Entrance into Rocky Mountain National Park requires a timed permit nowadays, and the earliest pass I could obtain for today began at 11:00 a.m. We killed an hour beforehand at the Fall River Visitor Center, where we got a ton of good info from a park ranger, so it was time well spent.
Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
The hikes we chose in the Rockies were pretty short, as the elevation is pretty high, but we enjoyed them all. Horseshoe Falls is part of the Alluvial Fan area, formed when an earthen dam failed in 1982, sending 200 million gallons of water and massive amounts of rock racing down the Roaring River. It was a paved stroll of about a quarter mile to the falls, beginning from the east trailhead.
Horseshoe Falls
Dating from 1920, Old Fall River Road was the first road into Rocky Mountain National Park. It's a one-way, steep and narrow dirt road with tight switchbacks and no guardrails – in other words, fun! The road ascends more than 3,000 feet before meeting up with Trail Ridge Road at the Alpine Visitor Center. A visit to Chasm Falls along the way required a short, steep walk of .2 mile.
Tom on Old Fall River Road
Chasm Falls
Jagged edge
The Alpine Visitor Center, at an altitude of 11,796 feet, is the highest visitor center in the National Park Service. Medical services are available for those overcome by the altitude. Happily, we didn't require their supplemental oxygen.
August snow
View from the Alpine Visitor Center
As a matter of pride, we hiked from the visitor center up Alpine Ridge Trail – aka “Huffer's Hill” – to an elevation of 12,005 feet. It was a round-trip distance of .6 mile, and we lived to tell about it. The views were amazing!
Tom hiking Huffer's Hill
Jana at trail's end, 12,005 feet
Rocky Mountain high
We continued driving west through the park, now on the more modern and paved Trail Ridge Road. Our next walk was at Lake Irene. A complete circuit of the beautiful lake was about half a mile.
Serene Lake Irene
Outside the town of Grand Lake, on the quieter western side of the park, we hiked to Adams Falls, a .7-mile hike at around 8,400 feet in elevation. After that, we drove over to Grand Lake Lodge for a great view of Grand Lake and Shadow Mountain Lake from above.
Adams Falls
Grand Lake and Shadow Mountain Lake
On our way back through the park, we made a lot of stops at many scenic overlooks. We only stopped at the pull-outs on our right as we headed eastbound on Trail Ridge Road this afternoon. We'll come back tomorrow and hit anything we missed on the other side of the road.
View from Farview Curve
Tom at the Great Divide
Poudre Lake
Rocky Mountain National Park is home to an estimated 2,500 to 3,000 elk. If that number is correct, I think we saw about half of them! There were huge herds in the high-elevation grasslands late this afternoon, a few of which were hanging out very close to the road.
Rocky Mountain elk
Another stunning view
View from Many Parks Curve
We had dinner tonight at La Cocina de Mama, a Mexican restaurant within a mile of our hotel. It was EXCELLENT! Afterward, we went around the corner to Avant Garde Aleworks. Finally, craft beer in Estes Park worth mentioning. The dunkel was exceptional! We closed the place down at 9:00 p.m. on this Saturday night. What's up with the crazy early closing times?