ELK BEFORE BREAKFAST IN THE DAY USE AREA
Like I mentioned the Elk were on the road next morning when I headed to the day use area to make breakfast...
...the dogs and I enjoyed watching the day take shape in this awesome landscape, the clouds breaking up the sun filtering through and making those bright spots on the mountains...
STOPS ALONG THE TRAIL RIDGE ROAD
after breakfast and the dog walks we packed up and continued our tour of the Trail Ridge Road...
(map if you wish to follow along)
Beaver Ponds
The views are just amazing, and the occasional pop of autumn color was eye catching.
I think I pulled over in every single pull out.
I took a short hike to Lake Irene...
then on to Milner Pass and the Continental Divide..
From this point on we were above tree line, meaning trees don't grow once you get to about 11,000 ft...so the bare rocky peaks that give this mountain range it's name stand guard over everything.
This heart shaped patch of snow caught my eye sitting up there above tree line, this region is referred to as ALPINE, and there is tundra here just like at the Arctic.
the Cache La Poudre River looks like a snake in this valley below on it's way to the Pacific...
I remember last time I came here Elk were all along this river grazing it was quite amazing...
here goes the road climbing up and up...
Medicine Bow Curve
And then we arrived at the Alpine Visitors Center, now I can't even tell you how COLD and windy it was up there! Someone said the windchill was just above freezing, yet some people didn't have a coat and wore flipflops on their feet...I guess it's the old cub scout leader in me that has "Be Prepared" imprinted on her brain!
Got my passport stamped and went out back to view the 13,000+ ft peaks that sit behind the center...
up in one of the high meadows a herd of Elk hunkered down out of the wind...just below that moraine field in the upper right of the above photo...here's a zoom of them
And off to the left is where the Old Fall River Road ends...it used to be the only road to get through the park, and was in use until 1932, this section is about 10 miles and is open only one way, uphill...you can pick it up over near the Sheep Lakes area and it ends here.
I now regret that I didn't take the time to do it...and that the campgrounds were full in the Beaver Meadows area...so I opted to head toward Fall River Exit...
And soon the road peaked
Special View points
Gorge Lakes
Forest Canyon Overlook
then started down the other way and back slowly into the trees...
At the Sheep Lakes stop I saw this WANTED poster! Kinda cool.
Says: Wanted sightings of the Brown Capped Rosy Finch July-August. I didn't see any...darn.
Soon I exited the park, better planning could have allowed me to stay longer but I decided at the last minute that I would go here...after I saw all the flooding and bad weather in the southern US, I decided to head North....next time I will go to Beaver Meadows first and def drive the old Fall River Road.
Once you exit you're in the town of Estes Park,...it has nothing to offer me, but I did stop and see the now Famous Stanley Hotel! Yes the Shining Hotel...Stephen King's famous novel/movie the Shining...
it was undergoing a major reno...but I drove around a bit...
then I crossed the Big Thompson River and continued North!
NORTH we GO!
PEACE
Every day is a new Adventure.
Loved the heart shaped snow and I just have no words to describe how breathless all the beauty leaves you and I am only seeing the pictures.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning Jo and thank you for visiting and leaving a comment...I always enjoy reading and responding. That bit of snow really caught my eye...it's small but so perfectly shaped!
DeleteTHE scenery and the wind chill left me breathless!
Beautiful scenery and the Stanley Hotel looks good. Stephen King is too scary for me. Sometimes when I look back at photographs and see shots of places I thought of going to but didn't, I regret not making the effort. but there is only a limited amount of time.
ReplyDeleteHow true that is...I never leave a place thinking "I saw there was to see" and I don't think anyone does...Stephen King is a good story teller, I used to read everything he did but it got a little crazy after Gerald's Game I stopped reading his work. He is the master of suspense tho for sure!
DeleteI'm very late in reading this, but it is never too late to visit the RMNP -- this whole route you took we have been on several times ... and we used to live (in our RV) at Riverview Campground on the Big Thompson (every time we visited our kids who live in Longmont...but this RV Park was the best nearest one to them -- and it was a gorgeous place to stay. Anyway we love the National Park ... and back then we'd stay in Colorado anywhere from a week or two to two or three months, and during the week when our son and DIL were working, we would explore as much of the State as we could (day trips, leaving the fifth-wheel parked); as you know it was a great central place for exploring nd not too far from longmont to meet the kids for an occasional dinner out on a weekday and some of course weekends with them. We stayed there ofthen enough to feel like we've actually lived in Colorado -- and I bet that's how you feel too by now. Thanks for the beautiful tour and the memories.
ReplyDeleteHi Sallie, That area of the Big Thompson is really lovely I tried to get photos of the river but none did it justice...
DeleteI first visited Colorado in 1980, and I have yet to see it all of course! There is not enough time even if you live there to see and do it all...