Rocky Mountains!! Tom drove the RV through the busy center of Estes Park to reach our new backyard, and what a beauty it is! Perfect for us. We are right on the babbling brook (Big Thompson River)....which we hope doesn't become a raging river any time soon. Very peaceful. It was good to relax after THAT drive!
We were warned by the campground staff to keep all food and garbage properly, since bears frequent the campground. They have had recent incidents of bears breaking into cars here too. Yikes! We're good....we follow all safety precautions.
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| new backyard |
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| view of river and mountains |
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| this is so sweet! |
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| surrounded by mountains (and campers...ahhahaa) |
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| ready for a walk? |
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| Rocky Mountains :) |
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| relaxing by the river (and getting some knitting done) |
Rocky Mountain National Park!! Our first morning in Estes Park was cold and rainy, but we set out early anyway to explore the park. The entrance to the park is 5 minutes from our campground, which is so great. The traffic in Estes Park is pretty heavy, and we bypass all that.
Heaven! Within the first hour, we saw elk, moose, coyote and deer. We checked out the hiking with the ranger, and the parking situation at some of the trailheads too, but we weren't prepared to hike just yet. The views were awesome, and that was in the clouds and rain. Can't imagine the views when the skies clear!
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| ohhh...bad pic.....saw the sign too late |
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| the views are really great-even in the rain |
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| bet the view is a lot different with the sun out |
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| nice |
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| refreshing |
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| "stand right here" |
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| the mountains are spectacular |
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| great view of the meadows below |
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| the town of Estes Park....nestled among the mountains |
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| gorgeous views |
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| checking things out |
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| looking for wildlife |
We headed down to Sheep Lakes, where the big horn sheep frequent, but no sheep. Instead, we spotted a coyote. While I was busy watching the coyote, Tom turned me around and directed me to the moose in the lake. We had just walked away for a minute....and then the moose magically appeared! Thrilling for us! So much so, that when she moved out of our vision, we drove to the other side to catch another view. Can you tell...we just love to watch wildlife!
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| Sheep Lakes (where the big horn sheep come frequently for minerals) |
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| beautiful |
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| a coyote out in the meadow (right smack in the middle of the picture) |
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| close up |
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| this moose appeared out of nowhere! |
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| what a picture! |
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| zoomed in |
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| walking through |
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| the coyote again |
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| we had fun with our binoculars here |
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| driving by the lake to get to the other side for more moose-watching......we were mesmerized |
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| see her in the left side of the lake |
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| doing her thing |
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| zoom |
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| bye bye.... |
Eventually, we tore ourselves away and drove towards Bear Lake, where we plan on hiking soon. Again, the views were priceless. We came upon a herd of deer in the woods near the road, and spent some time watching them graze. (I know...coming from NJ we just had to look in our backyard....but these are Rocky Mountain deer!)
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| viewing the meadows |
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| looking for wildlife |
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| gorgeous |
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| a sprinkling of color |
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| herd of deer |
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| how sweet is this |
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| moving through the woods |
Of course, we made a few more stops for the views. Glacier Creek runs pretty swiftly, and is quite scenic. It is also pretty dangerous. There are warnings to stay off the slippery wet rocks (or risk death). We checked out another trailhead, and pulled over for a traffic jam. It was a gigantic bull elk. Wow that guy looked huge.
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| we are so pleasantly thrilled with the temperature-nice not to need a/c and my cooling kerchief! |
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| serene |
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| Glacier Creek |
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| fast moving dangerous water...no rock walking along this river! |
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| checking out the trailhead for another day |
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| oh...a bathroom! |
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| this big elk caused a traffic jam :) |
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| better view |
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| blue!! |
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| one more view of the big guy |
The temperature seemed to be dropping as the morning progressed, but that was okay with us. We've been hot for a few months. Continuing on our drive, it was more of the same...stopping at various points for scenery or wildlife. Yawn. (Just kidding.....we had a great morning and just loved the park!)
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| looks like moose country, doesn't it? |
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| pretty |
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| we notice this a lot..."kindling" bundled up |
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| views are awesome to us despite the weather |
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| oh hello |
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| another great view |
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| another roadside spotting - herd of elk |
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| lots of them here |
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| oh sorry....keep eating... now I feel badly |
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| young guy separated from the herd a little bit |
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| more |
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| having a great time here |
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| munching on the greens |
As we headed out of the park, there was one more traffic jam. Seems these 4 guys wanted to cross the road, and were afraid. Even though the cars were pretty much parked. They danced around a lot, and seemed to keep changing their minds. Eventually, they crossed the road. And then we saw why. They wanted to join the rest of the group!
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| we want to cross the road |
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| should we go this way? |
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| no....let's go down here |
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| okay guys....should be good now |
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| success! |
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| oohhhh...that's why they wanted to cross! |
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| heading back out of the park, the views awesome |
After leaving the park, we drove through Estes Park center of town. The Stanley Hotel, where Stephen King stayed once, is located right near town. We drove up to check it out. Apparently it is a very popular thing to do for non-guests, so a $10 parking charge keeps a lot of us at bay! Stephen King's book "The Shining" is based on this hotel. The hotel offers "ghost tours" in addition to "historic tours". Hmm...maybe another day.
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| think "The Shining!!" |
We wanted to get the "window-shopping" out of the way for the week...ahahhaha. We were surprised at the many many candy and/or ice cream shops there were. We almost made it through without succumbing to temptation....but eventually gave in.
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| heading to center of Estes Park |
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| too pretty to pass up |
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| shopping?? |
As we approached one of the intersections, we spotted a little red thing in the mountainside. The aerial tram! No thank you. (We can see it from our campground too)
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| wait...what's that red thing in the mountains? |
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| oh boy |
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| no can do |
Estes Park seems to be an extremely popular place. The streets were packed, and the traffic through town is like a parking lot. The National Park has seen a large increase in the number of visitors in the past couple of years. The ranger told us 3 million came to the park two years ago, 4 million came last year, and this year they are up 15% from last year. That's a lot of math...so let's just say there are a lot of visitors! Estes Park is a gateway town, hence the crowds.
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| Tom drove here with the camper!! (Lots of campers come through here to get to the campgrounds!) |
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| having fun yet? |
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| yum! |
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| there's so many candy shops here... |
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| more sweets |
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| come on Susie! |
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| having a good time window-shopping (mostly) |
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| The Riverwalk (we will save for another day) |
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| after all...just how many ice cream shops can you pass before you give in? |
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| this is gooooood!! |
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