2016 Summer Road Trip: UT, CO, NM

Day 31: Tues, 7/12: Estes Park, Grand Lake and Rocky Mountain National Park, CO

Today was awesome!!! We got out early and drove to Sprague Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP). It is a gorgeous little lake that has nice reflections of the mountains when it’s not windy and there is a ½ mile trail around it. We enjoyed our walk around the lake looking at trout, wild flowers and the beautiful scenery. Our plan was to stand up paddleboard, kayak and fish the lake but it is so shallow and the water is so cold that we decided not to. So we drove to scenic Bear Lake and did a 2.2 mile roundtrip hike to Alberta Falls. It is a pretty waterfall but we really enjoyed the cutest little rabbit that was eating about 5 feet from us. We also saw a bird called the American Dipper, which was jumping from one spot to another right along the water above the waterfall to eat. After the hike, we drove into Estes Park and bought a tire to replace our flat spare on the motorhome and we went grocery shopping. After resting in the RV for a while, we then drove back into RMNP and immediately saw three beautiful male deer with big antlers in front of us trying to cross the road. We then drove up the one way, gravel Old Fall River Road. This is extremely scenic and worth the drive. The views of the glacier-carved peaks is spectacular, as is the dense green forest. We stopped at Cascade Falls and saw another American Dipper bird dive under water and swim around looking for food in a cold pool of water. As we got to 12,000 feet above sea level, we touched tundra, played in snow, and saw big fat marmots as we still admired the surrounding peaks with snow on them and the lush green valleys below. After we got to the summit, we drove to the West side of RMNP to have dinner and then search for moose and elk again. We ate dinner in Grand Lake. It's a small cute town on a pretty lake. We most enjoyed baby swallows who are not quite ready to fly but are getting too big for the small nest. The mom would fly out and get food and return. The babies would squawk frantically when she would return trying to have her put the food in their mouth! We then headed back to RMNP and right away we saw a herd of female elk with several young spotted babies who were so cute. Then we drove on and saw a female moose and then we noticed a male moose close by, and we stood on the side of the road with several other people who were all watching the male moose with binoculars and taking pictures. Each time the moose moved behind a tree, this group of about 15 people would all move to the right or the left in order to still see him. It must have been comical to watch. Once we had enough moose viewing, we kept driving east along the gorgeous Trail Ridge Road and took a turnout to watch a majestic sunset over the incredible Rocky Mountains. As we turned the corner driving, we had to stop our car because there was a beautiful elk in the road. It was hard to know whether to spend more time looking at the beautiful sunset or turn the opposite direction to watch the elk as he walked off the road to the east. After enjoying the moment, we moved on and just as it was getting dark, we saw 3 beautiful bighorn sheep at the summit – one was a male with majestic curved horns and the other two were a mother and baby. Incredible! We saw more elk and deer as it was getting almost too dark to see. We got back to our campground in Estes Park at 9:30. What a great day!