Rocky Mountain National Park, May 25, 2009

We left Colorado Springs very early and drove to Loveland, Colorado to spend the night in a Walmart there. We arrived there about 9am and headed for Rocky Mountain National Park.
This is Castle Rock, north of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Does it look like a castle to you?

This is an old barn off the highway north of Denver. What did you expect, a lighthouse? Only kidding. I do love old barns also.

Just before entering Rocky Mountain National Park, we saw these young Big Horn Sheep on the side of the rocky wall. Notice how well they blend in to their surroundings.

This is probably "Mama" Big Horn Sheep who is overseeing her young who are lower on the rock face.

Road from Loveland toward Rocky Mountain Nat. Park. It went right through a canyon with rushing water in the river beside the road. It was very pretty.

Estes Park is near the eastern entrance to Rocky Mtn. Nat. Park. It is a unique little town, obviously a "tourist trap", but very nicely done. It reminded Jim of the town of Bar Harbour, Maine.

Here is a street scene of Estes Park. One nice thing is that the sidewalk is wide and often has benches for resting.

If you are ever in the area of Colorado, north of Denver, it is well worth your time to take a day or more to explore Rocky Mountain National Park. They have some great places to hike. We rushed through since we had to be in Salt Lake City at our Mission Training Center on Thursday & Friday for an update on our computer skills and programs.

We were lucky to get close to this small herd of Elk. I was able to utilize my new telephoto lens. Note that they have not lost their winter coats yet.

The sign says, "Big Horn Crossing No Walking". These Big Horn Sheep have quite the view! I love the meadow in the foreground.

This biker was riding down the mountain when we saw him. It amazes me how anyone could ride up and down a mountain! I have ridden 45 miles before, but that was when I was a kid!, it was only in rolling northeastern Ohio.

This shows how high the snow could be drifted. Note the height of the poles, which are there to help the workmen in the spring figure out where the road is located.

Jim and I are at Forrest Canyon Overlook on the way up to the summit. This was at 11,600 ft. I was not nearly as nervous or sick on this mountain road. I think it was less steep and not as scary on the turns.

Another place further up toward the summit, Jim enjoyed throwing a snowball as I snapped the photo. You can see the storm coming in from the left.

Here is where the road winds through the rocky face on the way to the summit. The weather was perfect on the way up but started to snow when we were at the summit, and for part of the way down.

This shows the road through the tundra as we approached the summit. This was a wonderful road in the park.

Here are more poles & snow drifts as we came closer to the summit.

This sign is not at the highest point but at the Alpine Visiter Center, where we would turn around and proceed down the mountain. It has quite a history. It was built from 1963 to 1965. The electricity is from a generator. They collect snow at a dam nearby and melt it, treat it, and store it for use here. Sewage is hauled out every day in a truck.

This shows a hike to the highest point on the mountain, outside the Visiter Center. We did not make the hike. Thinking back, I wish we had.

Lynda is in front of the Visitor Center showing the depth of snow as of May 25th. Note that the pole for depth goes out of the photo for height.

This is the view of the road through the same rock face as we were coming back down.

This is another view of the road through the rock face which can give you perspective as you look at the heights of the cars.

Mountain View coming down into the tree line. You can see the storm clouds over the mountain.

This is much further down the mountain which shows the spectacular mountains!

This is a closer view of those same mountains. We are still coming down but did take a different road once down to complete a sort of circle in order to see more of the park.

Obviously, we are getting much nearer the bottom of the mountains. This shows the foothills which are below the high mountains.

This is a street scene of Estes Park, after we were down ffrom the park. This is almost like a Monet painting, since it is raining.

This is the canyon with the river beside it, which is on the road back to Loveland. It reminded me of Parley's Canyon near SLC but is much tighter since this is a state route and not an interstate.

We saw lilacs all over this area of Colorado, in the lower elevations. They seem to thrive here! I haven't seen lilacs in bloom for many years, since I am not successful growing any in Georgia- phooey! My Mom had a whole row of these at my childhood home in Chesterland, Ohio.