We had a bit of a misfire on RV park selection with the bison ranch. It wasn't very nice so we vacated after one night and moved down to a resort park in Loveland, CO right on the route to Rocky Mountain Park. It was a wise move and we enjoyed our stay in Loveland. We even had a chance to break bread with Alex and Erin Wilson. They shuttled us to a bar-b-q joint that was very good.
Today was a real nice adventure. We had originally planned to go into Estes Park at the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) and spend some time there and shuttle into the mountains and spend the night in Estes Park. Once there, we decided to just move through at a leisurely pace...which is the speed limit, 35 mph most places.
So we left Loveland and ventured west.
The recent warm temperatures have the rivers roaring from the snow melt.
The excitement builds as the mountains on the horizon grow larger.
After a stop at the Estes Park visitor center we entered RMNP and almost immediately encountered wildlife.
We saw many elk as well as prairie dogs, marmots, and mule deer. We also encountered many cyclists.
I can't imagine the "fun" they're having. It's a 5000 foot elevation climb over a 20 mile distance. I guess the payoff is going back down the mountain.
The vistas we had all day long kept us in awe. Here we are still in the "warm" sector below the tree line.
As we continued on, we encountered snow at about 10,000 feet, I'm thinking.
It was in this area that we saw a few mule deer...at least that's what I think these are.
Continuing on to "forest canyon" We're at a pretty high elevation here and it was very windy and required us to put on jackets.
Absolutely beautiful scenery at every turn in every direction.
The marmots were all over this place.
They look like a groundhog.
Well above the tree line there was still a bit of snow. The "Trail Ridge Road" that we were traveling just opened last week.
That's snow on the right and a steep slope to the bottom of the hill on the right.
Half way on the trail near the summit, is the Alpine Visitor Center. There's a gift shop, small eatery and NPS information center.
At the Alpine Center, my GPS shows the elevation and our distance traveled from Oxford.
I really don't remember exactly where it was, but somewhere around this point we crossed the Continental Divide.
We'll float toward the Pacific from here on.
So we continue down now.
The scenery still amazes us.
We descended to an elevation where is was t-shirt temperatures again and stopped at a trail head for lunch.
Kathy's trail mix packets "inflated" on our trip over the mountain.
We thought the sight seeing was probably about over, but the trip down I-70 was equally scenic from Vail, CO to our destination at Silt, CO. The route follows the Colorado River valley.
We ended the trek today at about 4:00 pm and pulled into a KOA along I-70 at Silt, CO. It's a nice little place and very well kept.
Our site backs up to the freeway but we run a fan at night so any traffic won't be a bother.
Most of the vehicles we see are from western states. We see very few license plates from states east of the Mississippi.
This park is along the banks of the Colorado.
It's a roaring river now.
There's a pair of eagles nesting near the park that we went to see.
That about capped the day.
On to Utah tomorrow. Not sure how well that will go. It was really hot here today. Went from a pleasant morning to snowy cold on the mountain to desert like heat this afternoon.
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