Category: Wild Wild West

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Rocky Mountain National Park, Day 3

I’m doing a catch-up post here. Yesterday was actually a travel day, which ended with us in Utah. But I didn’t get to share what we did on day 3 at RMNP. So here goes, with little commentary because we need to roll.

Elk Sighting

 

Bear Lake

 

Shannon at Alberta Falls

 

Annelies at Alberta Falls

 

VERY Early Aspen Leaves

 

Hiking Down from Alberta Falls

 

Nymph Lake

 

Nymph Lake Feels Just Like Home

 

Nymph Lake from Above

 

Dream Lake

 

Dream Lake Trail

We all gasped for air the entire way as we climbed from an elevation of 9,475 feet at the parking lot to over 10,000 feet at Dream Lake. That would be a strenuous climb at sea level, but at just under TWO miles high, it was REALLY a challenge. Our legs are still feeling it two days later.

But with this view as the reward at the end (we passed Nymph Lake along the way), it was well worth it.

Dream Lake

Now we’re off to see some arches…

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Rocky Mountain National Park, Day 2

Despite having both of  our windshields covered with frost in the morning, yesterday turned out to be quite a nice day.

Brilliant Blue Sky

The shot above was taken at an overlook that was above treeline (11,700 or so feet). The views were pretty nice.

The High Road

Since it’s a holiday weekend, the park is pretty crowded. We need to leave a bit earlier tomorrow to get to the trailhead before the parking lot fills.

Mike and Shannon
Annelies and Kathy
L-R, Kathy, Shannon, Mike, Yves, and Annelies

I really like that group shot. I got lots of great images, but for some reason, this fisherman image I shot at Sprague Lake is one of my favorite landscape photos of the day.

Fisherman at Sprague Lake

Hopefully, today’s weather will be just as nice.

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Rocky Mountain National Park

We arrived safely yesterday. Shannon met us at the airport, which made the arrival extra-sweet. We’ve both really missed that kid.

Driving into the Mountains

Our house is in Estes Park, which is about two hours from the airport. We hadn’t eaten all day, so we stopped for a quick bite at Chick Fil-a. Then it was back into our big-ass car (that’s another story) and on to Estes Park.

View from Our Deck

The mountains are beautiful, but Estes Park, as with most communities that serve as gateways to big national parks, is a bit of a tourist trap.

After we got settled into our house, I went to the grocery store. It was crazy busy. But then, it is Labor Day Weekend.

Annelies and Yves arrived around 8:30 or so and we had a nice dinner. We were all pretty beat and went to bed relatively early.

This is what I saw when I woke up…

Brrr

Our first stop of the day will be the visitor’s center at Rocky Mountain National Park for new sweatshirts.

For now, I need more coffee…