We are all excited to be going to Colorado. Our first stop will be Rocky Mountain National Park: mountains, wildflowers, alpine tundra, mountain goats, marmots and moose! We are looking forward to the hikes, the views and the animal sightings. And an added bonus – Kay’s brother, Brad, is coming to visit.
We leave the state of Nevada behind. We stop in Salt Lake City for several days of downtime to relax and catch up on errands, then we have a one-night stop in Rawlins WY where we actually leave the truck hooked up – this is simply an overnight travel stop. Then we arrive in Colorado! We are blindly following our navigation and it leads us onto an unpaved logging route! Not what we want to be driving on with the Airstream. We manage to turn around and call the RV park for better directions. Twenty minutes later we arrive safely at the Winding River Resort.
The Winding River Resort itself is very horsey but its location in Rocky Mountain National Park is quite optimal and our site is quite spacious and private. We are a five minute drive from the cute little town of Grand Lake and we are right at the entrance to the National Park. A perfect location.
Our first night we see a herd of about twenty elk grazing in a stand of yellow aspens. Fall is here – the leaves are starting to turn.
Our first full day we decide to drive the Trail Ridge Road which goes to the alpine tundra, 12,000 feet above sea level. When we start the drive we see a moose and her calf running across a meadow. As we start the climb up the mountain we see an elk grazing right next to the road. We drive up, up and up. The mountainsides are covered with green pines and aspens. The aspens have started to turn colors for the fall, so the mountains have patches of brilliant yellow. There are also huge swathes of dead pines – beetles. Mountains of dead trees. We cross the Continental Divide and encounter a hair-raising, cliff-edge ride at multiple points. We continue driving on the cliff-edge road up to the Alpine tundra zone of the park. Stunning views. The tundra is barren, rocky and beautiful. Very thin air at 12,000 feet. We stop at the Alpine Visitor Center and do a couple of short walks on paved trails and enjoy the beauty. September is a beautiful time here and it’s not particularly crowded. That evening we have one of our rare campfires – we are not big campfire people since smoky clothes means more laundry for us. Clearly we are not TRUE campers. Sad, but true. However, since we don’t have campfires often, we do enjoy them when we have them. That night the stars are brilliant, so bright!
The next day we take a hike that starts out at Grand Lake and an afternoon hike through the woods to Big Meadow. Both pretty hikes, but we have no wildlife sightings. We go into Grand Lake for dinner and wander through town, poking our heads into the little shops and boutiques, and Elle takes this opportunity to test out the playground in the center of town. Then we enjoy a meal at Sagebrush BBQ, a lively spot with plastic cowhide tablecloths and where you toss peanut shells on the floor, which completely delights Elle. After dinner we take a drive through the park at dusk looking for animals but we have no success.
The next day we drive the Trail Ridge Road again, but this time go past the Alpine Visitor Center and continue on to the other edge of the park for the Gem Lake hike. It might more aptly be called a climb. Up, up, up through beautiful rock formations. On our return trip, once again over the Trail Ridge Road we see more elk. We finish our visit with a dinner at the Grand Lake Lodge by our campground. There are stunning lake views from the lodge dining room and the porch swing in the lobby was a big hit with Elle. A perfect last night in the park.
