Rocky Mountain national Park – Day 5

Went to Lilly’s lake today.  Gary did some fishing and I took a walk with the ranger led group about flowers.  Great info.  Some of the photos in this Rocky Mountain National Park – Day 5, come from different areas of the park.

The ranger stopped to talk about this flower and we noticed a yellow spider crawling up onto the leaves.  Once it got there, it folded up the leaves and hid underneath.  If you look closely at the folded leaves, you can see part of the spider.

This otter lives in Lilly’s Lake

Lilly’s Lake

Rocky Mountain National Park – Day 4

Day 4 in the Rocky Mountain National park was another great day.  We wanted to cover an area we had not seen, so we headed for sheep lakes.  We found out why it was called sheep lakes as 2 ewes with their lambs were around one of the lakes feeding.  Gary set up the spotting scope and we really got to see them up close.  We like to invite people to look through the scope, especially the young-uns.  It’s great to hear the reaction of the kids when they get to see through the scope.  After the lakes, we decided to travel Fall River Road.  Great choice.  Got to see some waterfalls.  It is a one-way road that ends up at  the Alpine Visitor Center.  We stopped there for lunch and sat at a table where we could watch the elk on the mountain.  Then we traveled back home on the Trail Ridge Road and since the weather was clear and the construction had moved further down the road, we were able to make some stops we had missed and to see a lot that we had missed.  I think I’ve worn out the words “wow” and “awesome.

Sheep lakes with 2 ewes and lambs.

Chasm falls

This marmot was eating something in the road and would not move.  We had to go around him.

Rocky Mountain National Park – Day 3

A wonderful day 3 in the Rocky Mountain National Park.  We went to the Moraine Park section today.  Hiked around Sprague Lake, up to Alberta Falls, and around Bear Lake.  The wild flowers were blooming which added to the beauty of our hikes.  Gary fished a little at Sprague Lake but wasn’t able to hook one.  There was a wedding going on at Sprague lake while we were eating lunch.  I could sit at one of the benches all day and watch the mountains change colors as the clouds moved across them.  When we were kids, mom would take us outside in Missouri and have us try to figure out what the clouds looked like.  I saw an elephant, birds, and numerous other animals in the clouds today.

Sprague Lake

Alberta Falls

This is the picture used for the Colorado quarter.

Bear Lake

Rocky Mountain National Park – Day 1

We found a neat-not-too-expensive park to stay in.  We like the park so we decided we did not have to be in a hurry to visit the park, as there are lots of different areas to cover.  We started our trip at the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center where we watched a film about the park.  Then we decided to drive the Trail Ridge Road.  They are working on the road so we had some delays but that was okay, cause we were not in a hurry.  There were some clouds over the mountains and in some places we had fog, rain, snow, and sleet.  The temp got down to the upper 30s.  We did not get to stop at all the vista points because of the fog, but we had a great first day in the Rocky Mountain National Park.

Colorado River

Stopped off at the Holzwarth Historic site and toured the cabins and houses there.  Gary got to try on a buffalo coat.  Very heavy and warm.  Gary would have been a mountain man if he had been born in the 1800s.

Rocky Mountain National Park – Day 2

The weather looked better over the mountain, so Gary and I decided we would drive over the Trail Ridge Road again.  Many of the sections which were covered by low clouds were clear, but when we reached the top, we had rain, snow, and hail.  We ate our lunch during one of the hail-snow storms and when we finished, were able to get out and see the beautiful scenery we had missed the day before.  We were able to see a herd of elk and Gary got out the spotting scope and we could really see them.  We are learning that it rains sometime during the day in this part of Colorado, but since, we are not in a hurry to move on, we can wait for the weather to clear.  Rocky Mountain National Park day 2 was wonderful.

 

We ran into a filming crew.  They were filming Alexandra Cousteau and a naturalist for a film about the Colorado River.  Alexandra is in the dark jacket.

Rocky National Park- wildlife

We have been lucky to be in the right place at the right time to see some of the wildlife in the park.

herd of elk on the roadside

Rocky Mountain National Park – flowers

We hiked up the Tundra Communities Trail to see what we could see.  The hike started at 12,110’ elevation and increased by 260 feet.  The round-trip hike was only 1 mile.  It had snowed the night before so many of the flowers were surrounded by snow. 

Kansas Pyramids

Great place to visit, that is, if you can find it.  Our trusty guide, Jan, drove us right to the pyramids and it was well worth the trip.  Jan and Wes used to climb to the top of the pyramids where they could see the wagon ruts made by those hardy pioneers traveling west.  Took lots of pictures as a few would not do.

 

looks like a camel sticking out it’s tongue.

good place to make a nest.

Horace Greely Museum, Tribune, Kansas

Great little museum.  The citizens of Tribune can really be proud of what they have put together.  Jan was our guide through the museum which made our visit that much better.

mastodon bones found in Greely county.

washing machines