Day 46 to 48 - Rocky Mountain National Park

Rocky Mountain National Park, what a stunning place, I know, I keep saying that about each place we have visited. The first morning I tortured Pat with an ‘easy’ sunrise hike to two lakes in the Bear Lake section of the park. I must admit, a little unnerving to start a hike in the pitch black but we were not the only ones. I asked the ranger when we entered if they had any problems with bears, she said no, good thing as we forgot

to grab the bear spray! The ‘easy’ hike turned out to torture us, the elevation to the first lake was only 425’ but we were starting at 8,500’ above sea level, it taxed us both. I wasn’t sure I was going to get Pat to the second lake as it was another 250’ elevation change. All total, 3.6-mile hike with over 650’ elevation climb. We were rewarded with a beautiful sunrise looking out over the green valley. Nymph Lake, the first lake, was small but full of lily pads surrounded by pine trees, quiet and reflective of the new day. Dream Lake was much more dramatic, you had two mountain peaks that converged creating the backdrop at the far end of the lake and rock formations around the edges. There was even a fly fisherman looking for the first catch of the day. We chose to skip the third lake on the trail, Emerald Lake, neither one of us was up for an additional 3

miles round trip or another 500’ elevation climb. Along our hike we encountered an elk munching on bushes next to the path, she obviously wasn’t concerned with us as she continued her breakfast as hikers passed by. And the chipmunks were very used to people on the path and getting free handouts, Pat sat on a rock to rest and one crawled into his lap, another walked right up into my outstretched hand. Yes, we followed the rules and didn’t feed them. We got back to the unit about 10:30 in the morning, as Pat said, hard to believe we had already been gone 6 hours, a leisurely rest of the day.

The next day we explored a different parts of the park, we set out midafternoon to see if we could see any animals and capture the afternoon colors in our photos. First up was a drive I have been looking forward to, Old Fall River Road, a one-way dirt road on the side of the mountain. It was built in 1920 and was the first automotive road in the park. Lots of switchbacks as you travers the mountain and climb up to the Alpine Visitor Center. Part way up you encounter Chasm Falls, we got out and took the short hike to see the falls, not a very large waterfall but interesting with all the large boulders that it cascaded over. We made it to Alpine

Visitor Center, elevation 11,796’, and rewarded ourselves with coffee/tea and a muffin. I had thought they had world famous donuts but wrong spot, more on that in a later chapter. We continued on over the Trail Ridge Road, as it implies, it traverses the ridge line with unbelievable views and very steep drop-offs, no curbs, no guardrails, I kept a close eye on the road. There are a number of pull outs to see the variety of views the park has to offer, Alpine tundra by the visitor center, completely void of any trees; rocky jagged mountains, some with snow still on the north sides; ponds and small lakes in the middle of the valleys, we even saw a moose in one; meadows in the lower elevations, one with a small herd to bighorn sheep; to pine trees that seem to cover the park. It was a beautiful day and one we thoroughly enjoyed. I hope the pictures captured as least some of what we experienced.
Stats: 244 miles
Weather: highs mid 80’s except at higher elevations where temps were in the 60’s, lows in mid 50’s

Pictures: Hike - sunrise, 'Nymph Lake, Dream Lake (with Pat's dreamed up Moose!), fisherman, Chippy & elk. Drive - Old Fall River Rd (look closely and you can see the road in the trees), Trail Ridge Rd, various views and vistas.