We are loving Colorado! Sad knowing tomorrow is our last day to spend in the park. The first few days we took it pretty easy trying to adjust to the higher elevation. We were also surprised by the hazy skies caused by the smoke coming from wildfires in neighboring states. So sad reading about the fires and amazed of how large of an area they effect. The park was also insanely crowded Labor Day Weekend. Rangers were limiting the number of cars into the most popular areas of the park.
The day the smoke was heaviest we decided not to hike and went into Bolder. We checked out the Pearl street area and had lunch at Leaf vegetarian restaurant. I am always happy to have more choices on a menu so I was happy to be at Leaf but I think I expect a little more from them. The were short staffed when we were there so service was slow but they were upfront about the issue and apologetic. I had the Sweet Potato Gnocchi with half of a House Salad. Eric had with Buffalo Cauliflower Tacos.
One of my favorite easy lower elevation hikes in Rocky Mountain National Park is Sprague Lake. It is a flat 0.9 mile loop around the lake. A very mellow walk with stunning mountain views. I think we are going to try to go back there early tomorrow morning because I heard from another tourist that they spotted a moose there.
We have seen elk (but not as many as our last visit two years ago), rabbits, birds, ground squirrels and chipmunks galore, a bear, coyote, and today we saw two marmots. I have never seen this many wild animals in the park before! I was over the moon to see the marmots today. Eric spotted the first one on an early morning ranger let bird hike on Cub Lake trail. The marmot was sunning on top of a large rock. Can you see him on top of the rock? Don't squint to hard...
The second marmot we saw today was on the Ute trail. We started the Ute from the Alpine Visitor Center and walked a little over a mile before we turned around to hike back. We turned back when we did because the trail started dropping significantly in elevation.
If you keep going about 3.5 more miles on the trail it drops down about 900 feet in elevation and comes out at Milner Pass. The elevation was also already kicking our ass. We are used to hiking at elevations around 600 feet at home in Birmingham but this trail starts at 11,796 feet above sea level. Hiking in high elevations is very humbling and makes me feel even more out of shape.
Last but not least here are some elk photos!
Follow my blog with Bloglovin
