Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park

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This entry is focused around our return visit to one of our Colorado favorites Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. We will take you from the meadows to the Alpine area. Our first visit was in early May nine years ago. We were amazed at the marked difference few years and a few months make. In our earlier visit the Moraine valley was filled with full antlered elk by the hundreds. During this visit they were in velvet with new antler growth in velvet and the massive racks were non existent. Likewise all of the herds were now in the high Alpine valleys and the valley was empty. From a photographic standpoint the earlier visit was much more rewarding. On the other hand there was a much greater experience of late Spring and early Summer. Life has it changes in seasons and so does Nature.

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Photos

Estes Park
The entrance to the valley and mountains surrounding the town are quite striking. Estes Park serves as the Eastern gateway to the Rocky Mountain National Park. We stayed in the Jellystone RV Park just south of Estes Park. We found that all of the National Park RV sites book well in advance during the summer months. You need to plan way ahead this time of year.

Claire’s Restaurant
Claire’s was one of our favorite restaurants in Estes. We enjoyed the decor, flowers, friendliness and food. Yes they have a great breakfast. Dining on the porch and people watching was fun.

Claire’s hanging baskets
It seemed that all of the flowers were very vibrant. You will see later on that we enjoyed the flowers everywhere we went. Can’t wait to show you the shot of a bear enjoying a flower garden while in Valdez, AK. Be sure and remind me if I miss it. I think he was as shocked at seeing us as we were seeing him. Bonnie thought he was a statue until he started moving. But I am getting ahead of myself in our story.

Beautiful flowers everywhere
This was on the lawn in front of Claire’s. My Grandma Ward would have loved this place.

Bear Lake
Bear Lake has a .8 mile loop around the lake at 9,475 foot elevation. It is a rather easy hike with an interpretive guide and 30 marked spots along the trail. Either arrive early or late this time of the year or expect crowds.

Bear Lake
The water is very clear and creates a mirror image of the surrounding trees and mountains that top out in excess of 12,000 feet.

Moraine Park and Meadows
Moraine Meadows were formed by the cyclical growth and recession of glaciers over many centuries. The most striking part of this picture was the notable lack of elk in the meadows. During our earlier trip to this area it was populated with hundreds of elk with full antlers. Since we were a couple of months later in the year the elk had shed their antlers and were now in the high meadows.

Sadie’s friends
All through our trip everyone was so kind and all wanted to see and pet Sadie. It made for meeting many folks from all around the world. We didn’t always speak the same language but that didn’t make a bit of difference and we were all enjoying the Great outdoors and Sadie made a great interpreter. Kindness speaks louder than words.

Off the beaten path
Bonnie and I own a well used Hummer and when we see a dirt road it always says “come”. Needless to say it gets you away from the crowd and you get to see things that others don’t even know exists. This one took us a way back to Beaver Meadows.

Beaver Meadows
Beaver Meadows is a high mountain meadows at 8440 feet in elevation. You can see the multitude of high country hazards listed on the signs. We survived our stay and found it quite enjoyable. You have to put this trip in perspective. The highest elevation in Florida is 400 feet. So when you add 8,000 to it that is pretty significant for us.

Footbridge
This bridge leads to trails out through the meadows. I am quite sure it is built to OSHA standards.

Balance beam
I told my gymnast granddaughters that I could master the balance beam, too. They were quite impressed.

Mountain stream
This is what I would have fallen into if I lost my balance not some soft mat. Now aren’t you all impressed at how much of a dare devil I have become?

My Admirers
Can’t you see the fear on their face and the relief that I made it across safe.

Beaver Meadows
Although we didn’t see any beavers in this location the meadows were beautiful.

Bonnie and Sadie
I liked the rocky backdrop. The Rockies are named very appropriately. There are rocks everywhere you look.

Flowers
This looked like it had been staged. I liked the old driftwood looking tree with the Spring flowers all around it. It is one of my “circle of life” photos.
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Beautiful flower
I like the simplicity of a sing bloom.

Elk in velvet
One of the few elks that we saw in the lower meadows. It is amazing how fast the antlers grow in a single season.

Alpine Visitor Center and Meadows
What a difference 11,796 feet make in temperature, snow and wildlife all in the same day. Part of the true wonder of Rocky Mountain National Park. This was the first of dozens of times we crossed the continental divide on our trip this summer. The weather can change quickly at this elevation.

Elk herd
We finally found our Elk in the high meadows.

Snow
The green meadows below still had snow on the sheltered sides of the peaks.

More snow
You can judge the depth by the top of the fence sticking up through the snow. I really liked the blue sky and the rugged rocks across the way.

Sadie and her Snowman
At this stage of the journey Sadie was not at impressed with the snow. What would you expect out of a Florida Girl. Once she got a little more used to it she was more inclined to play. No in answer to your question. She hates rubber booties even more.

Sadie’s friend
Sadie liked the chipmunks we saw during our trip. She finally found someone that was smaller than her.

Rocky Mountain
If you have never seen them you need to put this location on your list. You will agree with me that they are ver appropriately named.