Rocky Mountain National Park (Part I)

Despite our disappointing accommodations, Rocky Mountain National Park turned out to be one of my favorite parks in terms of natural beauty. Everywhere you look is postcard scenery and the range of elevations lets you explore riparian, montane, subalpine and alpine tundra ecosystems. 

When arriving at a new park we generally head straight to a visitor center grab the Junior Ranger books, park map and brochures and then choose a short hike to get started.  The first visitor center we found was the Moraine Park Discovery Center because the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center was closed the first two days we were there for parking lot resurfacing.  We were thrilled when we found out that the Discovery Days event was just getting started and there were many stations that the kids could explore.  We spent all morning moving from station to station and learning about how the park was formed (glaciers), what sort of wildlife call it home, and how to be a good steward of the land.  

Another really great thing about this park was how many beautiful short hikes (around 1 mile) were available for exploring streams, lakes, cliffs, and alpine tundra!  Armed with the maps and brochures we chose a few short hikes.  The first was in Hidden Meadows - we had no idea Hidden Meadows is the Junior Ranger Headquarters for the park!  We had time for the hike and made it back just in time to join the Ranger talk which taught us about the connections between the various trees, animals, ecosystems, and fire cycles.  It was a great talk.  

If you have more than a day to spend at any National Park, it is a great idea to attend a Ranger talk and work on the Junior Ranger books early in your visit because it really orients you to the ecosystem and wildlife.  We were able to make observations based on the knowledge we gained from the visitor center/ranger talk/junior ranger books.  Next we hiked Sprague Lake another beautiful place where the fish jumped out of the lake to chase the colorful dragon flies that dashed over the surface of the water.  It was a great show.  

Our final hike that day was Bear Lake - it was one of our favorite hikes with many gorgeous lookouts and rock formations to climb upon and look out. 

By the end of the second day the kids earned their Junior Ranger badges as they are getting quite good at working on them during the drives between hikes and on snack breaks.  

The next morning when taking Husband "to work" we passed these beauties in front of a gas station in town.  We had also seen wild turkey, a snake, and many birds including a magpie who was hanging around our trailer.  Apparently there were also black bear in our campground, but I didn't see them.  

On our third excursion we drove to the top of the world via Trail Ridge Road - at least that is how it felt!  We explored the Alpine Tundra where the trees are sparse and snow lay in patches upon the ground.  Up and up and up we drove....when your kids are telling you "be careful mama, drive safe!"  It is a white-knuckle drive.  As I had to keep my eyes on the road, I didn't look down the steep slopes until we were parked at the Alpine Visitor Center.  

Then we hiked up the Alpine Ridge Trail to 12,005 feet above sea level.  In the middle of July when Phoenix is baking we were in a place with snow on the ground! At this elevation wildflowers and mosses grow from rock that shines in the sun.  

I think it is a 400 foot elevation change climb to the top...here is the view of the parking lot coming back down.

It was my first time being at that elevation and yes, the climb is difficult due to the thin air.  I had a similar sensation to the one I felt at Yellowstone - I felt I was in an alien land.  The ecosystem was so unfamiliar we were at such a great height.  It was an amazing experience one that we had to visit again before we left, but on that day we drove back down the Trail Ridge Road appreciating the beautiful change in ecosystems from Alpine Tundra, to Subalpine to Montane!