One of the Most Beautiful Places on Earth - RMNP

On Saturday, August 20, we decided to take another trip through Rocky Mountain National Park. We left the campground around noon and headed over Trail Ridge Road. It was a beautiful sunny day.

You just never get tired of the amazing views. We saw this large herd of elk on the way up. We would see the same group on the return trip.

We stopped at the visitors center at Moraine Park. Then we made the short drive to the Fern Lake trail head and found a place to park. We were not ready for a long hike, so we walked about 2 miles up the trail and then returned at a leisurely pace. It was a good way to loosen up the sore muscles. The walk included some beautiful mountain views.

We saw the signs for Bear Lake said the parking was full. We decided to go up there anyway to see the views along the road. They were awesome, but when we got to the parking area, there were plenty of spaces. We parked and walked the 100 yards to the lake.

Our time was running out, because we wanted to make church in Estes Park. Kim wanted to walk around the lake, which is only about a mile. I told her we had to hurry. She said, "Let's Go!" So much for taking it easy. We made it around the lake in record time. I did take a few seconds to take these pictures. It is a beautiful place.

We made it to church on time and then stopped at Subway and picked up a sandwich for dinner. We stopped at a picnic area and decided to take the "Old Road" back over the top. I am really glad we did. This is the original road to Grand Lake. It is dirt, but passable by any passenger car. The views were special and ones we had not seen before.

I took a bunch of pictures. We loved this 9 mile drive. Here we are approaching the top. This is where it joins back up with Trail Ridge road.

Looking back down the canyon we just drove up.

Once we got back on the TR road, we came upon those elk again. This time they were moving across the road.

Kim took this one out the window. He was right next to the truck.

To cap off this awesome day, we saw two bull elk fighting on the far side of this lake. I did not get any good pictures, but shot this short video. The quality is not great, but I will publish this to remember the moment.

This was one of those days when we were both tired and really did not have our Mojo. You just have those days and usually follow a major high like seeing the moose the previous day. RMNP, would have none of that. This park picked up our spirits and by the end of the day we were again in awe of this amazing place. Happy 100th Birthday to our National Parks. We LOVE them!