, and fall.)
Check out my video from last winter on the Grand Lake side of Rocky Mountain National Park.
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Snowshoeing: I offer private half day and full day trips on the Grand Lake side of Rocky Mountain National Park. Prices start at $65 per person and include snowshoes, poles, and snacks. There are location options from flat and easy or you can choose uphill and challenging. If you can hike, you can snowshoe, it is that easy.
Cross-country Skiing: I offer private half day and full day trips on the Grand Lake side of Rocky Mountain National Park. Prices start at $130 per person and include skis, ski boots, poles, and snacks. I offer lessons, for the complete novice and the locations are flat and easy. For those who would like a more challenging trip, I recommend skiing on Trail Ridge Road, which has a nice easy incline that allows for a fun ski down hill.
Rocky Mountain National Park is a high elevation area. Established in 1915, the park covers 267 acres (416 square miles), and has 359 miles of hiking trails. The lowest point in the park is about 8,100 feet and most trailheads are located from 8,200 - 10,500. For this reason, we only offer Private Trips, so your entire group will be similarly acclimated to the altitude. We recommend that you arrive a few days early and stay on Grand Lake (8,300 feet) for our winter tours or either Grand Lake or Estes Park (7,800 feet) for our summer and fall tours to help you acclimate. Altitude sickness and fatigue will ruin your trip, so please Plan Ahead and Prepare (Leave No Trace principle #1). Elk, Moose and Coyotes can be seen openly roaming the meadows, while Bears, Mountain Lions and Bobcats are some of the more elusive predators we find in the forested areas. Little critters like Marmots, Chipmunks and Ground Squirrels are abundant. During the summer, the colorful wildflowers and tundra plants are stunning. Longs Peak, the highest mountain in the park, rises up to 14,255 feet. Trail Ridge Road crosses over the tundra and the continental divide and summits at 12,200 feet! A visit to Rocky Mountain National Park will be an experience you will not forget!
Birding, Wildlife, and Hiking Tours: Over 300 different species of birds have been identified in Rocky Mountain National Park and the park has 359 miles of hiking trails for single day or multi day tours. If you will be in the national park area for an extended period of time, we highly recommend spending time in all five life zones in the area. Starting in Rocky Mountain National Park, you will find different species of birds in the four major zones in the park: Alpine, Sub-alpine, Montane, and Riparian. At the edge of the park, you will find the foothills, plains and high mountain parks. We can arrange an extended birding tours of the different areas for you.
Alpine Tours: Trail Ridge Road crosses Rocky Mountain National Park and the continental divide and the high point on the road reaches 12,200 feet. The Alpine Visitor Center is along Trail Ridge Road at 11,800 feet. We will take you on several short nature walks and teach you about the plants, animals and geology of the Alpine Tundra.
Stargazing and Night Sounds: We don’t have a telescope, but we love to go into the National Park at night and look for shooting stars, falling meteorites, the Milky-way and orbiting satellites. We will teach you about the constellations of the sky. The mountain sky is truly clear and on a moonless night, you will be amazed about the number of stars in the sky. Nighttime is also a great time for night sounds.
Overnight Backpacking: There is nothing more wonderful than waking up in the backcountry. Mountain mornings are cool and calm, night skies are brilliant with stars and the air is quiet; to awake next to a high mountain crystal clear lake or stream is an incredible experience. Rocky Mountain National Park is a high elevation area and most backcountry campsites are located from 9,500 - 10,500 and some sites are located over 11,000 feet. For this reason, we only offer private trips, so your entire group will be similarly acclimated. We advise you to arrive a few days early to better acclimate to the altitude.
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Colorado: Besides tours in Rocky Mountain National Park, I will also be offering multi-day tours throughout Colorado. These locations will include Great Sand Dunes National Park, the Pawnee National Grasslands, the Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge, and Colorado State Parks.
Olympic National Park: Birding, Hiking, and Overnight Backpacking tours will continue on the Olympic Peninsula. Reservations for back-country permits for overnight backpacking begin 6-months in advance and summer reservations book up fast, so if you are interested in camping in a quota area, it is best to plan at least 6-months early.
Washington State: The biodiversity and landscape of Washington is impressive. From the Pacific Ocean, to the Cascade Range of Volcanoes and the eastern habitats of desert, It is hard to see everything in a short visit. These tours includes Olympic National Park, Olympic National Forest, the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge, the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge and Washington State Parks. I offer 5-day tours, 10-day tours, and private custom tours as well. Come see the amazing Pacific Northwest.
Santa Fe: Every year in mid August we visit Santa Fe for Opera and Birding. If you are interested in Opera, this is a fantastic tour. If you do not like opera, you can sign up for the "Birding Only" part of the trip. Either way, this is a fun and interesting trip to Santa Fe, which includes the Randall Davey Audubon Center Sanctuary, and the Abiquiu Ghost Ranch.
New Mexico: Besides my opera tour, I also will be offering a 7-day tour in southern New Mexico which will include locations such as the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife, Oliver Lee Memorial State Park, Petroglyph National Monument, the Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge, White Sands National Park, and private custom tours as well.
Montana: This tour starts in Missoula and slowly travels a 550-mile loop through southwestern Montana over the course of 7-days. From Missoula, we will travel through areas near Helena, Bozeman, Butte, Dillon, and Deer Lodge: Big Sky country, every bit of it. Come and see the beautiful landscapes and beautiful birds of Montana.
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Kaiyote and Ed: We are doing great and we are keeping busy with various local projects and looking towards the future. We can't wait to get out again and travel and go adventuring around the world where ever the birds might lead us.
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