Rocky Mountain National Park- Saturday
Yesterday morning we had some breakfast in the condo and packed some PB&J sandwiches before heading out for the day. We got into Rocky Mountain National Park at about 10:30. The park is doing timed entry passes right now that you need to purchase ahead. We bought ours early enough that we had the choice of anything we wanted and chose 10-12.
Along with most of the people that arrived with us, he first place we went was to Trail Ridge Road. This road is one of the big draws to the park as it is the highest continuous paved road in the United States, reaching an elevation of 12,183 feet. Due to the blizzard on Tuesday, everything above about 9,000 ft was still shut down to allow for snow removal. Along the way we made many stops climbing the mountain and watching the landscape change. Kacie was living the dream, snapping pictures with all of her cameras.
Rainbow Curve was the last stop on Trail Ridge before we had to turn around and go back down because of the snow. This is a great look out with lots of parking and chipmunks.
Due to the snow storm we flew in during, and the colder temps for the last couple days, the tops of the mountains were still snow covered. Since the temperature was to climb into the 80’s for the foreseeable future, the snow was not going to last long. We also overheard a ranger saying that given that the temps were going to rise quickly, Trail Ridge Road should be opening up by the next day.
After braving the steep drop offs to come back down the road, we started to make our way to Bear Lake. We took our time and stopped a few places along the way to take in more sites. One place we went to was Beaver Meadows. This was a mostly open area where we got out and stretched our legs a bit with a walk. We found what we thought was an old shack but after wandering over to it, realized it was actually a spring house. We also had an idea that this would be a good place to check out the stars later that night.
Bear Lake is one of the more popular spots in the park so getting a spot in the parking lot is just luck. We lucked out when we got there and found a spot! This lake is very close to the lot so we took a few photos, it was very busy there. James decided it wasn’t very big, about the size of Strasburg pond, and not worth the hype but with this being my first mountain lake in Colorado, I thought it was nice. This lot also serves about 4 other lakes and has a trail to a waterfall. We set out on the waterfall trail which started a steep decline. We went what I assume was half way to the fall before deciding to turn around and head back. I’ll tell you, you lose your breath so much faster than at home and with the climb back up looming, we thought it would be best to go back. Also, we weren’t expecting this type of hike and didn’t bring any water along with us. On the way out, Kacie thought she was already starting to notice the snow disappearing on the mountain tops… foreshadowing.
We made a few more stops on the way out but at this point it was after 4 and time to head back to the condo and get some dinner. It wasn’t until 5 when we made it home and ordered from Smokin’ Dave’s BBQ to eat back on our deck. It was good. Kacie had pulled pork and I had brisket.
The plan was to head back into the park at dark and take some more photos at night. We went back to Beaver Meadows which James pegged for a good spot earlier that day and the park ranger also said was the best spot for star gazing. We set up the cameras and had a few elk visitors. Actually, the whole night the elk wouldn’t stop yelling at each other. We also had some loud human visitors but they left pretty quick. We went to 1 other spot along the road in Beaver Meadows before going back home for the night.
