Ok, no, I never tire of Rocky Mountain National Park, and Trail Ridge Road in particular. As proof, I offer the previous two installments about this topic. 😀
If you’d like to see what I mean, you can go read Part I, or Part II, or even this post about the fabulous trio of lakes we hiked recently. It is all spectacular, you really have to see it for yourself! But until then, I humbly offer my take on this paradise for your viewing pleasure.
This post is a follow-up to a post on May 27th which covered the eastern part of the scenic crown jewel of Rocky Mountain National Park, Trail Ridge Road (AKA US 34). That post covered Trail Ridge Road from Estes Park to the Alpine Visitor’s center, about 25ish miles. If you’d like to know some of the history and details about this amazing road, you can go back and read that post here. This post covers a bit of the eastern portion again briefly because my sister and her friend were visiting and we had to show them some of the highlights! 🙂 Then we carry on to the western region of the park on Trail Ridge Road.
Lynne & Ro try something new 😀
With the exception of my somewhat cryptic announcement of our summer plans to work camp here at Estes Park Campground at Mary’s Lake back on May 8th, I have spent all my blog capital since sharing the beauty and nature here in Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. No surprise, since this is one of the most beautiful areas in North America.
Today (June 6th) was our third day off in a row, and our one month anniversary here in Estes Park! Day off #1 (Monday) we hiked the Emerald Lake trail in Rocky Mountain NP, Tuesday we did a scenic day trip to Fort Collins (sorry, FB or Instagram posts only), and today we hiked nearby Lily Mountain trail. Several of our fellow work campers had hiked Lily Mountain and gave us the 411 so we knew it was a serious hike, despite being only 4 miles roundtrip.
Today, since it was Monday, we decided to brave Bear Lake and hike to the trifecta of popular Rocky Mountain lakes, Nymph, Dream, and Emerald. I say ‘brave’ because the “season” has definitely begun here in Estes Park. Locals say that the lines going into the park in summer can be miles long. This morning, fortunately, that was not the case. Bear Lake is the most popular area to saunter around Bear Lake or begin many other hikes, and the parking area there is generally closed to traffic by 8:30 or 9 on a summer day. You can still go there, but you must park at the Park and Ride, and catch a shuttle to the Bear Lake trailhead. Well, we found exactly that situation before 9 AM on a Monday. Hmmm. So that is what we did.
curvyroads 