Departed the Greeley RV park for the short drive to Estes Park, Colorado with plans to visit our first National Park on this trip - Rocky Mountain National Park. The haze and smoke from the western fires was worse today than we'd seen it yet....pretty disappointing as the normal scenery on the trip was hampered by obscured views. We moved west from Greeley through the Big Thompson Canyon and boy was it a beautiful drive in spite of the smoke.
Roadside stop in Big Thompson Canyon
After arriving and setting up at Mary's Lake campground in Estes Park we drove around the town a little and ended up at the visitor's center where we talked to a gentleman who helped us devise an agenda for the next three days that would even wear out younger people.....not sure we will survive it all! We wasted no time in getting started....about 3:30 we headed into the National Park - this was not really a well thought out or originally planned visit to the park as we were just setting out to look around the town. It was in the low 80's in Estes Park and we were in shorts and tee shirts. Based on his recommendation we took a narrow 8 mile, one way only (up) dirt road (Old Fall River Road) that climbed to the highest visitor center in the park (Above 11,000 feet). It was a beautiful drive....we saw some (few) Aspen trees turning early, waterfalls, and beautiful smoky scenery. As we climbed to the top we watched our outside thermometer drop to 52 degrees with a gusty wind. Needless to say we were not prepared to get out of the truck for much at the top but we will be heading that way again tomorrow, better prepared, for a closer look.
Rocky Mountain National Park
Rocky Mountain National Park
Driving through the park with an eye peeled for wildlife, we didn't see much but interestingly enough when we returned to the campground there were three bull elk grazing right in the campground. They seemed to not care about the folks around them snapping pictures. A great first day in Estes park!
Campground guest
Campground guest
5 Sept, 2017 - Touring
With a busy and long day planned we headed out to execute the plan for the day, as laid out by our visitor center agent - we would drive through the park from east to west and after exiting the western side we would travel through Winter Park to Central City where we picked up the "Peak to Peak" scenic highway that would take us back to Estes park. He also suggested adding another stop at Brainard Lake recreation area as there is always a good chance of seeing moose there. The plan sounded good and looked good on the map so we headed out.
So smoky - background mountains not visible
Smoke is still a problem in this area but we've experienced that it doesn't seem to be as bad in the earlier morning hours but gets worse as the day progresses.
As we approached the entrance to the park we saw several mountain sheep on the side of the road. After we entered the park we took the Trail Ridge Road...this road (paved) goes from the east entrance, near Estes Park, through the park to exit the western side near a town called Grand Lake. We made many stops along the way to enjoy the scenery, do some hiking and enjoy a picnic lunch in a beautiful surrounding. The overnight temperature was 42 degrees so we were better prepared for the weather this trip....in fact the cool temps prompted us to pack some chicken noodle soup and a sandwich for lunch which was perfect.
Roadside entertainment
We made many stops at scenic overlooks and points of interest and we did a hike to the Colorado river.... it was not exactly what we were expecting. This is apparently near the headwaters of that river and at that point it was not much bigger than a small creek. Still a good hike and along the trail we found a painted rock.....Kathy had just been telling me about a fad where people are painting small rocks and placing them along trails, etc.....if you find one you are to notify the originator on Facebook and then transport the rock to another location for someone else to find. We found this one in Colorado and plan to notify them and move it to a trail in Utah.
Trail Ridge Road Scenery
Tundra Overlook
Tundra landscape
Moose sighting - as we were leaving the park there was a gaggle of cars stopped with cameras pointed towards the woods....we stopped to see a female moose bedded down in a thicket not far off the road but it was too thick and too far to get a clear photo without disturbing her. Can't share with you now but it is committed to our memory :-)
Visited Grand Lake....a small town and famous for the largest "natural" lake in Colorado. Nice little mountain town and the lake was very large and beautiful. As has become our tradition - we visited the local ice cream shop and it was better than most!
After leaving Grand Lake we headed for our long scenic drive home that included the peak to peak drive. We passed many ski areas including the resort town of Winter Haven before getting onto the Peak to Peak and heading back to Estes Park.
Brainard Lake park was a detour off of the peak to peak highway. It was late...just before dark when we arrived there and we felt good about our chances of seeing some wildlife but not to be on this trip. The recreation area was beautiful and still worth the stop...a good possibility for camping there in the future.
Brainard Lake Park road sunset
Valley in Brainard Lake Park
Stream feeding Brainard Lake
We left home at around 8:30 AM and didn't return until about the same time in the PM. It was a full day and we were tired but got home just in time to meet our neighbors from Wisconsin and enjoy a little time around the camp fire with them before retiring for the night.
6 Sept, 2017 - Touring
This day was planned to be a reasonably easy day....resting until about mid-morning and then heading to the Bear Lake area of the Rocky Mountain National Park for some hiking. We were told it was a pretty popular part of the park but were surprised at just how crowded it was. We decided to make a 4 mile hike (2 each direction) that passed three mountain lakes (Nymph Lake - more like a pond, Dream Lake, and Emerald Lake) and according to the ranger had little elevation change. Next time I need to ask a ranger more my age...it had plenty of elevation change for us. It was a really pretty but crowded trail and the lakes were very nice. Weather was sunny with temps in the mid 60's....a great hike. By the time we've finished hiking these last two days Kathy's Fitbit has been very proud of her.
Returned to camp to get some laundry done and prepare for our move to Colorado Springs tomorrow.
Hiking trail scenery
Hiking trail scenery
Emerald Lake
Great pictures
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