Our first visit to Rocky Mountain National Park was about 30 years ago and it was all of 4 hours. This time, we decided to stay a week this time and really see the park. The main entrance is about 100 miles north of Denver just outside Estes Park. The park was established in1915 after rigorous debate between conservationists and logging/mining/agriculture forces, when Woodrow Wilson signed the Rocky Mountain National Park Act. Much of the park infrastructure was constructed by the CCC during the Great Depression. Today, it hosts a wide variety of alpine wildlife and awesome vistas to view the Rocky Mountains in their full glory.
RMNP is roughly 18 x 23 miles and is filled with mountains, rolling hills, meadows, and small lakes. Most of it is wilderness that is inaccessible or reachable only via hiking trails. The elevation ranges from 8000 feet to over 14,000 feet. The highest levels are under snow for all but a couple of months.
The heart of the park is the Bear Lake area. We hiked up to Emerald Lake at just over 10,000 feet in elevation. There were 3 beautiful alpine lakes, birds, and views. Hiking a steep trail at that altitude was a challenge for our Sr. citizen bodies. There was some amount of emotional consolation that most of the 20/30-somethings were sucking wind too.
We drove our mighty ten year old Honda CRV over an 11 mile single-lane dirt road with no guard rails over the front mountain range to see the west side of the park. This took us past the origin of the Colorado River and then onto the town of Grand Lake. A breath-taking drive to say the least.
On our last day in the park, we were treated to 90 minutes of grazing elk within a hundred yards of where we were standing. With us were several dozen of our Nature Paparazzi friends who were armed with 2 foot-long camera lenses and dressed in camouflage. There were 4 or 5 Elk Harems that each consist of an alpha male and a half dozen females. The male essentially herds “his” females around while they graze. It’s a fascinating thing to watch. It was probably Suzanne’s favorite experience of the week.
We spent time in both Estes Park and Boulder. Both are fun Colorado towns with lots of good breweries and cool mountain vibes.
