Rocky Mountain National Park

We had a pleasant drive to and though Rocky Mountain National Park today.  In the past we had driven through the park east to west, but this time we went west to east so we could end up in the city of Estes Park, and that way we'd be just 2 hours from the Denver airport.   The picture on the right is a scene as we approached the park on US-40.  As you can see we had beautiful weather.

We enjoyed a Subway lunch at a picnic table just inside the park.  We hoped to have nice scenery while we ate, but a forest fire came through this area in 2020 as you can see in this picture so that is what we got to look at.  

The big thrill of the day was spotting a herd of Elk as we headed out just after lunch.   Check out the rack on this one!  The elks were hard to count, but I estimate it was well over a dozen.  On the right is a picture of 3 crossing the road.  We've got more pictures of the herd in the woods, but they are very hard to spot among the trees.

Our next stop was the Alpine Visitor Center. As you can see we are at a pretty high altitude.  Mary went in to shop and I decided to give the path in the picture on the right a try. (I recalled walking it in the past.)  I got close to the first step when I realized I was already short of breath so I decided it was not a wise choice, and headed back to the gift shop.  

Mary took the photo on the left showing that we were above the clouds.  Little did we know that our drive to Estes Park would take us down through that cloud.  

We made a few more stops at pull-outs on our drive, but most views were obscured by the clouds.  I took only this one picture.  I tried to take a larger panorama, but had some issues with my new new camera.  Guess I need some practice! 

I expect this to be my last blog from this short trip.  Adios until we begin our trip to Aspen in October on October 1st.