Tonya, I am so happy to hear that the loop worked out. The side trips definitely add a certain something for sure. Good luck on the CT. If you have any questions, please let me know. 🙂

My son (10) and I did this same loop a few weeks before you, only we did it as a 5 day trip. We camped the first night at Haynach Lakes and the second night at South Meadows. South Meadows was an awesome campsite. The weather was nice so we slept out cowboy style and woke to four moose and a herd of elk cruising the meadow in the morning. We stopped in Grand Lake for lunch and resupply on day 3 and then camped near Cascade Falls (not such a great spot). Next time we’ll opt for Big Pool, that looked nice. Our last night was at North Inlet Falls and that afternoon we also hiked up to Lake Nakoni. Then back over Flattop the fifth day. We are in training for a thru-hike of the Colorado Trail, so this was our first trip with a resupply that we mailed to Grand Lake. It was lots of fun!