Started our day by sleeping in and catching up on some much needed sleep. Had a great breakfast and then left for our first day in Rocky Mountain National Park. Upon driving out to the park we joined in a long line of other cars all waiting in line at the Ranger's Station waiting to pay. Lucky for us we had our Rocky Mountain National Park pass which we purchased off of eBay for $20.There is a special lane of entry for this pass, pretty much just drove right in with it. In fact, we were so amazed that we got to skip all of the traffic, that we missed our turn-off to the Park N Ride. First mistake of the day no worries. We did a u-turn and went back to the correct road. Upon arriving at the Park N Ride we were lucky enough to score one of the few remaining parking spots. From there we joined a long line for the shuttle bus riders waiting to take the shuttle the top of Bear Lake. When we finally stepped off the shuttle it was ten a.m. This might be one of our latest starts ever for a hike.
We started our hike in Bear Lake. When you get off the shuttle you are at 9475 feet. It really is very convenient to drive up to that elevation and then begin your hikes from there. It was sunny, it was beautiful, it was a little breezy, but all and all a beautiful day to be out hiking. From bear lake we hiked up to 10690 feet to Lake Helene. The trail just sort of skirts past Lake Helen, but we hiked down to the lake. While enjoying the sights for just a few moments another person came over and said “hey, do you see the moose over there? “
Hmm? Where? Right across the lake was a young male moose. We stood and watched that bull moose across the lake for a while it was standing in the willows and eating.
After a suitable amount of moose watching we headed on down to Odessa for some lake watching, then on down the trail to Fern for some more lake watching. Then on down the trail to the end of the trail for a shuttle ride back up to the park and ride. On the last stretch we encountered a female moose just off of the trail standingnd eating in the willows. This is the first time we have seen moose on the east side of the park.
Today's hike took 5 hours and 47 minutes and it was 10.3 miles.
After we finished the hike, we took the shuttle back up to the park and ride. And took a slow drive down out of the park because we were following a huge line of cars exiting the park. We then joined in the long line of cars sitting on HWY 36 trying to get into Estes Park. Where did all of these people come from???
When we got home we took a quick shower and put together some of our things that we would need for the next day hike. Found and studied the city map to find a shortcut on how we could miss all of the traffic in the city. Then we went out to dinner with a long lost friend of Kathi's that she went to High School with. Kathi and Laura had not seen each other for around 20 years. BUT with the help of Facebook, kept in contact with eachother. Laura, actually lives in the area and she and a friend came over and we had a dinner at Smokin Dave's BBQ. A really fun evening for sure. Lots to talk about and share adventures in Colorado.
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