October 13-15, 2022

ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK

Colorado

“Rocky Mountain National Park in northern Colorado spans the Continental Divide and encompasses protected mountains, forests and alpine tundra. It's known for the Trail Ridge Road and the Old Fall River Road, drives that pass aspen trees and rivers. The Keyhole Route, a climb crossing vertical rock faces, leads up Longs Peak, the park’s tallest mountain. A trail surrounding Bear Lake offers views of the peaks.” ― Google

Visit a national park if you want awesome vistas and stunning wildlife.  From that standpoint Rocky Mountain National Park did not disappoint.  It was amazing traveling through the mountains, going from lush forests to alpine tundra and back.  Herds of Elk could be seen inside and outside of the park, along with Mule Deer.  It was Rut, or Mating Season, for the Elk, so they were very active, drawing crowds wherever they were spotted.

Day 1

Entering the park around 9:00 am, I decided to drive the Trail Ridge Road, a 48-mile trek from Estes Park (elevation 7522 ft) on the east side to Grand Lake (elevation 8367 ft) on the west side.  In between the two you climb to 12183 ft.  The changes in biome are fascinating, from the pine forests (temps in the 50s°) to the alpine tundra (temps in the 30s°).  The gusting winds above 10,000 ft made stopping to take photos difficult and uncomfortable, I’m sure the wind chills had to be near zero.  As I drove, I was making comparisons to Glacier NP’s Going-to-the-Sun Road, which I drove about a year ago.  Both are about 50 miles one way and wind their way through the mountains.  Both had guard rail-less sections which had drivers hugging the center line to avoid getting too close to the edge.  However, RMNP’s Trail Ridge Road was wider and meeting vehicles coming the other way was not as intimidating as Glacier’s Going-to-the-Sun.  The highest point on Going-to-the-Sun was 6646 (a climb of 3480 from the starting point) compared to Trail Ridge Road’s 12,183 ft. (a climb of 4661).  I recommend taking both if you have a chance.

After the drive back, I decided to check out the Bear Lake area, a very popular area of the park.  At 1:30 pm the signs directed me to the Park-and-Ride lot, saying that the Bear Lake parking lot was full.  From the Park-and-Ride lot shuttle buses to visitors and from the Bear Lake Trailhead, stopping at two other trailheads along the way.  Buses left every 10-15 minutes.  The city bus-like shuttle was full, with people standing on both the trip to and again on the way back from Bear Lake.  That’s how popular this area is.  Once at the Bear Lake Trailhead, I hiked around the lake, about 0.6 miles.  The lake was beautiful, but the trail was very crowded.  There were other trails I could have taken, but not being in hiking shape I opted to get back on the shuttle to my truck.  If I return, I will go to Bear Lake very early in the morning to avoid crowds. 

Driving out of the area I stopped by Glacier Creek.  I find the sound of water going over rapids very calming, so I spent some quality “me-time” here.  Walking back to the truck I happened on a group of Mule Deer.  I kept my distance and slowly inched my way by trying not to frighten them.  I got to my truck and got a telephoto lens to take a few more pictures of the deer.  Unfortunately, the deer were frightened away by people who got out of their stopped cars and approached the deer too closely.  Continuing on I spotted a herd of Elk out in a meadow.  I found a relatively close parking spot joining about five other cars who had also spotted the herd.  The herd consisted of a bull elk with a huge set of antlers and about eight cows.  I was content to sit on a boulder and take pictures with my telephoto lens and 2x converter.  I probably spent 30 minutes taking pictures before deciding I had seen enough.  The group of five cars had grown to about 20 or 30, which is pretty typical when wildlife is spotted in a national park. 

I exited the park about 4:30 pm.It had been a great day.

Day 2

I thought about returning to the Bear Lake area this morning; however, I didn’t get as early a start as I would have liked.  The day was Saturday and I should have known the amount of people visiting the park would be beyond belief.  I realized my worst fear when the line of cars entering the park started 1.5 miles away from the entry gate.  It took 40 minutes to get through the gate, meaning I average about 2.25 mph to get into the park.  I knew Bear Lake was out of the picture at this point, and in fact Park Rangers were limiting entry on the Bear Lake Road.  Plan B, which I had thought of the night before, took me to the Horseshoe Park area.  I headed toward the Old Fall River Road, which I new was closed for the season, but I wanted to see what the area was like. The trip took me past the Alluvial Fan, a very interesting area with a lot of boulders along a river.  I wanted to stop and take pictures, but both parking lots were full.  I found the beginning of the Old Fall River Road, a one-way dirt road.  If I return to RMNP I will have to come at a time to take this road.  Turning around and heading back I spotted a herd of Elk, about the same size as yesterday’s herd.  I was able to find a parking spot along the road and set my tripod and camera up in the bed of my truck to take pictures.  Like yesterday, when I finished taking my pictures the crowd of cars had about doubled.  I tried to find parking at the Alluvial Fan on my way past, but they were still full.  Being frustrated with the crowds and parking situation I decided to head out of the park after about 1.5 hours.  I was only a little disappointed and will use it as a learning moment…do not plan to go into a national park on the weekend.  In the end, I was very happy with my visit to Rocky Mountain National Park.