Fall Weekend in Estes Park/Rocky Mt Natl Park

I picked Don up late Sunday night at the Denver airport (he did 4 cities in 4 days for USAB) and we headed to Estes Park for our second annual fall weekend exploring Rocky Mountain National Park.  We pulled into Ponderosa Cabins about 1 am and awoke to snow Monday morning.  We drove the few miles to enter Rocky Mt. Natl Park and headed to Bear Lake.  It was slow going in places due to the curvy road and snowy conditions.  I'm so glad that I packed the winter coats, hats, and mittens.  Next time I'll remember the winter boots.  It was beautiful!  And cold!  We saw many elk, much more than last year.  We enjoyed the winter hike around Bear Lake except for the wet and cold feet.

Monday morning from our cabin balcony

And we're off to Rocky Mt park

Elk sighting in the heavy snow

We saw big herds of them

A flock of wild turkeys, too

Bear Lake

We enjoyed the evening in our cabin complete with a fire in the fireplace.  Don picked up a pizza and we relaxed and warmed up.


Tuesday
We headed back to Rocky Mt. Nat'l Park to find that Trail Ridge road was still closed due to the snow.  We had wanted to drive the whole distance through the park and head home from the other side.  We drove the Trail Ridge road for eight miles to the Many Parks Curve where it was closed.  After enjoyed the lovely view we backtracked and headed home.

We had a great two days in Estes Park/Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park.  It was not the fall days we had planned on, but it was beautiful and a new experience with the snowy weather.