Sharing photos, videos, vintage images I've discovered, and -- occasionally -- commentary and thoughts from retired life and travels.

Colorado

Elk Viewing Season in Moraine Park.

January 14, 2012

2011 09 12 440for blogWe visited Rocky Mountain National Park in September, largely because it’s the prime period for viewing North American elk (wapiti) in the park.

In late summer and early autumn, elk descend from the high country to mountain valley meadows for the annual mating season.  Bull elk compete with each other for the right to breed with a herd of females.  Although the competition is high, it’s mostly posturing for the females as actual fighting results in injury and depletes energy.

One of the best – and most popular –  areas for viewing the elk is Moraine Park.  The word “park” used in place names in the Colorado Rockies often refers to a valley or meadow.  In this instance, Moraine Park is a long, glacier formed valley, with broad meadows at the lower end.

2011 09 12 421 image for blogA moraine is a accumulation of boulders, stones and other debris deposited by a glacier.  Aptly named Moraine Park is bounded by moraines on three sides.  On the north and south, the valley is enclosed by lateral moraines, formed when the glacier deposited debris along its side.  Debris at the east end of the valley formed a terminal moraine against a small mountain.

A two lane paved road to the Fern Lake trailhead runs along the south side of the Moraine Park meadow.  In the cool evenings of the elk mating season, portions of the road are often jammed with cars and pedestrians watching the elk – what we like to call a “critter jam.”

While we were down along Fern Lake Road several evenings to view the elk, we didn’t take our car.  We could have taken the hiker shuttle bus, but didn’t do that either.  Instead, we walked.

Moraine Park campground is situated on the northern lateral moraine and there is a trail that goes down the hill to the meadow.  When we visited in 2009, our campsite was right next to the trail, but, this year, that site was, unfortunately, reserved, so we had to settle for a site a little further away.

Selected Information Resources:

Rocky Mountain National Park
Estes Park
Grand Lake

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Trail to Nymph and Dream Lakes

January 11, 2012

dream_lakeThis was our second time on this trail segment, which runs from the Bear Lake parking area to Emerald Lake and connects with other Bear Lake area trails.  We had hoped to make it to Emerald Lake if our legs, and the weather, held out.  The weather had been iffy overnight and during the morning.  Trail Ridge Road had been closed closed the night before and remained closed due to snow for the first time in the season. With rain threatening, instead of a hike that morning, we went into Estes Park.  After lunch and walking around Estes Park town center a bit more, we headed back into the park to the Bear Lake area trailhead.

The trail we chose goes to a trio of subalpine lakes – Nymph, Dream, and Emerald – in upper Tyndall Gorge.  The trail is well maintained and rises steadily over most of it’s 1.8 mile  length.  Difficulty is easy to moderate, but can be more difficult for those not acclimatized to the altitude as it climbs to over 10,000 feet.  We had already been in Colorado a week, so the altitude was less of an issue than it might have been otherwise.

tyndallFrom the Bear Lake area trails parking lot (9,475 ft.), the trail climbs steady for 1/2 mile, then levels off at about 9, 700 feet at the south end of  small, lily pad covered Nymph Lake.  The trail begins climbing again in the forest on the north end of Nymph Lake and levels off again at Dream Lake, 1.1 miles from the trail head and at an elevation of 9,912′ ft.  Dream Lake is .35 miles long.  The trail passes along its west shore.

We had hoped to make it all the way to Emerald Lake, 1.8 miles from the trailhead and 10,090 feet above sea level, but we turned back at the north end of Dream Lake due to deteriorating weather conditions.  Weather in the high country can be unpredictable, even in the middle of summer, but this was the middle of September and we’d already had some rain on our hike.  We had rain gear with us. However, it was already 3:30 PM and light rain was falling again, so we decided against pushing on ahead.

Blog posts from this visit to
Rocky  Mountain  National Park:

Selected Information
Resources:

Rocky Mountain National Park
Estes Park
Grand Lake

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Estes Park

January 5, 2012

estes_park_streetOn our four previous visits to Rocky Mountain National Park, we stayed one or more nights in the adjacent town of Estes Park. This time, we didn’t, as we were able to get reservations at Moraine Park Campground in the park for the duration of our planned visit.  As a result, we actually spent less time in Estes Park than any other visit – other than traveling through town and stops for fuel and groceries, just a short visit before and after lunch on September 15th, followed by an afternoon alpine hike back in the park.  It was an nice stroll along the street and into some of the shops – and much less crowded than our last visit on Labor Day weekend, 2009.

estes_park

This image is from a photo Karen snapped of me
while I was taking a picture of the Wishful Thinkin’
sculpture  of the cowboy pouring water out of
his boot.

Estes Park, a town of just under 6,000 permanent residents, is a popular summer resort in the Front Range of the Colorado Rockies, though there are plenty of recreational opportunities during the rest of the year. Located at 7,522 feet above sea level, the town is at the east entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park. Tourism has been a primary business for the town for most of its history.  Lodging includes The Stanley Hotel, inspiration for the setting of Stephen King’s novel The Shining.  (We stayed in the hotel during our 2001 visit.)

wishful_thinkin

The word “park” used in place names in the Colorado Rockies often refers to a valley or meadow. Estes Park, then, originally referred to the valley and was named after town founder Joel Estes.

The town experienced severe damage in July 1982 from flooding resulting from the failure of Lawn Lake Dam.

Additional information on the Lawn Lake Dam Failure, July 15, 1982:

Blog posts from this visit to
Rocky  Mountain  National Park:

Selected Information
Resources:

Rocky Mountain National Park
Estes Park
Grand Lake

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Trail Ridge High Country

December 27, 2011

marmotRocky Mountain National Park’s Trail Ridge Road (Wikipedia) crosses the park from Estes Park on the east to Grand Lake on the west. It is a segment of U.S. Highway 34 and is the highest continuous highway in the United States.  Crossing the Continental Divide at Milner Pass ((elev. 10,758 ft/3,279 m), it reaches its highest point at 12,183 ft (3,713 m), near Fall River Pass.

On this visit, the day we crossed on Trail Ridge Road to Grand Lake and back started out cool, with precipitation predicted.  We ran into a little rain and quite a bit of fog, some of which rolled in when we were on the Tundra Communities Trail, which climbs a couple hundred feet, starting at about 12, 100 ft. elevation.

On the way back to the campground, we stopped at the gift shop next to Alpine Visitor Center – at Fall Creek Pass – at a little after 3 PM to take a break from the fog and get a cup of coffee. However, the gift shop was closed, as was the visitor center.  The temperature had dropped from the mid 50s when we were there earlier in the day to 35°F.

About three hours after we made it back to the camper, the park service closed the road.

Blog posts from this visit to
Rocky  Mountain  National Park:

Selected Information
Resources:

Rocky Mountain National Park
Estes Park
Grand Lake

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Fall River Country

December 24, 2011

Each time we visit Rocky Mountain National Park, we travel the Old Fall River Road from it’s junction with the modern Fall River Road, U.S. Highway 34.  The road is two-way and paved for the first 1.75 miles, passing Lawn Lake Trailhead, Lawn Lake Alluvial Fan, and the Endovalley Picnic Area.   The remaining 9.4 miles is winding, narrow,  unpaved and one-way from the picnic area  to above treeline at Fall River Pass, following the steep slope of Mount Chapin’s south face to it’s junction with Trail Ridge Road.

Old Fall River Road was built between 1913 and 1920.

The Lawn Lake Alluvial Fan is a particularly interesting recent geologic feature.  It was created when flood water and debris rushing down the steep and narrow Roaring River valley from a failed dam at Lawn Lake slowed down when it reached the broader Fall River valley, leaving behind an alluvial fan of debris.  When we first saw it over 20 years ago, the large Roaring River gully scoured by the flow and the alluvial fan were still a fairly fresh scar on the land, with little new vegetation. In the ensuing years, the scar has weathered some and vegetation has moved in.

Additional information on the Lawn Lake Dam Failure, July 15, 1982
estes_park_lawn_lake_flood

Aerial view of Estes Park, July 15, 1982 (USGS)

Lawn Lake alluvial fan from Trail Ridge Road

 

 

 

 

 

Blog posts from this visit to
Rocky  Mountain  National Park:

  • Bear Lake
  • Fall River Country (this post)
  • Trail Ridge High Country (coming soon)
  • Estes Park, Colorado (coming soon)
  • Trail to Nymph and Dream Lake (coming
    soon)
  • Moraine Country (coming soon)

Selected Information
Resources:

Rocky Mountain National Park
Estes Park
Grand Lake

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Bear Lake

December 21, 2011

2011 09 12 064 panoThe Bear Lake area of Rocky Mountain National Park is one of the most popular parts of the park.  We’ve hiked several trails in the area, including the 0.6 mile trail around Bear Lake.

The Bear Lake Trail is an easy walk, listed as accessible – available to most people, including those with handicaps. However, the trail is not entirely flat and is more challenging than most accessible trails.  The lake is about 9500 feet above sea level.

Bear Lake is  at the end of Bear Lake Road, eleven miles from the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center.  With several other trails in the Bear Lake area, the parking lot fills early during the summer and weekends.  Bear Lake Route shuttle buses run from a large Park & Ride parking area across from Glacier Basin Campground, with stops at other trailheads along the route.

Blog posts from this visit to
Rocky  Mountain  National Park:

  • Bear Lake (this post)
  • Fall River Country (coming soon)
  • Trail Ridge High Country (coming soon)
  • Estes Park, Colorado (coming soon)
  • Trail to Nymph and Dream Lake (coming
    soon)
  • Moraine Country (coming soon)

Selected Information
Resources:

Rocky Mountain National Park
Estes Park
Grand Lake

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →