All we had to do was climb up to the ridge behind where we are staying and we hit the Deer Mountain trail. If we had turned left it would have taken us down into the town of Estes Park but we turned right and very soon we were in Rocky Mountain National Park. It is a perfect day for hiking, cold but not too cold with wind in the trees and the colors of autumn everywhere.
Along the trail were hundreds of 6 foot high piles of wood that all looked like bonfires ready to light. We speculated about the purpose of the piles. I counted 262 of them on our short hike. We came to the conclusion that workers had cleared the underbrush and when the snow is here and the chance of the fires spreading is very low then workers will light the wood piles and get rid of the copious fuel for forest fires thus providing fire protection for the town of Estes Park. I don’t know if that is really the purpose of the piles but if it is then I would love to be here when they light the fires. What a sight that would be.
If you were wondering the Castle Mountain Lodge where we are staying has free wireless internet.
Marion's Blog 
Ah…free wireless. I wondered how it was possible that you don’t have a phone in your room but you’ve posted twice to your blog. Glad to hear you’re having fun. The hike sounds amazing.
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