This lovely Craftsman style home turned 100 years old this year. Owning this home is a chance of a lifetime. We don’t see these homes come on the market very often. This charming historic home has Longs Peak, Continental Divide and Lumpy Ridge views. Home has open living spaces, original Douglas Fir wood floors, two moss rock fireplaces and a huge Sun Porch just made for rocking chairs. Featuring 3 Bedrooms, two full baths, Great Room and lower level Den or Family Room. Great potential-600+SF Attic could be finished for an artist’s retreat. Take in the views from the fenced in flower garden, deck or patio. Picturesque .55 acre lot with rock outcroppings and huge Ponderosa pines. Own a piece of Estes Park history with this turn of the century beauty.
What is an Estes Park Snow Day? Here it means that we have a foot of snow on the ground, it’s still snowing and quite possibly the weatherman is going to be wrong, but we aren’t sure which way. Last Wednesday was our first day of canceled school for the year. You can check your calendars again, yes it was October. I can never get my kids up in the morning, but at 7:30 am they were outside with me shoveling snow and for the rest of the day sledding and building forts. Fortunately it stopped snowing that evening so we missed the 3 feet that was forecast. Across the rest of the state it continued to snow that night and the next day with up to 2.5+ feet in some areas.
In Estes, we have our own little micro-climate. We are completely surrounded by mountains and usually that works in our favor. When big storms come through we almost always get less snow than the Front Range. It was a regular work day for me so I headed to the office, later at the grocery store it was a social occasion I saw so many people I knew. The snow didn’t keep most folks home. There was school on Thursday, all the roads and paths were cleared. The park department is so great usually the walking paths are cleared before the roads are.
walking path
I could have gone snowshoeing or hiking, but decided since it was so pleasant on Thursday I was going to take Haley for a run and we ended up at the dog park. She loves the dog park and pulled me the last quarter mile. When we got there she was so sad, there were no other dogs there. She really didn’t know what to do with no dogs to chase.
She loves the snow and dove into a snowbank on our way back.
snowbank
Mt. Olympus
Elk on 18 hole golf course
Well now as I write this almost a week later it was 60 degrees and breezy with beautiful blue skies. Other than the January winds there is not much that keeps us inside. Please visit us in the winter, you will be not be disappointed!
Spending time in the RMNP back country is one of life’s simple pleasures. I try to plan a couple trips per summer with my family. It allows you to enjoy places further into the park because you can spend the night and venture out on day hikes. A place we have wanted to go is Lawn Lake and Crystal Lake. The only draw back is all the tons of gear you have to haul in, especially when camping with children. Three days of food for 5 people is hard to pack for, it took two bear canisters to hold it all. My husband and I try to load our packs the heaviest and then let each of the kids carry their own clothing and snacks. We have a rule: The person with the heaviest pack gets to whine~and that’s usually my husband and he doesn’t whine.
The Big Pack
There are three individual campsites and one group site located right East of the lake in the trees. The sites are private and the trees protect you from the wind. We choose the second site so we could set up two tents and there was a large tree stump to cook on.
Filtering water at Lawn Lake
It was cold and rainy the entire weekend. We passed a lot of time in our tents waiting for the rain to stop. Some of the wildflowers were still blooming, but many were already done. We did a little exploring between rain storms and I spent the first night mostly awake after something large walked right between our tents.
New friend we met on the way to Crystal Lake
The second day my two youngest daughters and I headed up to Crystal Lake and my husband and my oldest daughter started scrambling up Mummy Mtn right behind our campsite. All of us were caught in the nasty thunderstorm that hit in the afternoon. My group turned back, but the other group was able to summit successfully. These two photos were taken 10 minutes apart, the first one we were just minutes from Crystal Lake hoping the weather would hold. Unfortunately, a nasty boomer came over the saddle of Mummy and gave us a scare.
Sweeping Views above Lawn lake
Taking Cover coming down from Crystal Lakes
Stormy Summit
This is my second time being in this area, the most attractive feature to me is the diversity of the wildflowers. We saw Indian Paintbrush in all colors of the rainbow, yellow, light green, red, orange, pink, coral, and lavender.
Pink Indian Paintbrush
We made a slideshow of our photos and our favorite part of camping-Jiffy Pop over the stove.
This is a beautiful area, I hope you can make there someday. See you on the trail!
Top of the world views. You won’t a find a better view in Estes Park! Longs Peak and the Continental Divide showcased from this home. Tucked into the Lumpy Ridge this rare offering backs to RMNP on 3+ acres. Simply walk out your back door into Rocky Mountain National Park. Aspens and large boulders line the drive to this private setting. Decks on every side of the home allow breathtaking views. Huge Master Suite with Fireplace, Jack and Jill Bath, skylights, built-ins and two decks. Elegant Dining Room with huge windows that allow the gorgeous setting to be enjoyed indoors as well. Featuring Five Bedrooms and Four Baths, Formal Living and Dining Rooms, Great room with wood burning fireplace, lower level Recreation room has a wood burning stove and full kitchen. The fifth bedroom doubles as a media room, Game Room, Exercise Room, Commercial Elevator, Secure Storage area, Central Vac, AC, Skylights & more. This is a must see property!?
We are reaping the rewards of a very wet Rocky Mountain Spring in Estes Park. I recently hiked to the Big Pool on the North Inlet trail leaving from Grand Lake. It was 10 miles or so round trip and the wild flowers were the best I have ever seen. The first mile or so of the trail is a jeep road because there is a private cabin along the trail. Once the trail narrows we saw fields of columbine in varying colors of rich periwinkle and light blues. On the East side I have seen clumps of columbine, but these fields were amazing. I also saw my first Calypso Orchid in a top secret location. Along the trail further in we saw red columbine. The vegetation was lush and we had to keep moving to ward off the mosquitoes. We stopped at Cascade Falls on our way to The Pool and took a break on the huge boulders and listened to the roar of the water.
Blue Columbine
Calypso Orchid
Red Columbine
Lush vegetation along the trails
Cascade Falls
I know many visitors to our area in Estes Park choose to remain on the East side of the park, but I would highly recommend exploring the trails in the West section of Rocky Mountain National Park.
I am excited to announce my big news of the summer. I have moved to a new real estate agency right here in Estes Park. I am now working for First Colorado GMAC Real Estate at 523 Saint Vrain Lane in EP. We have 12 helpful, experienced, knowledgeable local real estate experts in this office. Whether it is Estes Park residential homes, condominiums, or commercial real estate you can be assured of a quality buying or selling experience as my commitment to my clients remains the same even though my location has changed. There are some great values in the summer inventory right now~cabins, single family homes or condos. Don’t hesitate to give me a call today!
According to the latest Zillow Real Estate Market Reports, home values in Estes Park increased 3.9% in the first quarter of 2009, compared to the first quarter of 2008. Nationally, home values decreased 14.2% during this same period.
Here is an older trip report that I forgot to post. For a big hiking payoff with a short time commitment Emerald Mountain is the hike for you. This mountain located West of Ramshorn Mtn off of hwy 66 has fantastic views of the entire Rocky Mountain National Park. You can park in the cul-de-sac at the end of the hwy and start at the trailhead. We hiked this the first week of March on a sunny day.
sign post on the trail-go left
It’s maybe a mile and a half hike to the summit, but very steep. I was huffing and puffing the entire way. I just can’t stand hiking slow so I was pretty miserable trying to catch my breath, but the reward at the summit is spectacular.
Continental Divide
Mummy Range
You pretty much have wrap around views from Twin Sisters West to the Longs Peak around to the Continental Divide and finishing with the Mummy Range. Absolutely gorgeous. It was pretty windy that day on the summit, but the high altitude sun warms you. I still had several layers on, but my husband just wore a t-shirt. Snowshoes were not needed as it was windswept except for one drift near the summit. See you on the trails!
