Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) is a Hiker,  of any skill level’s,  dream destination,   a  scenery  buffs,  visual paradise and a wildlife lover’s  playground of activity.

Spectacular! Spectacular! Spectacular on all counts.  Oh!  Did I forget to mention it’s a haven of  wildflowers, even in the Alpine Tundra.

There are 355 miles of trails in the pike.  Two that we hiked, Bear Creek Lake and Sprague Lake are (heavy duty) stroller and wheelchair  accommodating. They both have 20 ft elevation gains.

Two more than SPECTACULAR things about the park that I LOVED. 1.  NO venomous snakes  2.  NO gnats (no see ums) or mosquito’s.  I don’t like them and they don’t like the elevations in the park  🙂

Our campsite reservation was on the East side of the park and Continental Divide.  It was just luck of the draw that we made reservations at the Moraine Campground,  site #214,  B loop.   Our closest neighbors were a dozen plus deer and elk that lived in the meadow beside and behind or site.  We were unlucky,  according to the Grands,  that another neighbor,  a black bear,  had moved out the night before.  Our site was spacious, views were SPECTACULAR and location great.  Although, not quite perfect.  This is a DRY campsite/campground.   Biggest amenities a few flush toilets and gorgeous amphitheatre.  Have you ever seen or heard of “solar showers”?  I don’t count them as an amenity.  The kids did get a big kick out of them.  They didn’t use them,  but they thought they were “interesting”.    We had no complaints.  Our RV is self contained and the site was $7.50 a night (with National Park Senior Pass).

The Moraine area has a fantastic shuttle service.   We were only in the park for 2 nights. That only gave us a day and a half to do the things we most wanted.   Taking the shuttle eliminated hunting and pecking our way around trying to find roads and trail heads. Moraine Campground has a shuttle stop that was a very short walk from our campsite.

Each of us set our own personal goals.   I had done a little research prior to arriving and knew I wanted to hike Bear Lake and take the Trail Ridge Road drive to Rock Cut (no shuttle available).   Rowan

wanted to hike to as high as elevation as possible.  Richie wanted to hike as many Lake Trails as time would alot.   Ricky wanted to find Wi Fi in the park.  David wanted to survive the Altitude!

A trip to the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center was on our list of things to do.  National Park Visitor Centers have schedules and time charts for all kinds of events, happenings and park perks, like FREE Wi Fi for Ricky!  That was easy!    Beaver Meadows had two FREE 1/2 hour park movies,  that were great to see and get ideas about what to do and where to go.    We were there in time to hear a Ranger talk about Mountain Lions in the park.   Because of their roaming nature it is hard to be precise,  but the guesstimate is maybe fifteen.  I was surprised,  but not disappointed.   After hearing about their predator instincts and hunting skills I was pretty happy about the odds of not seeing one on a trail.

 

I mentioned above hiking the Bear Lake and Sprague Lake Trails,  we also did the Nymph Lake,  Emerald Lake and Dream Lake Trails.  In conjunction to those we were able to do the Alberta Falls Trail and Glacier Gorge.  Richie was a happy hiker 🙂

 

Rowan  and Richie left David, Ricky and I behind at Alberta Falls and continued another 5 – 6 miles UP to The Loch.  Rowan got his Elevation “high”.  That was not easy.

We hopped in the car after our restful hour or so at the Visitor Center and headed up, up, UP, UPPP! Trail Ridge Road to Rock Cut in the Alpine Tundra, 12,000 ft.

Moraine Campground is at 8,000 ft elevation.   It was COLD.  The wind was whistling Rocky Mountain High at a good 40 mph.  I, in my t-shirt and pedal pushers and Ricky in his t-shirt, shorts and no hat settled comfortably into the car and watched while David, Richie and Rowan headed out on the Tundra Communities Trail.   A pink cheeked, shivering,  yet smiling,  Rowan returned first.  Red faced, shivering, huffing and puffing,  yet smiling, David and his pink cheeked, shivering,  yet smiling, pacer Richie were a meandering distance behind.  Their excitement was contagious.  They were chattering and laughing about the experience most of the way back down the mountain.

The only times they took a break was when we stopped to view the wildlife grazing on the mountainside.

We attended an evening program at the campground amphitheater.  One of the  Rangers,  that had hiked all 355 miles of Trail in Rocky Mountain National Park,  talked about his experiences and showed slides of his experiences.  The talk was so inspiring and the Park is so SPECTACULAR that we’re already talking about Next Time!

Next Stop Denver International Airport.  Richie has to go back to work.   We’re back to Bear Creek Lake Campground.  Going to the Drag Races at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colorado with Rowan and Ricky.