When we woke up this morning, the inside of our tent was full of condensation. Maybe that means it holds heat well? We’ve been fairly comfortable in our little cocoon.

Today’s goal was to get situated within the borders of Rocky Mountain National Park. We were close to the southeastern corner of the park, but still many miles from an official entrance. To do that, we had to drive north thru Estes Park, then west into the park.

The entry fee was $20, but we had invested $50 on a National Parks Pass, good at any national park for the entire year. We only need to use it two more times before it pays for itself, which could happen before we leave Colorado.

This was a leisurely day before we take our first overnight backpacking trip tomorrow. There is a process to taking such a hike that involves getting a permit from the wilderness office. We arrived at the park after that office had closed for the day, so we settled into the nearest campground we could find, which was the Glacier Basin Campground.

After we had our camp set up, we still had a few hours of daylight for another training hike. Bierstadt Lake Trail wasn’t a wall, but it wasn’t flat either. Let’s call it a “vigorous climb.” The map said we’d find a lake if we went far enough, but there wasn’t enough daylight for that.