July 2019

The Rocky Mountain National Park is stunningly beautiful with mountains, wildflowers, snow fields and abundant wildlife. The main road through the park, Trail Ridge Road, running from east to west, traverses a ridge climbing to over 11,000 feet. The road travels through three distinct ecosystems: montane (below 9,000 feet), subalpine (9,000 t0 11,400 feet), and alpine (above 11,400 feet).

We drove into the west park entrance at the Kawuneeche Visitor Center, only a couple of miles from our campground. I talked Richard into getting up early since thundershowers were predicted in the afternoon. We were on the lookout for wildlife in this montane ecosystem. Richard asked me if there were any moose in the park and I told him I didn’t think so and right after that we saw one! It wasn’t close enough to get a picture but we could see it well with the binoculars.

Our first stop was the Bowen/Baker trailhead where Richard shocked me by asking me if I wanted to go on a hike! What? Of course I said yes and we set off on the riverside trail. It was a beautiful hike and we spotted a huge herd of elk in the distance (too far away for pictures).

We continued along Trail Ridge Road and stopped at Fairview Curve and then Medicine Curve. At 10,000 feet and 11,000 feet, respectively, we were passing the subalpine and into the alpine ecosystems. The views were beautiful!

As we left Medicine Curve we were delighted to see a herd of elk in a snow field.

Up ahead we saw another huge herd of elk and then spotted some big horn sheep. Very exciting!

We ate our picnic lunch and then looped back, taking the Old Fall River Road, a 9-mile, one-way, dirt road. It was a scenic drive, and though the road was dirt with a lot of switchbacks and no guard rails, it was quite smooth and we stuck to the 15 mph speed limit!

We climbed steadily the entire drive. Stopping at Chasm Falls, I followed a short but steep trail to see the top of the waterfall.

Here are some more pictures I took along the way as we climbed to 11,796 feet. So beautiful! Richard saw a yellow-bellied marmot (sort of looks like a woodchuck) that was hanging out by the side of the road but I was too slow to get a picture before it ran off.

After exiting the Old Fall River Road we stopped at the Holzwarth historic site, Trout Lodge, a dude ranch dating from 1920-1929. I walked the short path, crossing a bridge, and then through grasslands to get to the lodge site.

There are multiple buildings on the site including cabins, tent cabins, a scary outhouse and Mama’s cabin where customers gathered for meals. They even had a taxidermy.

On our way out we spotted a few more moose, one with a calf. They were all shy so I only got this one distant picture of the calf. Can you see it?

We had a fantastic day in the park and the storm held off until we got home. Sweet! I would highly recommend a visit.