Bicycled the park today. Climbed out of the camping area and went out by the lodge and visitors center and made the loop. There are several very steep uphill climbs and of course the fun downhill run on the backside. I managed to pedal all of the uphill sections until I reached the visitors center. From there it became quite steep and was uphill of the better part of a half mile or more. Too much for these old legs especially since they only have a handful of miles in training before I left home. There were several overlooks that I decided to skip because was concerned that I wouldn’t have enough leg left to pedal myself back to camp. Saving those hiking trips until tomorrow when I can bring the RV up here and focus on hiking only.
I did pick up a partner near the lodge. I heard something coming up behind and turned to find a dog (or some say a wolf) and he spent the better part of the climb walking point and quartering left to right and back again in front of me while I pushed my bike uphill. I left him far behind when the time came to turn downhill and I coasted most of the way around the loop.
After lunch I took a quick turn through the camping area and found that I had to push most of the uphill sections as my climbing legs were done.
This is a great place to camp, and I am sure that the lodge is nice as well. Lots of roomy campsites, decent privacy and lots of play areas for the kids. There is a water park, a lake with rentals and of course the views are amazing. The park is not exactly conveniently located but this is definitely a place worth stopping into if you are ‘in the neighborhood’. I will keep this one at the top of my list of places to hideaway.
Photos ~ 20150713~MountainAir | Flickr