Grand Lake, CO, RMNP - 09/05/13

Thursday – September 5, 2013
Grand Lake, Colorado

It is time to break camp here at the Timber Creek Campground in the Rocky Mountain National Park. After seven days here we have relocated to the Stillwater Campground located eight miles from the west entrance to the park in the Arapaho National Recreation Area (ANRA), near the town of Grand Lake, Colorado. We selected campsite #47 that has electric and water hookups and has a beautiful view of Lake Granby and the surrounding mountains. The campground has well maintained restroom facilities with flush toilets and free showers. This campground has 127 campsites, 20 with electric and water hookups. All campsites are first-come, first-serve. We will spend five days here and depart on Tuesday, September 10.

Internet Service:
Free WiFi is available at the Kawuneeche Visitor Center located at the west entrance to the park.
Intermittent service at the campground is available through a local cellular service provider (tethering smartphone to laptop).

Camping Fees:
Campsites with electric and water hookups are $22.00 with a $5.00 surcharge per day for electric. In addition to the camping fee, there is an ANRA daily entry fee. The daily fee is $5.00; a 3-day fee is $10.00; a 7-day fee is $15.00 and an annual pass is $30.00. A Golden Age Pass holder receives a 50% discount only on the $22.00 camping fee.

The total cost for our 5-day stay is $95.00. $11.00 per night plus the $5.00 electric surcharge per night plus $15.00 for a 7-day ANRA entry pass.

We decided today would be a good day to get a few chores taken care of. We had accumulated a fair amount of clothing that needed to be washed. We needed to fill one of our two propane tanks and we needed a few grocery items. We were able to accomplish all of these tasks in the quaint mountain town of Granby, Colorado, located 10 miles from our campground. The town has a very nice laundry facility, an ACE Hardware store to get propane tanks refilled and a City Mart grocery store that is quite large and well stocked.

After completing our tasks at 4:15 p.m., we settled in for an early dinner at the Pearl Onion Chinese restaurant in Granby. We were the only patrons in the restaurant and shortly after our arrival, a robust built, bald-headed gentleman, with a nicely shaped full beard, entered the restaurant with his hunting dog. He chose a booth a few rows down from our booth and his dog dutifully laid down at his owner’s feet under the table while his owner had his meal. You just don’t see this kind of four-leg hospitality at our restaurants back in the Chicago area!

Tomorrow another adventure begins.