Since several of us were extremely sore from yesterday's activities, we decided to take it easier today. We had another entry time of 7-9AM today so we headed out in 2 cars to the park.
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| Obligatory family pic at the park sign |
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| I still love this picture post! Nice touch, RMNP! |
It was getting close to 9:00 by the time we got to the entrance and there was a long line. Luckily, we all had park passes so we got to bypass most of the line and drive right on in!
We again parked at the Park-and-Ride lot and got on the shuttle to the Glacier Gorge trailhead. Masks were required on the shuttle buses.
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| Shuttle selfie! |
Our first order of the day was to hike to Alberta Falls. The Connors have taken this trail before and the falls are beautiful. RMNP classifies trails as either strolls or hikes. Alberta Falls is a hike, but it is rated as easy and is just a little over a mile long rountrip so we felt like it would be the perfect hike both for the grandparents and the sore children.
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| Beautiful Morgan on a rock |
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| Caleb resumed his rock leaping on this trail |
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| Walking across a log bridge |
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| Chipmunk! |
We made it to Alberta Falls! It is beautiful, as is the hike to get to it.
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| The whole family at Alberta Falls |
After making a quick stop at the Nature Store at Moraine Park, we all headed toward Trail Ridge Road. A scenic drive was just the right activity level for us today.
At one of the pullouts, we were able to spot "our mountain", Hallett Peak. I marked it with an arrow in the picture below. The highest point toward the left of the picture is Long's Peak, the only 14er in the park.
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| Rodney pointing out Hallett Peak in the distance to Caleb |
Heading west in the park, you have the option of taking the paved Trail Ridge Road to the Alpine Visitor Center or driving on the unpaved Old Fall River Road. Both roads are closed in winter due to excessive snowfall, but Old Fall River Road was just opened up a week before. It is a one-way (west only) road that goes all the way to the Alpine Visitor Center. None of us have ever driven it before so we decided to take it.
We stopped just before getting on Old Fall River Road for a picnic lunch.
Caleb brought along his binoculars and he was watching for bears and other interesting things.
Shortly after starting on Old Fall River Road, there is a short trail down to see Chasm Falls. This waterfall is impressive and worth the stop!
We spotted another waterfall of snowmelt on the mountain across from us on the road.
We enjoyed our drive and soon we were almost to the visitor center. We stopped at a pullout and noticed lots of people watching something on the mountainside. Caleb spotted 4 elk bucks with his binoculars.
Caleb took this picture through his binocular lens with my phone. Pretty good view!
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| Elk hanging out on the mountain |
We climbed a large rock and watched the elk some more before continuing on to the visitor center, where we then took some pictures, checked out the visitor center, and shopped and ate at the Store & Cafe next door.
The younger five decided to punish ourselves a little more and hike the .7 mile Alpine Ridge Trail.
We made it to 12,005 ft (which is 715 ft below Hallett Peak)!
As we walked back down, we saw a herd of elk cross Trail Ridge Road and continue across the mountain and out onto the huge snow bank.
Trail Ridge Road was now beginning to get backed up because people were watching the elk so we turned the other direction and went to Medicine Bow curve.
We had considered continuing on to the Continental Divide, but it was getting late so we decided to head back on Trail Ridge Rd. toward Estes Park. We passed by another group of elk.
At the next turnout, we spotted the elk who had been on the snow bank come over the mountain and walk along the ridge. Caleb spotted them first with his binoculars when there were only 2 elk.
We continued driving and stopping along Trail Ridge Road and enjoying the beautiful views. It was a clear, warm day and the road was busy. We brought walkie-talkies on the trip and used them to quickly communicate between the two cars. It was fun!
When the Connor car was almost to the park entrance, I spotted a huge elk. It was standing like a picture in a small clearing with its enormous rack perfectly framed in the trees. I was the only one who saw it and we decided to try to turn back and get a better look. It's antlers were at least 5 feet wide. We all wanted to see this. Unfortunately, we pulled over too soon and when we finally found the right spot, the elk had walked down into the brush by the river and only the tops of its antlers were visible. A crowd had gathered hoping to see it come out, but we never got to see it. :-(
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| Antlers in the brush |
Back at the cabin, we had a spaghetti dinner and an early birthday celebration for Ryan. His birthday isn't until tomorrow, but we needed 2 nights to eat this giant carrot cake!
When we got to Estes Park a few days ago, the park ranger had told us some good spots for stargazing in the park. We tried to see the sunset from Moraine Park first, but there weren't many clouds. We drove on to Sprague Lake to see some stars. The moon was new so we were hoping for a great view, but the lights of Estes Park were still too close to see much.
By the time we got back to the cabin, we had scrapped our plan for a hike to Ouzel Falls in the morning and decided to have a relaxing day exploring Estes Park.
