On our third day in the Rocky Mountains we went back in to the park to do another hike, this time a steep uphill climb called Deer Mountain, around 6.4 miles there and back and about 1400 ft elevation gain to reach the peak at about 10,000 ft.

We headed out early so we could get the walk done before it was busy and to get back home for lunch if possible. We didn’t pass many other hikers on route owing to the fact that it was a more strenuous hike and the carpark at the bottom was very small!

There were some amazing views from the top looking back towards the park entrance and Estes Park, the town where we’ve been staying.

On the way back we had a wander around the town area, loads of gift shops and that kind of thing but a nice small downtown area. Then we had a lazy afternoon back at our apartment so that Lucy could catch up on the US Open tennis.

In the evening we went out to a local BBQ called Smokin’ Dave’s BBQ which was really busy and popular, but the food was excellent. When we got back there was a massive Elk just grazing on the grass casually outside our apartment!

The following day we had a long drive to move on to our next main stop which is Grand Teton National Park. We went for a quick coffee in Estes Park before we left at a place called Coffee on the Rocks which had an amazing selection of special coffees – Lucy went from wanting the birthday cake latte, to the S’mores one and then finally deciding on “Howling at the Wind”, I even liked it and I’m not a coffee drinker at all! We also saw an apt sign about Arlo 🙂

It was too far to drive all the way in a day, so we stopped overnight in a town called Rock Springs, having crossed the border now in to Wyoming. When Lucy took over the driving there was 174 miles left on the satnav which consisted of just one long road…which is very typical of these long US road trips.

It was a scenic drive coming out of the Rockies, and then it opened up in to wide flat sections.

The Airbnb is really nice, very cowboy themed which we obviously like!

Rock Springs is a small town but we of course managed to find the local brewery which was really good – the town was largely empty, but the brewery was really busy. It’s obviously the key place to go in town! On the way to Rock Springs we made a brief stop at lunch time in a small college town called Laramie, where the University of Wyoming is located.

Today we move on again to our next stop in a town called Victor which is near Grand Teton National Park. it’s about 3.5 hours drive but we’ll probably stop at some places en route.

Si