Estes Park to Boulder, the Hard Scenic Way


View Larger Map

Yesterday we left Estes Park for Boulder, heading out of town on scenic Highway 7 toward Nederland.

Colorado Highway 7: cut in rock above Estes Park

The route paid off quickly, with the road climbing above Estes and cutting through rocks it couldn’t as easily go around.

Long's Peak range, Colorado, panorama

3.7 Mbyte15 Mbyte61 Mbyte

Soon the road leveled to give us this view of the Long’s Peak range to the west.

St. Catherine of Siena's Chapel, Allenspark, Colorado, panorama

3.2 Mbyte14 Mbyte53 Mbyte205 Mbyte

Rounding another bend brought us to St. Catherine of Siena’s Chapel, which I’d only previously approached from the southern direction. Pro tip: If you want to stitch photographs together into a panorama, make sure you have overlapping coverage.

St. Catherine’s Chapel is part of what used to be the St. Malo Retreat Center. Last winter, the retreat tragically burned in an uncontrollable fire and is closed, probably permanently. The chapel was untouched by the fire and remains.

Whistler’s Cafe, Nederland, Colorado

Nederland, Colorado Whistler's Cafe: exterior

In Nederland, we stopped for lunch at a restaurant I remembered from three years ago. Whistler’s Cafe has a quaint appearance,

Nederland, Colorado Whistler's Cafe: interior

like my parents,

Nederland, Colorado Whistler's Cafe: windows

though it’s chock-full of signs for different brews and bands (unlike my parents).

Nederland, Colorado Whistler's Cafe: W.C. burger

But the real draw is the W.C. burger: Beef (medium = cool grey center?), crisp bacon, cheddar, and green chiles on a toasted bagel with cream cheese.

Boulder Falls

Boulder Falls from the road

Almost immediately after leaving Nederland, we reached Boulder Falls, a very accessible waterfall.

Boulder Falls

It’s a short walk up the trail to the lowest falls. It used to be a much longer hike to higher falls, but that area is now closed for safety.

This entry was posted in Colorado. Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>