October 2018 - Rocky Mountain National Park
We spent 2.5 days in Rocky Mountain National Park, doing a lot of hiking and wildlife spotting. It couldn't have been a better time to go: October meant the mountains were snow-capped and magestic, but it was warm during the day and perfect hiking weather.
We saw beautiful alpine lakes, plenty of elk, plenty of birds, and had a great time exploring the Rocky mountains. When we were finished we wrapped the trip up in Boulder, which was a nice town.
We spent 2.5 days in Rocky Mountain National Park, doing a lot of hiking and wildlife spotting. It couldn't have been a better time to go: October meant the mountains were snow-capped and magestic, but it was warm during the day and perfect hiking weather.
We saw beautiful alpine lakes, plenty of elk, plenty of birds, and had a great time exploring the Rocky mountains. When we were finished we wrapped the trip up in Boulder, which was a nice town.
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| The Rockies | Sunrise in the Rockies (taken from the parking lot at Safeway, but you'd never know) | Bear Lake early in the morning |
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| A perfect lake for those alpine reflections | We were talking about chips, and this gray jay flew over to the tree right next to us. I think they know what that word means. | |
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| A steller's jay at the lake | At one point the trail around the lake became covered in ice | A mountain chickadee |
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| The mountains from the trail heading out of Bear Lake | A hairy woodpecker on the trail | Bierstadt Lake |
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| The other side of the lake | The trail down from Bierstadt Lake | |
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| Looking down on the park | An unidentified hawk | A herd of elk close to the road near the end of the day |
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| He crossed the road like he owned the place | ||
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| An elk family | A red-tailed hawk | Touching snow for the first time in 2018! |
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| Hiking alongside Moraine Park | Moraine Park | A northern harrier |
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| She has an animal in her claw - looks like a mouse or something along those lines | We hiked out to the middle of Moraine Park to see this herd of Elk | We ate lunch on this rock. So scenic! |
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| The trail over to Cub Lake | In the previous picture, I was taking a picture of this adorable chipmunk | |
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| Cub Lake! | ||
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| Overlooking Cub Lake | The trail over to Fern Lake | |
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| A river coming out of the mountains | Walking up the road past Rainbow Curve near the top of the pass | |
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| Looking down from 11,000 feet | The Beaver Creek (no beavers anymore) | The alluvial fan |
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| Crossing a creek to get up to the falls | Hiking back from the falls | A clark's nutcracker |
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| Me and the rockies! | Lily Lake | Walking around the lake |
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| A synchronized swimming routine by some ducks | A deer hanging out in Estes Park | The flatirons |
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| Boulder and the humble start of the Rockies |