Trail Ridge Road goes from one end of Rocky Mountain National Park, to the other. The drive is 48 miles one way, and supposedly we should allow 3 hours for the drive. We are on the east end, so we traveled west and then back again. What a drive! So scenic! (And we were on the road all day due to our numerous stops!)
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| we were hoping this was early morning mist |
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| see-the weather is clearing-just mist in the valleys |
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| a scenic overview....still seeing fog in the valleys |
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| clear in this direction |
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| heading out early to avoid the predicted thunderstorms too |
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| the trees look so unhealthy....beetles |
We stopped at all the overlooks, and gawked our way through the park. The views are majestic. Just amazing. Really takes your breath away! (Its not the altitude...its the sheer majesty of these views!)
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| Trail Ridge Road |
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| the views are fabulous |
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| above the treeline now.....what is that big black cloud??? |
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| don't fall Susie....its pretty steep here |
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| what a gorgeous view |
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| pockets of snow |
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| pretty! |
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| the adventure continues |
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| two hands.....ten, two.....focus |
We stopped at Forest Canyon Overlook, and the name is descriptive of the incredible views we saw! It is also in a fragile tundra area, and visitors are asked to stay on the trails since the plant life is so fragile. Can you believe, we saw people walking their dogs on the fragile tundra! Sacrilegious!
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| tough little flowers |
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| awesome area above the treeline! (nice and cool up here too!) |
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| Tom is so happy he has his gloves! |
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| beautiful |
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| there's the forest canyon (and see the alpine lake across the way?) |
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| soaring |
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| the hillsides were really steep |
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| just beautiful! |
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| the other side of the canyon |
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| the sentinel (a marmot) |
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| breathtaking views |
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| sweet |
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| the flowers grow close to the ground up here |
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| they create their own microcosm....just inches above the earth |
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| heading towards the Alpine Visitor Center (at the top) |
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| there's another view of that gorgeous alpine lake |
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| marmots seem to guard the place...ahhaha |
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| an elusive pica |
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| very low to the ground...the wind up here is pretty fierce |
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| wow |
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| so sweet |
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| the rock garden walk...to see some of the flowers that grow on the tundra |
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| fogged in now! what happened to the mountains? |
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| sweet |
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| this one is pretty tall for the tundra |
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| so pretty |
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| how quickly the weather changes! minutes! |
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| so green up here |
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| oops...more fog (fun times on this road!) |
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| 44 degrees on an August day! |
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| wow...how would you like to plow this road? |
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| checking out the Alpine Visitor Center |
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| great views from the back of the Visitor Center |
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| lush green meadow |
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| and the original road through the park (?) |
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| oh...didn't see these guys at first....hanging out in the meadow |
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| great views from here |
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| incredible....Rocky Mountain High! |
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| The shop next to the Visitor Center (with great artsy stuff, I might add!) |
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| top of the world? |
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| I don't know how he does it!! |
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| these views are somethingelse! |
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| taking just a bit of a stroll |
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| the hills are alive...... |
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| isn't this just amazing! |
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| lovely lakes ahead |
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| view from the car |
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| oh hey guys! |
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| another weather change! |
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| ohhh...this looks like prime moose habitat |
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| smell that? aaahhhh |
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| another prime moose habitat |
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| the rain started getting pretty heavy (but we really didn't care!) |
There was abundant wildlife in the park, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves on our expedition. We always marvel at viewing wildlife in nature....and this is a good place to observe.
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| wildlife everywhere....elk in the back of the meadow there.....by the trees |
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| along the side of the road |
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| lots of elk everywhere |
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| what's that? |
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| these two put on quite a show for us |
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| taking off |
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| red-tailed hawk?? |
Before long, we were at the other end of the park. We were planning on a short hike to a waterfall, thinking it would be a great spot for our picnic lunch. Eh, we thought twice though, and decided to come back another day...hopefully one that was a little drier. In the meantime, we were starving so we parked in front of Grand Lake and ate as we watched the fishermen out there.
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| another scenic spot on the way to Grand Lake (West side of the park) |
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| Grand Lake ..... the end of the park....we were going to do a short hike to a waterfall here, but ate our picnic lunch in the car instead..still a nice view through the pouring rain |
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| huge lake |
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| we'll be back in better weather |
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| oh these are different! |
Heading back into the park from the west, we were almost immediately enthralled with spotting moose through the woods. There was a giant traffic jam, so we pulled over too and were treated to viewing three moose. The ranger was there as well, which is always good. We don't know how they do it, but it seems the rangers show up as soon as there is wildlife spotting/traffic jam....like they have some kind of radar. Anyway, we watched for several minutes as the moose started fighting, or something. Suddenly one of them started running, and yes, they are fast! We were also amazed how well they hide, being so big! They can be very hard to spot.
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| re-entering the park from the west |
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| ooop....what's that? |
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| they are so big yet so elusive (there were 3 moose here) |
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| they all ran for a minute too...i think they were fighting over something |
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| calmed down again |
As we headed back towards the east side, we decided to stop again at the "prime moose habitat" and were we happy we did! WOW oh WOW! I took so many pictures, I could put them together and they'd be a movie. Hahah. I picked just a few for this post though.
There were 3 moose in the field, and a mom/baby towards the lake. We were so thrilled to see this!! We just couldn't tear ourselves away, and watched as the mom/baby headed to the water. The moose didn't seem to be afraid of us....though she kept her eyes on us. I was happy the ranger was there, because I would have left way earlier than we did. Moose are more dangerous than bears.
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| the views were so great even in the rain |
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| back at that "prime moose area" Tom pointed out |
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| we hit pay-dirt in our wildlife viewing! Mom and baby, and three others in the field |
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| these 3 are in the field on the other side of the pond |
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| these guys went for the big pond |
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| then changed their minds and went to the little pond...right in front of us (and about 20 other thrilled visitors!) |
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| heading toward the small pond |
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| eating/drinking |
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| wait for me Mom |
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| trying out the water with a lot of trepidation |
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| wow! |
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| didn't really like the water |
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| this is not a close up...this is really how close we were...and the ranger was with us too |
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| i was getting a little nervous right about now |
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| what a wildlife viewing experience! |
Thrilled, we headed back towards the east side of the park again, only stopping a couple of times for the incredible views. Sometimes the drive was a little bit dicey, when the fog rolled in. Or the rain.
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| heading back up the mountain towards the east now |
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| beautiful country |
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| we are getting there |
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| the weather gets bad really quickly and then clears up a little (not sure which is worse, driving these kinds of roads in the fog where I can't see the steep drop-offs, or facing the music) |
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| still chilly (I love it!!!!) |
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| see the elk? hard to see with these amazing views! |
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| enjoying the fantastic scenery |
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| totally amazing |
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| check out those visitors walking on the fragile tundra -ugh! (there are signs everywhere to stay off) |
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| a little bit edgy here |
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| how nice it that? |
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| love the flowers too.. |
Before long, we were back at Sheep Lakes, where we had been the day before. The big horn sheep come down from the mountain for that water, which is loaded with minerals. The ranger told us the sheep usually only come down on sunny days, because they can see shadows in sun and can protect themselves. Interesting. We then decided to head back "home", after a really fun and thrilling day for us. (I know, we are dorks...but this is what we love to do!) We spotted a few turkeys (?), and in town, we spotted some elk bedded down in the grass near the highway. They are everywhere.
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