Rocky Mountain National Park
It’s still fall according to the calendar, but at Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, winter has set in. Harland and I paid a visit to my sister and her family over Thanksgiving last week in Colorado, and on Friday we went to the park. The roads are closed at the higher elevations, but there’s still plenty to see. There had been a snowstorm a couple days earlier, so everything had a fresh coat of white.
This park is one of those places where you can’t take a bad picture.
In 1915, the US Congress passed the bill which created the park.
More land has been added to the park since then, and today it encompasses over 265,000 acres.
We drove through Beaver Meadow in the late afternoon as the sun was dipping behind the mountains.
Then we headed to Bear Lake hoping for a good sunset. It was about 10 degrees and the wind was blowing off the lake about 200 miles per hour. Harland set up his camera on a tripod while I hand-held mine trying to hold it still as hypothermia set in. I had long johns on, but when I faced the wind my lips started to freeze solid, so I spent most of the time waiting for the sun to go down facing away from the wind only turning into the wind to take quick pics and then turning away again. We didn’t get the sunset we hoped for, but we got some nice pics anyway.
In the parking lot near the lake, I got one last pic of the sun as it briefly lit upon the top edge of the rock.
——> UP NEXT TOMORROW: The elk of Rocky Mountain National Park as they graze within a few feet of us.
——-> COMING UP THURSDAY: Other wildlife of the park: coyotes, birds, and more.
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I can’t tell you how much I enjoy your “travel log”. The pictures of the Park make you really respect mother nature.
Thanks so much for sharing with us.
You’re quite welcome Chester’s Mom! And thank you for your visit too.
I agree with you. You can’t take a bad picture there! Just amazing.
I can’t wait to see your posts tomorrow and Thursday. It’s hard to get good wildlife pictures. I have trouble taking pix of my dog…haha
see you tomorrow.
Julie
Hi Julie,
It’s very difficult to get good wildlife pics here at home, but inside National parks where they aren’t hunted, it’s a lot easier.
See ya,
Suzanne
So beautiful!
Thanks Teresa, Hope you’re having a good weekend.
Oh, lucky, lucky you. Beautiful pictures… I’m loving your blog!
Oh thank you Morning, and I so enjoy yours as well. I like the snow that is falling over there. 🙂
Awesome! I’ve been to/seen most of the places you photographed since RMNP is an hour drive away from where I am. I love it there. Nymph Lake near Bear Lake is so so pretty in the summer with all the lily pads and mayflies.
Hi Maegan,
I don’t think I’ve been to Nymph Lake, but it sounds enchanting. Will have to visit it next time.
Oh so beautiful! I love the photo with the sun lighting up the top of the mountain. so pretty! You poor girl…I can’t believe how cold it must have been for you!! yowza! I hope you have begun to thaw out!!
Hi Bonnie,
At least I had longjohns on so it could have been worse. Harland didn’t have any long undies on, and I don’t know why he didn’t freeze solid. But he’s one of those lucky people who seems to give off heat like a furnace.
Brrrrrr!!! Maybe next time you can go in July.
Hi Vivian,
Yes, would be much warmer then. But we did enjoy seeing the snow there this time of year. And the crowds weren’t as bad either. So it’s a trade off.
Suzanne–such beautiful pictures of my “back yard!” Vivian–once when we had visitors for the 4th of July, we drove up to the park and it was snowing at the higher elevations!! It can be darn cold up there anytime of the year!
Hi Lainie,
You have a lovely backyard. Longmont is not too far from Brighton right? Brighton is where my sister and her family live.
Ah, Beaver Meadow! I remember it well. It was lovely in late July the year I went. Funny how your eye always travels to the mountains out there and at your place the eye travels to the sky. Thanks for the trip! Oh, you may have to invest in some HEATED long johns next time. There’s just not enough heat generated by your small body to get warm in those climes.
HI Glenda,
Electric longjohns? Wouldn’t that be wonderful……ahhhh…..
So very BEAUTIFUL. Makes you feel quite small, huh?
Hi Doe,
Yes it does, and humble too.