Saying Goodbye to Summer Break, Estes Style

What did we do the weekend before school started? (And was this really just last weekend?)  We spent the day in Estes! Friends from out-of-state were visiting Colorado, and we decided to meet them in Estes Park.

We love Estes. One of my favorite attractions is The Stanley Hotel. It’s fun to have lunch there, and if you do, the $5 you pay for parking gets taken off your lunch tab! (If you spend at least $25, and you will.)

We’ve been to Estes many times over the years, but this time was a little different. Because we were going to be showing our friends the Letterboxing Ropes, I’d discovered some parts of Estes that we didn’t even know existed.

Did you know that you can hike the trails behind The Stanley?

…and climb a mountain? (The dads climbed the mountain by going around the long way. The teenager climbed pretty much straight up from here.  One of the dads is pictured at the top!)

After we hiked around out back and had lunch, we took pictures of the front.

…and in front of the front.

After a few hours, it was time to say goodbye to our friends. They ventured off on a ghost tour, and we ventured off to explore the Birch House Ruins of Estes Park before heading home. Ruins? What ruins?

It’s true. We’ve been to Estes I don’t know how many times, and we had no idea these ruins existed.

There is a tiny gravel turn-off just west of the The Stanley. If you park in the lot and hike up the hill, the view of The Stanley is amazing!!  (Click photos for more detail.)

It was fun hiking all over the trails and checking out the ruins.

The Birch House Ruins

Estes Ruin View. Estes View Not Ruined.

All in all, it was a fantastic Send Off for our Summer Break!