Day 11 – 5/23/2021 – Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National
Park
Today we leave Colorado Springs for Estes Park. We’ll be traveling along I-25, US-36, and
then finally CO-7 to Estes Park. It is
very cloudy as we leave the hotel this morning, but the closer we get to Denver
it is beginning to clear.
We have good view of what I think is downtown Denver with
all of the high-rises. Notice that the skies over Denver are clear, not so much over the mountains.
Buildings and other roadside obstructions obscure our view
after passing the Mile-High stadium, but we are able to get a picture before that
happened.
After passing Denver, the weather begins to clear over the mountains and we can
begin to see blue skies. Notice the lone
building on the hill before the mountain, quite small in comparison.
While still three miles from Boulder, we pull over, stopping
at a viewing area, and have a full open view of the city. Where we stop is a rest area along an 18-mile
bike path between Boulder and Denver; many bikers pass by while we are here to
take a picture.
Once we reach Lyons on US-36, we get on CO-7 for the scenic
road to Estes Park. US-36 is also a
scenic road, but if the Ridge Road is closed to through traffic in Rocky
Mountain National Park, we will need to come back this way. We have just past Allenspark and find Saint
Catherine’s Chapel on the Rock along the side of the road. It looks like a quaint stone chapel, but do
not have time to stop and explore.
Shortly after passing St. Catherine's Chapel, we get a clear view of Longs Peak, and at
14,259 feet, it is an impressive mountain within the Rocky Mountain National
Park. You can see how much snow there is
still on the mountain. It is not looking
good for our through drive on the Ridge Road.
Near the Twin Sister’s Peak, at a pull-off, occupied with this
old car, looks good with the mountain as a backdrop.
We are about 5 miles from Estes Park and pass one of
recreation areas in the Park. Here Lily
Lake offers a picnic area, hiking trails, and catch and release only fishing.
Now that we are in Estes Park, we decide that we are very
early to check into our hotel and decide now is a good idea to have lunch. We decide to eat at a diner called “You Need
Pie” and after sandwiches, we do indeed have pie; strawberry-rhubarb pie to be
exact. Everything was good and the old
time Route-66 décor, enjoyable; if you are in Estes Park we recommend you try
the Diner.
As we are driving west along route-36 to the entrance to
Rocky Mountain National park, we drive by a store that sells bears, carved by
chain saw. Carmen wants one, but we have
no room in the car to bring one home.
We were in a line of about 25 cars, three lines exactly. And
after passing through the entrance, we happen to see these elk at the edge of
the trees. We just had to stop and fortunately,
for us, there was pull-off so we were not blocking the road. I think these are doe, but not sure.
Having seen the previous elk, we are on the lookout for more
animals. We have gone no more then a
half mile when we see a bunch of cars parked along the road and sure enough,
more elk. Unable to help myself, I had
to stop to get pictures.
These are definitely buck elk having antlers beginning to
emerge. This one has the largest spread
of antlers and seemed to have the presence as the dominant male as he chased
others away if they were to close.
Driving by the Fall River Road, which is route-34, we
continue along Trail Ridge Road until we get to Many Parks Curve. I see this tree growing out of a group of
rocks, meadow below and the mountains in the background. This would be a nice place to just sit and
look at the surroundings.
Moving around the rocks to a different view, I can see the
full meadow below.
I am interrupted from my musings when this squirrel shows up. Having struck a pose, I have to get a
picture. The animals have been accommodating
on this trip, posing for me as they have.
Before continuing on to the next viewpoint, I get a picture
of the valley below us. We seem to have
increased our elevation fast and now look to the distant rivers and meadows.
Nearing Rainbow Curve Overlook, we find ourselves in a snow
squall. Carmen tried to get a picture of
the snow and the size of the snow bank at the same time. You can imagine the height of the snow bank
by the size of the cars next to them.
Not staying very long at the overlook, because you could not
see very much with the snow flying, we started down early. On the way down, unable to believe the amount
of snow on May 23, Carmen got another picture of the snow banks.
Retracing our route back to the park entrance, we see more
elk in the distance. Stopping at the
next small turn-off, I made my way back to get a picture and find out that they
are deer. Two deer, not elk, were eating
around a bush.
Approaching the park exit, we see three female elk lying in
the grass. Now that it is getting dusk I
wonder if they are beginning to bed down for the night.
After having left the park entrance gate, we see, what
appears to be the buck we saw earlier, the buck elk again. They also seem to be bedding down for the
night.
One of the male elk, up close and personal, and no I did not
get too close to get the picture, just some cropping.
On the way to our hotel, I had to make a quick stop at the
Stanley Hotel. The Stanley Hotel built
by F. O. Stanley in 1909. F. O. Stanly
made his fortune in photographic plates and co-founder with his brother of the
Stanly Motor Carriage Co, which built steam-powered automobiles. Also, the Stanley Hotel also hosted the
horror novelist Stephen King, serving as inspiration for the Overlook Hotel in
his 1977 bestseller The Shining and the 1980 film adaptation.
Tomorrow we head to Glenwood Springs, our stopover on our
way to Moab the following day.
