Rocky Mountain National Park

Larson and I both had the day off and neither of us had been to Rocky Mountain National Park.  Since we are starting to run out of days of summer, we got up early and drove 2 1/2 hours to the Park.  We spent the morning hiking to waterfalls and lakes, then took the Trail Ridge Road scenic drive, and then ate dinner in Estes Park.  This was a fun trip and well worth the drive, even though we only got to spend a couple of hours there.  I would love to go back and spend more time.  The mountains there were amazing, but I have never been to a park that was so crowded.

Alberta Falls

Larson and I at Alberta Falls.

We were able to get very close to the water; it felt great on such a hot day.

Larson and an elk.

Elk are overpopulated in the Park.  They are also obviously very used to being around humans.  We were only about 5 yards from these elk.  They acted like they didn't even know we were here.

Bull elk.

Nymph Lake.

The Needles.

Snow in the middle of July.

Larson is from Dallas, Texas, so she was excited to make a snowball.

Rainbow trout in crystal clear waters.

Flattop Mountain near Dream Lake.

Dream Lake.

Dream Lake was my favorite.

Larson at Dream Lake.

The mountains above Dream Lake.

No, I was not taking a picture of guys with their shirts off.  There were several people with the ridiculous looking folding beds on their backs.  (or so we thought)

Looks like a refrigerator with legs.

Bear Lake, the most popular location in the park.

The view along Trail Ridge Road, the scenic drive throughout the park.  This road gets up to 12,000 feet and is the highest continuously paved road in the States.

This is Big Thompson Canyon, which you drive through to get to Estes Park, Colorado.

This canyon was so narrow it looks as if they had to force a road into this canyon.   Most of the road is built like a bridge since there is no room on the sides of the canyon.

This is another picture of the canyon.