Rocky Mountain National Park
May 27, 2021
After entering through the Grand Lake Entrance Station on the West side of the park, we stopped at the Kawuneeche Visitor Center to get some suggestions from the rangers as to where we should go. They suggested that we start with the the Coyote Valley Trailhead, so that is what we did! It's a nice 1-mile walk along the Colorado river with some great meadow views where you can frequently spot wildlife. We were lucky to spot two separate herds of Elk!
Mother and Son..... hopefully instilling my love of travel, adventure and nature into my boy.
Just a tiny bit excited about being here!
From there, we drove up and down Trail Ridge Road and we had FIVE moose sightings!
We saw two at our first sighting and then three more later. It was very exciting!
We ran into a local and she said that she bikes through the park frequently and almost always sees at least one moose. She also said that they are mostly here at the West end of the park, not as frequently spotted on the East end.
Can you see the moose lying under the tree in the shade?
From there, we drove up to the Fairview Curve overlook.
Fairview Curve pano shot.
And then made our way to the Continental Divide at Milner Pass at 10, 758 feet.
By then, we were hungry, so we made our way to Grand Lake Lodge, where we ate a picnic lunch. This place was BEAUTIFUL!!! It was situated right on the lake, was beautifully appointed in every way. Had a gorgeous outdoor pool, hot tub and lounge furniture. It had a beautiful outdoor deck area with lovely furniture and lava rock fire pits. I think this place in and of itself should be in the 1000 Places book!
Lunch with a view!
After lunch, we made our way to the East Inlet Trailhead.
And all six of us hiked to Adams Falls.
Beautiful!
Tanner taking advantage of a naturally made "bridge" and giving his mother a heart attack!
After Adams Falls, my parents made their way back to the car, but the four of us continued on and stopped at this meadow, where we heard there were frequent wildlife sightings. No such luck for us, but luckily we were quite satisfied with our previous elk and moose sightings and the view of water, meadow and mountains surrounding us!
We met back up with my parents and they took us to this ice cream place in Grand Lake that they discovered. I am purposely blogging about it because 1) the town of Grand Lake was really charming and fun and worth a visit and 2) this is the best ice cream place I've been to in ages! The ice cream was fresh and homemade and had all kinds of delicious, creative flavors and was situated right on the water.
Two thumbs up!
Ice Cream cheers to a pretty perfect day!
Verdict: Yes! Truthfully, I think this is probably my verdict with most National Parks, but Rocky Mountain National Park is certainly no exception. And it helped that we had great weather! The scenery is breathtaking, it's teeming with wildlife, there are plenty of trails and opportunities to bike, hike, camp, etc. We loved it!!!
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