Rocky Mountain Natl Park

View east from Deer Mt Summit Trail

We've had a great stay here at the Elk Meadow Lodge & RV Park this week.  We skipped the RMNP for the weekend due to crowds.  Instead we, and gazillions more, attended the Elk Fest at Estes Park.  The little town was busting with people.  All parking was taken.  So we drove down to the hotel by the marina, ate lunch, and walked back into town.  We had a good time plus Donna found her a quaint  little knitting shop.  So now she's back into knitting.  It's coming back slowly to her, and a two hour visit yesterday with the "knit doctor" has helped.  Oh, and we have definitely enjoyed the Elk!

Anyway, we went back into the park Monday and Tuesday.   We took the Trail Ridge Road up to the Alpine Visitor Center and had lunch.  We also walked the Tundra Trail.  I felt like I'd shoved snow clear off our driveway back in Fredericksburg when we had finished that one mile trail.  Unfortunately, we won't make it to the Colorado headwaters which would have been a great event given we've gotten to the Mississippi & Missouri headwaters this year.

Yep, a little cool on the Tundra Trail

Yesterday, we took a stroll along the Deer Mountain Summit Trail.  It's a six mile round trip to the summit - which we didn't do. Instead, we walked the trail for about an hour just enjoying the views.  The angle of the sun along the trail was perfect to light up the aspens and made for several great pictures - two of which start this blog post.

So, today is our last day here in Estes Park. We may go back into town for a meal and walk around Estes Lake one more time.  No matter what we choose to do, we will fill the truck with diesel and bring the water hoses back inside the trailer as we'll experience our first hard freeze tonight since Voyageurs Natl Park.

Alpine lake from the Tundra Trail

Tomorrow, if everything works, we'll move to Garden of the Gods Campground at Colorado Springs for the weekend and, hopefully, a visit with Barbara Welton.  Our plans to camp at the Air Force Academy didn't work out as they have a home game this weekend.  Wait list was 22 rigs long.  As we're fans of Garden of the Gods State Park, and if we're lucky, we may find ourselves within walking distance of that park from the campground we'll stay at.  If not, we're close and hope to take advantage of it.

Mushroom Rocks, Tundra Trail

As always, that's the plan - until something changes.  Later, David

Deer Mt Summit Trail view