Return to Rocky Mountain National Park

What a difference another day and a few miles make. We have been in sweltering temperatures (100+) and dealing with flies – lots of biting flies for the past month or so at various locations in Montana and the Dakotas. This stop on our journey brought us to Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) where we actually had to dress in layers. RMNP has always been one of those iconic places I dreamed of visiting as a child, and I have now had the fortune to visit this great American landscape twice. We picked Elk Meadow RV park near Estes Park, Colorado as our home base – an RV park we previously stayed at in 2013. The campground was in much better shape on this visit with very little dust and more grassy areas (almost everywhere in Montana, the Dakotas, and parts of Colorado are dust bowls). We initially planned on staying near the Grand Lake area at the southern end of RMNP but the area was devastated this past October by the East Troublesome Fire, which consumed over 15,500 acres. We were happy with our decision to return to Elk Meadow since entering RMNP from the town of Estes Park gave us a logistical advantage by keeping us close to many of the parks featured areas. We also had the opportunity to visit with a friend from our former church in North Carolina who now lives in Estes Park.

RMNP is one of many national parks being controlled by a new timed entry pass system initiated by our federal government in an attempt to control the number of visitors in parks or specific areas of parks. Many people have had their vacations upended, either because they weren’t aware of the new entry system, or they were just unable to obtain entry passes – which are only available on line in limited numbers. They tend to sell out quickly – sometimes within minutes.We were very fortunate and only had one day where our entry time was limited.

RMNP is over one-quarter million acres in size. It spans the Continental Divide west of Denver and is comprised of numerous mountains, forests, and alpine tundra. There are several lakes in RMNP of which we hiked three, and viewed two others. Trail Ridge Road, which traverses some of the highest mountain areas, spans the width and length of the park from Estes Park to Grand Lake. We spent an entire day on this road – partially in the rain. On our last visit here in 2013, I was able to photograph an incredibly large bull moose in a bog at the southern end of Trail Ridge Road. The park is home to a variety of wildlife. We were able to watch Moose, Elk, Bighorn Sheep, Mule and White-tailed Deer, Coyotes, and Yellow-Bellied Marmots. We did not see some of the other parks animals such as bobcats, mountain lions, or black bear.

It was raining the first evening we arrived, but we still took a short ride into the park along the Bear Lake corridor. The next morning we were off to an early start to drive Trail Ridge road across the park to the southern park entrance near Grand Lake. Although we did stop at some of the high overlooks, visibility was difficult as it was cold and rainy most of the day. After weeks of 100 plus degree temperatures in Utah, Montana, and South Dakota, we were not going to complain about the cooler weather, although it did feel strange to be wearing sweatshirts and coats. We were able to see marmots, chipmunks, and a few elk.

We were up very early the next morning in an attempt to drive to, and capture the beauty of Bear Lake at sunrise. We were just a few minutes late in capturing the full effect of sunrise on the mountain face across the lake. We hiked around Bear Lake and then continued up to Nymph Lake and Dream Lake. It was a beautiful location. On our drive out of the Bear Lake corridor, we stopped at Sprague Lake for a short hike. Later that evening we took a ride to Sheep Lake where we spotted two bull moose and two bighorn sheep. The lighting was very dark so we made the decision to return the next morning in hopes of seeing the moose and sheep in better light.

The next morning was the jackpot. We had one large bull moose entertain us at sheep lake for over an hour. When he decided the show was over, he high-tailed it out of there at an incredible speed. Just as we were loading the camera gear back into the car, two bighorn sheep appeared out of the woods and on to a large rock just above and behind our car. They wouldn’t come down to the lake area because there was a coyote on the prowl far out into the field. Even though the lone coyote wasn’t a threat to the two bighorn sheep, he would have been an annoyance. Almost an hour later, the coyote was gone and the sheep came down to the lake area. We had already been in the field for several hours without any nourishment, so the next item on our agenda was breakfast. We drove back into Estes Park and had a great breakfast at the Mountain House Cafe. 

When we re-entered RMNP we decided to drive up Old Fall River Road (the old gravel predecessor to Trail Ridge Road) to see Alluvial Falls. While there, Anna noticed a very nice leather purse that someone left near a rock on the way to the falls. We all waited quite some time to see if the owner would return – but she didn’t. We decided to take the purse to a ranger station where we turned it in. It contained numerous important documents, including, passports, cash, and credit cards. We were able to piece together enough information from all of the documents to put come up with a contact number in Iowa. We texted the family to let them know about the purse and they later called us from the ranger station. The owner of the purse was in tears and thanked us. She said she put the purse down to take a family photo and simply forgot it when she continued on to the falls. Bull moose, bighorn sheep, a good breakfast, waterfalls, and a returned purse… We call that a good morning! After completing our drive up the steep gravel road to the Alpine Visitor Center, the rain came down in torrents. We headed back to our base camp at Elk Meadow on the much smoother paved Trail Ridge Road. We saw numerous ground squirrels, marmots, and a herd of about 40 elk, but the rain was pounding so hard we decided not to exit the car.

As much as we wanted to continue to venture out within RMNP, our time was up and we had to depart the next morning. We headed east across Kansas with overnight stops in Goodland and Topeka, Kansas on our way to our next key stop in Branson, Missouri.

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As you travel down the road of life, keep it between the mustard and the mayonnaise. Our prayer is that the Lord watches over you and your loved ones and keeps you safe.

As always, we hope to see you down the road!