Rocky Mountain National Park  – Day #2 (6/6/24)

We had another morning reservation, this time for entry into the Bear Lake Corridor, the most popular area in the park.  Arriving early, we had plenty of time to start our day with a walk along the Alluvial Fan Trail to see the rushing waters from Ypsilon Lake and Lawn Lake, both at approximately 13,000 ft. elevation.

Water can be very powerful.
(Windy day + bed head 🙂
There were Bighorn Sheep high on the mountain.  Doug was able to get this shot as we made our way back to the parking lot.  Now, we will drive over to the entrance for Bear Lake.

After going through the guard gate at our assigned hour, we drove the entire length of Bear Lake Rd., stopping at Sprague Lake for a walk along the 3/4 mile lake trail.

There were many fly fishing enthusiasts in their waders.
Abner Sprague had some insightful words about Tourists and Guests
The Sprague’s residence, situated where the parking lot now welcomes visitors (see above map)
Hallett Peak (12,713 ft.) is under the word “Divide” on the above map.

After completing the lake loop, we decided to have an early lunch before parking at the Park ‘n Ride station to take the bus to Bear Lake (limited parking there, and the lot was already full when we passed by earlier).

We were lucky to opt for the counter-clockwise route around Bear Lake, as evidenced by the next few pictures.
Yes, that’s snow and melted runoff (aka mud) on the trail.  Had we started on a clockwise route and encountered this, we might have turned around.
We made it around the lake without any mishaps! 

One more Lake to go before the end of the day, and that’s Lily Lake (another outside then back inside-the-park destination).  According to an article in one of the visitor’s guides, there are lots of wildflowers here.

There were no wildflowers, though plenty of chipmunks and this handsome otter.  Part of the trail around the lake was closed for erosion remediation, also, so we decided to call it a day.

On our way out of the park, we saw more wildlife – it’s dinnertime for them, and soon for us, too.

Bon Appétit!

Tomorrow will end our stay in Estes Park.  We’ll spend Friday night in Rock Springs, Wyoming, then stay in West Wendover, NV, on Saturday night.

2 thoughts on “Rocky Mountain National Park  – Day #2 (6/6/24)”

  1. Hi Doug and Marty,

    Wow! That is rugged terrain, but beautiful. We are so glad you are having a good time and seeing all the sights. Do you ever need a guide or are the trails well marked and you are comfortable on your own? Delfina is here and as she passed we were looking at the picture of the two of you and asked if she knew these folks. She was excited and exclaimed she was so happy to see it. She is a very sweet person. So, we headed to Durham last Thursday and Nancy had her infusion on Friday. Everything went fine, as usual, and after that we headed to Richfield, NC to Sue and Jim’s. We had spent time there after they first bought it, but were still impressed with the great view of the lake and the calm you feel when you are there. The weather was perfect.

                                      The adventure part of the visit was living with their dog ( who is fun and busy) and their son's dog (a Doberman named Emerson, as big as a pony).  The dogs roam the house at will, so all doors are always open.  We had a room upstairs where Geoff and his wife live as they were in Florida.  Their space is a very large, mostly open area going across the width of the house, with a large bathroom and two office setups as both Geoff and his wife work from home.  The second night Nancy got up to go to the bathroom and in the limited light, met Emerson on his rounds.  You can just feel that he does believe that protection is his job, but that doesn't mean a cold chill didn't go through her on meeting him alone at night.  I have to admit that after being with them for 2 days, and I read up a bit on the breed, we were comfortable with him.  Although, I certainly wouldn't want to be the guy that tries to break into that house.

    Take care. Be well. Stay safe. Nancy and Jim

    //s

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    1. So glad everything went well at Duke, and the weekend provided some much-needed R&R, which you so deserve. Our hearts stopped momentarily, thinking you were going to tell us Nancy tripped over the dog! Glad all is well. Thanks for following our travels!

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