Colorado - 3

Today we visit Rocky Mountain National Park and all the elk

Estes Park is a very busy tourist town that is the natural entrance to the Park

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There are days when Elk and more Elk are all you see at the bottom of the Park

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Other times we have seen the big Horn Sheep with hoards of other people there

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These Sheep are more like goats than what you will often find on the road to Walden

The one way road to the top of the Park is an absolute must do

and is a very slow but nice drive .

More Rocky Mountain Sheep along Highway 14 barely visible on the side of the mountain.

In June of 2011, we went to the campground located at the entrance to the one way

road which was still closed because of the winter’s heavy snowfall and we were rewarded

with our first sighting of Big Horn Rams in Rocky Mountain NP. They were close, healthy

and beautiful. We took many pictures

The drive on Trail Ridge Road to Grand Lake

takes you past the only moose viewing part of the Park

At the very top of the Park you can look down and see about a mile away where we have

camped Our most favourite place on this road is a 12 mile gravel road

to a camping spot just under the National Park

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It is well over a hundred miles to this place circling highway 125 back to Walden down 14

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Highway 14 from Walden takes you past a moose viewing valley where there seems to always be wildlife

Up the mountain and down past the Dam through Cameron Pass you drive by the Moose Center

This is another must stop and visit place and we have often

We have seen and taken pictures of a moose suckling its mother

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One frosty morning a group of elk came right up to the car and tent, sniffed us and kept walking

The Laramie River road is just right there and you go up and over and around the lake and

end up at a great moose area. We have driven another rough gravel dirt road across to Red Feather Lakes off of this road

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Big Horn Sheep like you think they should look

are very much present on 14 going south to the Canyon

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The Poudre River runs along this route all the way with Sheep, Rocky Mountain Sheep, Elk, Deer, Moose and tons of rafters and fishermen

There are magical water side campgrounds all over the place

No recollection of Colorado would be complete without telling about the time we took our children to Dinosaur National Monument

We camped there in the campground and during the night Linda and I made huge "dinosaur tracks" which we told our girls when they awoke were made by real dinosaurs

We told them we were very lucky because the dinosaur's just missed stopping on us

It is a very real neat place

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We have driven 40 through Craig and in and out and up and around Colorado, Gone to Rockies Games and the great Denver Flea Market

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We have needed a tow to get up and over Vail Mountain and other mountain passes on the same trip

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We still love this place –Colorado indeed one of our most favourite places!