Lonely Planet Asia - June 2016

AMERICAN ROCKIES

GREAT ESCAPE

GREAT ESCAPE

adventurers would follow the twisting roads

through the mountains to reach Estes Park

• the town that now serves as the park’s
  gateway. Some drove up in ‘Stanley
  steamers’, an early brand of steam-powered
  automobile founded by twin brothers from
  Maine. One of these veteran cars is on show
  in the old-world lobby of the Stanley Hotel,
  a sprawling, New England-style retreat on
  a hillside overlooking Estes Park, built by
  one of the Stanley brothers in 1909.
  The steamers are retired now, but a
  traditional Rockies experience is still easily
  had on horseback. From Sombrero Ranch
  on the eastern edge of town, guides lead a
  riding party out onto the forested slopes of
  the Roosevelt National Forest. The snow
  cover here today is thin enough to be
  manageable for the horses, as they file along
  a trail through the widely spaced trees:
  lodgepole pines, ponderosa pines with their
  blush-red bark, spruce, fir and aspen – the
  last has a powder on its bark that protects
  the tree against the sun, and was once used
  by Native Americans for the same purpose.
  Apart from the aspen, all the mountain
  trees are conifers. Of Don’s three winter
  survival choices, migration is obviously
  not an option for them. While the aspen
  hibernates of a fashion, the conifers keep
  their needles in winter and tolerate the
  varying loads of snow that weigh upon their
  boughs. As Don put it: ‘Conifers have a good
  strategy for life – bend but don’t break.’

Return to Denver Airport by way of Highway 36,

Interstate 25 and the E-470 toll road (1½ hours by

car) to catch a flight north to Jackson Hole in the

neighbouring state of Wyoming.

Snowshoes at Bear Lake.
RIGHT Park ranger Don
Stewart. FAR RIGHT An ice-
climber nears the top
of the frozen Hidden Falls

The^ Stanley Hotel has a graceful portico

and white clapboard fronting outside, and

heavy antique furnishings inside. In 1974,

Stephen King and his wife spent a night in

off-season as the sole guests, and the novelist

used it as the basis for the hotel in The Shining.

The adjoining Lodge section has a lighter but

equally vintage ambience. The hotel bar is

stocked with some 900 whiskeys (main

building from US$225; stanleyhotel.com).

A seven-day car permit for Rocky Mountain

National Park costs US$19 (nps.gov/romo).

Ranger-led hikes are free, though you’ll need to

bring your own snowshoes; find rental details at

visitestespark.com. Horse rides from Sombrero

Ranch start at US$36 for an hour (sombrero.

com). Ice-climbing excursions for beginners

start at US$190 for a half day (guide.

climbinglife.com).

Essentials