23 replies to this topic

[Veik]

Anyway, if interested you can see plenty of almost  step by step pictures of my hikes at my gallery

Tom's RMNP Hikes 2004

I remember those pictures. They were great! I wonder if those lakes are still there. :D

[Aaron]

Also we will be stayin in Moraine now i have not made the reservation but i am going to we have 5 guys how hard will it be to make the reservation? WE are comin in July (8th -16th)

I'm not exactly sure of when they'll start taking reservations for the campground but I'd suggest looking into making your reservations some time late February or early March. If there are 5 of you going you may want to think about getting two sites. You can request to be "buddied up" and they'll do their best to try to get your two sites next to each other.

Map of Moraine Park Campground--click here!!

Also what kind of rafting deals do they have out there?

I'm hoping some others can help you with the rafting details. I don't know too much about rafting outfits or rafting in general out there.

Sorry, but yet another q's, how much money do you think for 5 guys and 8 days should we budget for food...These are all just questions. If you guys want to tell me about things that we have to go see that would be great. We want to do this trip hardcore and rugged so let me know if you have any suggestions.

I don't know what to suggest for budgeting for food. What I usually do is get some stuff to put in a cooler, and keep in the truck of our vehicle, and eat that way. I usually just get snacky stuff like cheez-its, bread and sandwich meats, snickers, jerky, etc, and then maybe eat out one meal a day at one of the restaurants in Estes Park or Grand Lake.

I'm sure I'll think of more suggestions later but the first thing that pops into mind is showers at dad's laundy in the Stanley Village shopping center. It's in the inside corner near the TrueValue.

Let us know if you have any other questions or if we didn't answer all of your questions.

--Aaron

[Veik]

Also what kind of rafting deals do they have out there?

I'm hoping some others can help you with the rafting details. I don't know too much about rafting outfits or rafting in general out there.

I don't know much about rafting either but do know that they do a lot on the Cache la Poudre River north of the park. I suppose the outfitters work out of Fort Collins.

[Dolenz]

Anyway, if interested you can see plenty of almost  step by step pictures of my hikes at my gallery

Tom's RMNP Hikes 2004

I remember those pictures. They were great! I wonder if those lakes are still there. :D

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Hey, it's good to know someone actually read the captions/text while they looked at the pictures

[TempestT-37]

You use to be able to make reservations 6 month in advance. But I went to check and I see this message
“We are sorry but this park is nonreservable.”
I don't know what is going on.

[Aaron]

You use to be able to make reservations 6 month in advance. But I went to check and I see this message 
“We are sorry but this park is nonreservable.” 
I don't know what is going on.

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I noticed that too. Maybe they're having troubles with their website's reservation system. I don't think they go back as far as 6 months anymore for registration for Moraine and Glacier.

--Aaron

[gandhi8403]

Alittle advice from another Rocky novice.  I'm from Tulsa, OK (nearly the same elevation above sea level as Illinois) and the altitude kicked my rear!!!  We stayed in Estes for a full day before we took a short day hike (4 miles) and were really beat.  Around home 4 miles is nothing to us.  A perspective from my very limited experience is to plan on being able to hike half as much as you can at home, plan on it to rain everyday (it usually stops after a short while), plan on more food than you usually eat, always have plenty of water, and be prepared for the trip to be even more incredible than you are planning, even with all of the build up and anticipation you are going to experience for the next 6 months.  We camped at Andrews Creek, it is a glorious hike with the scenery continually changing.  I found information on explore-rocky.com handy for planning our camping.  No offense to anyone here, I just discovered you today and reading your comments has made me anxious to return to RMNP and want to meet all of you!

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From Tulsa?!! and still a difference?!! That's crazy! I will keep everything you said in mind! I am so hyped! When do yu usually go?
Gandhi

[Out of Breath]

Yeah, the altitude did effect my husband and I both that much. We drove from Tulsa in one day, by the time we got to Denver I was worried that we were safe to drive. We were loopie. After thinking about it some though, if you are younger and in better shape you could do better. I know a guy from here that runs 10 miles three times a week and the altitude slowed him down but not as bad. You should also do better if you have your buddies egging you on :) . We went the first week of October. I definitely recommend hiking to the Loch, it is awesome. So many different things to see along the way.

[jflo]

One other thing you need to consider is making reservations for any backcountry campsites you may use. The first day to make phone reservations is March 1st, so keep that in mind.
I took the day off of work last year to secure the sites I wanted and still had to settle for my second choice!!