November 2025
by Tom Doyle
Tom and his family had an epic 6-day trip from Iowa to Rocky National Park.
Despite challenges (and an unexpected car purchase), they had an amazing experience.
Day 0:
We left Iowa for Colorado on November 22. We spent the night in Kearney, Nebraska, after driving about 6 hours.
Day 1:
We finished the drive and arrived in Estes Park about 4:00.
We checked into our cabin and watched some football while getting unpacked and settled in.
The cabin at The Evergreens on Fall River is only about a mile and a half from the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park, an incredible location, and we took our first drive into the park and did a couple of short hikes.
Day 2:
On our way into RMNP this morning we saw a ram. This was exciting, as we have never seen one before.
On this day we just did some scenic driving and some short hikes to get ourselves acclimated to the elevation.
Day 3:
We had big plans for hiking some of the higher trails in RMNP, but the transmission on the family car went out (we had just had this fixed three weeks before).
As we were unable to find a rental to fit our family of 6, we ended up just buying a new vehicle.
We left the kids in downtown Estes Park and rode with the tow truck driver to a dealership and bought a new car.
Kids ended up having a lot more fun than we anticipated – it was their own little adventure.
Day 4:
Finally, we got into the park for some longer hiking and climbing.
We spent about three hours climbing up the alluvial fan, and I did much better than I thought I would with only one functioning hand. I only fell once.
We finished the day off at the Stanley Hotel (home of The Shining) for dinner and made plans to leave Estes Park a day early due to the weather at home.
Day 5:
We decided to try a trail we had never hiked before, and it was probably our favorite hike of all. It is the Gem Lake trail that takes begins at the Lumpy Ridge parking lot.
It was perfect for us, as there were great rocks for people who wanted to climb, and a nice trail for those who didn’t.
The scenery was amazing. That night back at the cabin we cooked our family Thanksgiving meal then packed up to leave the next morning.
Day 6:
Thirteen hour drive home. The kids said even with all the problems with the car and coming home a day early, the kids said it was their favorite vacation ever.
The Gem Lake Trail hike was the best part. We had never done it before; it offered all kinds of hiking and climbing, and the scenery was amazing.
I did not face many physical challenges. I could not climb as aggressively as I have in the past, but I was still able to get to all of the sights I wanted to see.
The Gem Lake Trail hike with the whole family was the most memorable part. It was our last full day there and we spent several hours exploring a part of the park we had never seen before. It had something to offer everyone, and I was able to climb over rocks to pretty high elevations with little effort.
Rocky Mountain National Park is my favorite place to go with my family, and this is probably the last year our family would all be able to get together to do this.
We were not super focused on handicap accessibility as I do not personally need it at this point, but there are several easily accessible trails in Rocky Mountain National Park. Sprague Lake and Bear Lake are a couple of our favorites, and they have accessible trails that go all the way around the lakes. There is plenty to do and see here if you are confined to a wheelchair. Also, the cabin at The Evergreens was easy to get around… no steps up to the door or anything. They do offer fully accessible cabins, too, we just did not need that at this time.
We were able to do things on this trip that we would not have been able to do without the support of Team Gleason. With your help, we were able to stay longer, we had two connecting cabins (enough space for all six of us), we were able to go out to a nice dinner, and we were much less stressed about the financial aspect of the trip. It really was one of our all-time favorite trips, and we made great memories. Thank you very much.
