Rocky Mountain National Park Day 2

The previous day we passed over Trail Ridge Road, a continental divide highway that reaches a height of 12, 000 feet.  We dropped down into the magical town of Grand Lake (The Soul of the Rockies), which sits on the western edge of Rocky Mountain National Park. On the way over, Barbara saw a huge herd of elk. An auspicious beginning.

Now here's the deal about Grand Lake and the western side of Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park. The place is moose central. Whenever I go I always see a buttload of moose: Daddy's with beards and large racks, females with long spindly legs and long faces, and babies (calves) who are cuter than kittens. Another deal about Grand Lake. It has this really grand lake, actually two if you count Shadow Mountain Lake. And why wouldn't you? From the deck of our motel we could see both lakes and for my money, Grand Lake is every bit as beautiful as Lake Como in Italy

Now I am 63 and when I turned 62, I paid $10 and purchased a lifetime pass to every National park in the US. That's right free for the rest of our lives!! The intention was to make our way into the park, see a bunch of wildlife and go ooh and aah a lot. So after eating breakfast overlooking our beautiful lake, we made for one of our favorite spots, Adam's Falls. A short hike out the end of Grand Lake, it really isn't in the park but it sure looks like it is--plus we saw a family of deer (buck, doe, and spotted fawn). Then we needed more of a hike so we headed to a spot which we call Moose Creek (not because that is it's name but because two years ago we had a dangerous liaison with a momma and baby moose). The creek itself is worth the drive but we always take an extended hike along the water and this time we ended up leaving the park and heading into national forest land-beautiful beyond compare. On the way back we saw a fox, another pair of moose-baby and mom-and a herd of elk( about 30).

We finished the night with a meal at the wonderful Grand Lake Lodge. From there we could dine and watch the sun set over Grand Lake.

Good night.