Colorado Adventure: September 15, 2006

We had a wonderful day yesterday. The weather was a bit cloudy, but we decided to go onto the other side of the Park and headed toward the Wild Basin area, through the Roosevelt National Park. Our intent was to go only to Calypso Cascades, a 1.8 mile hike, then stop for a picnic at the spot the map showed had a picnic area.

At the trailhead, a sign told us we were entering mountain lion and bear territory. Did we turn back? Heck no! The first stop on the trail was Copeland Falls, and the trail was fairly easy. However, we could see why mountain lions like this part of the forest, since there were so many rocky outcroppings on the hillsides, excellent places to pounce on unsuspecting hikers. We told Rosie that they'd go for her first because she was the weakest, but she said she'd use karate on them.

We didn't see any lions or bears—or tigers, oh my!—but we found scat from something carnivorous beside the trail. Rosie got a book on scats and tracks at a gift shop and has become our expert on animal poop. We looked at the book and thought it was most likely fox spoor—it was too small for bigger game.

After a fairly mild hike, albeit uphill, which is hard for me at this altitude, we arrived at the very picturesque Calypso Cascades. Apparently the map was outdated because there was no picnic area to be found. We asked a couple of hikers who were on their way back how much further we had to reach Ouzel Falls and they said it was only 10 minutes ahead, so we decided to continue on since it was just a little before noon.

25 minutes later, we were at Ouzel Falls. We passed through the Ouzel Forest on our way. There was a bad forest fire here in 1978 which destroyed a large swath, and the damage was still evident. We had a tad of rain on the way, but no downpour.

These falls are my favorite of all we have seen. They were truly magnificent and worth the hike. We picnicked on a large flat rock and then Steve took some photos while Rosie and I explored.

Then it was time to start back. The hike down was a lot quicker than the trip up. We got back to the trailhead at 3:15 pm and were surprised to learn that we'd hiked 5.5 miles round trip. This was our longest hike while we have been here.

Back at the Stanley, we showered and got ready for our history/ghost tour at 5 pm. It was interesting and very informative. F.O. Stanley, who built the hotel in 1909, was a multimillionaire. He and his twin brother invented the Stanley Steamer car and made $10 million in 4 years from a photographic process they invented. F.O. came to this area because he had tuberculosis and was seeking a cure in the mountains. His wife suggested that he build a hotel, and so he did.

I won't go into the entire history, but the Stanley has had many distinguished guests over the years—John Phillip Sousa once gave music lessons here.

I'm not too sure about the haunting stories. I'm no expert on psychic phenomenon, but I have done some reading, and what strikes me is that despite the stories of ghostly images and happenings, the hotel has not one photo to show. Plus, some of the stories involve the spirits of children who stayed on the 4th floor, supposedly the most haunted one. Did the children, none of whom died here, and who presumably grew up and moved on, suddenly change into child spirits and return here?

One story was particularly improbable: Room 217 is supposedly haunted by a long time occupant and employee of the hotel, Elizabeth Wilson. Our tour guide says that people who stay in the room regularly report that while they are out, someone unpacks their bags for them and neatly organizes their belongings in the closet and dresser. The guide said that guests call the desk to thank them for getting everything unpacked.

Okay, if I went out and when I came back to my room it appeared that someone had been in my room, going through my stuff, no matter how neatly, I wouldn't be calling to thank anybody. Who'd want somebody rooting through their luggage?

At the end of the tour, Emily, our guide, asked if anyone had questions. Well, being me, I want to know the dirt. I want to know about the crimes, the murders, the suicides and the scandals, and so I asked. Not surprisingly, no details were available. We were told that the ghosts are all happy, peaceful ones who haunt the place just because they had so darned much fun here while they were alive. Pishtosh!

We finished the evening with an excellent dinner at Cascades, the Stanley Hotel dining room, quite an elegant place. I even had a martini, something I never do. I had filet mignon, Steve had fresh trout and Rosie had rainbow pasta. After dinner, Rosie and I went up to the 4th floor again to hang out and look for ghosts, but no luck. The only disturbance was noisy employees outside our room at 1:30 am picking up room service trays and carrying on loud conversations. Steve had to open the door and tell them to be quiet.