Ambassador Spotlight | Kinley the Saint Bernard
Written by Amanda Taylor, Triumph Pack Member and Photographer/Cinematographer from Michigan
Our Philosophy: Make each day count.
Saint Bernards and dogs don't live as long as humans, so we like to seize each and every day – never leave them behind and give them experiences that they might not have had by staying in our home state. After our first Saint Bernard, Buck, died at 6 years old from bone cancer, I always felt he didn't get to do enough. If we traveled, someone would come to the house to watch him. I didn't want it to be the same way with Kinley so we have made a point to visit 17 states (MN, WI, CO, IW, NE, MS, TN, NC, V, WV, KT, MI, OH, IN, IL, KN, WY) in just over 2 years!
Our most recent (and furthest) trip together was an action-packed road trip to Colorado. We packed our bags, loaded up our favorite road trip snacks, including Triumph Wild Spirit Biscuits, and hit the road for a 20-hour drive west. Keep reading for some of our favorite memories!
Our first night, we stayed at an adorable cabin on the Wyoming/Colorado border where we peacefully watched the sunset and the Milky Way rising over the horizon.
The next morning, we woke up to one of the prettiest sunrises we've seen in a long time. The morning fog rolled in and covered the road as we crossed into Colorado, limiting our visibility. The anticipation was killing us as we drove with only 100 feet of visibility, knowing we should be surrounded by mountains, even though we couldn’t see them. We got ahead of the fog for a few moments as we entered the Cameron Peak fire area – which has been one of the eeriest moments of my life so far. You could still smell the burnt bark and ash and it was dead silent without an animal in sight.
After a long day of driving in the mountains without actually SEEING any of them, we arrived at our first trailhead in the Rocky Mountains. We came for the moose, and we were certainly not disappointed. Within five minutes, two moose ran out in front of us and decided to have their dinner about 40 feet from our car.
That next morning, we headed back into the park in search of more moose. Instead of wildlife, we got to see the mountains come alive as the fog finally lifted! Once we got to the end of the road where you have to turn around in the winter, we noticed a bright white peak and some blue sky appearing. Before we knew it, we were watching the morning sun burn away the clouds and unveil 12,000 feet mountains surrounding us. It was truly magical.
From there, we headed to Saint Mary's Glacier, and, uffda, that hike kicked our butts as midwesterners. When we finally made it to the top, we were in awe of the cliffs, the clear ice, and the view from the top. We spent a few hours hanging out on top until the wind picked up. Thank gosh for that wind because if we would have stayed up there any longer, we would have missed our bighorn sheep sighting and three more moose!
On the drive back to the cabin, we were talking about how lucky we were for seeing the two moose the day before, and then I yelled, “Moose!” One mom, one baby, and a bull were standing 20 to 30 feet away from our car. The mom was so comfortable with us that she let her baby wander off. Kinley was just staring at them in the car and quietly whining. The coolest part about both of our moose sightings was it was only us; no tourists trying to get close, no cars honking...just our rental car and an excited photographer.
The adventure didn’t stop there! The next morning, when we woke up, it was below freezing in Grand Lake, but after we went over James Pass Highway, it shot up to over 60 degrees, rising to 75 degrees as we arrived at Red Rocks Amphitheater. Kinley was definitely missing the snow; any little patch she saw, she had to roll around in it.
We headed into Estes Park and entered the east side of Rocky Mountain National Park where we were welcomed by a herd of two Bull Elk, this time surrounded by people. After exploring around, we got to our beautiful Airbnb overlooking Longs Peak (the only fourteener in Rocky Mountain National Park). We watched a stellar sunset over the peak that left us at peace.
The next few days were just as eventful, as we had to keep changing our plans, but we made it work. We walked around Estes Park and explored the Royal Gorge Bridge, which was partially closed due to extremely high winds. We also found out that Garden of the Gods closes at 3 p.m., though we had originally planned to arrive at 4 p.m., so we finished the night with some seafood at our Airbnb in Colorado Springs.
The next morning, we arrived at the Pikes Peak entrance after monitoring the weather conditions. We had learned that you can't go to the top with high winds but remained hopeful. Unfortunately, the winds didn’t let up, so we drove to mile marker 13 out of 18. We were in the tree line the whole time during that drive so we didn't get to see much. We were very underwhelmed and disappointed that we didn't do Garden of the Gods instead – guess we’ll have to check that out next time. We’re already planning our trip back west this fall!
