Hopkins 4K for Cancer

July 5, 2003

Grand Lake is grand, indeed.
Day 35

Day off in Grand Lake, CO



Local wisdom holds Grand Lake as “the most beautiful lake in the world.” People who say this can’t be far off. Our day off in Grand Lake definitely gets a “wahoo.” I woke up early mainly because I had put my sleeping bag right by the bathrooms (that’s not a good idea with this group). Sumeet, Rajeev, Travis, Emily and I walked around the town and looked for breakfast. We had a hearty breakfast in mind. We wanted a place where we could get 4 eggs, bacon, some sausage, pancakes with lots of butter and syrup, buiscuts and gravy, some corned beef hash, and a milkshake for good measure. We found something even better: the company of local Grand Lakers at the Lions Club Pancake Breakfast. Josh had gone looking for donations, and he got us in for half price. We went to town of some of the best pancakes we ever had (don’t worry, Dad, yours are still better). We ate ourselves silly, had a blast hanging out with a bunch of people, and just flat out enjoyed ourselves. All in all, about half of the 4kers made it to the Lions Club breakfast. Personally, I was hurting afterwards because though the pancakes were good, they sat heavy in my stomach. Travis and I passed out in the grass next to the breakfast for a nap. We just couldn’t go any further.



The four of us then hit the town. Grand Lake sells just about anything that every Rockies tourist would ever want, including models of the fur-covered trout—a rare find. Fortunately, as poor bikers with already heavy bags, we were able to refrain from purchasing any knickknacks. We found one of the most bootleg mini-golf courses in the world. It featured a hole set in Yuma, CO. We also found a sketchy temporary tattoo artist sitting in a camping chair on the docks. Despite an unorthodox and rather questionable ability (you had to be there), she had quite the handful of whippersnappers in line for tattoos. The day then progressed in typical Team Fatty-fat style—a big lunch followed by a milkshake. That’s how we roll.



We then hiked along a road that fringed the lake and lead to a picturesque waterfall. We hiked upstream (and uphill). The glacial fed stream was quite cold, but some of us were quite bold and plunged in. Once we got back, Travis, Sam, Eric, Sumeet, Jeeves, and I rented a small motor boat for one hour for a cruise around the gorgeous lake. We had a great view of the sunset. In the evening, some people went to a rodeo, some ate at a local micro-brewery and pub, and I had an awesome, quiet dinner with a lonely lady. Grand Lake is truly awesome.



Daniel R. Witsil