Rocky Mountain National Park

Being originally from the East Coast, I admit that I had never heard of this park before we came to Colorado. So I was quite surprised to find out that it is number THREE in numbers of park visitors behind Great Smokey Mountains NP and the Grand Canyon NP with over 4.5 million visitors last year. Bob and I have been watching the weather forecasts every day and today looked like the best day to visit, weather-wise, so we left the campground at 8:00 am and drove to the park.
It was a beautiful morning.

We passed Shadow Mountain Lake and there was a little part of me that wished we could have a summer home here.

There are three ecosystems represented in this park. When you enter, you are in the Montane which is below 9,000 feet.

The road starts to climb and before too long you are in the Subalpine ecosystem which is from 9,000 feet above sea level to 11,400 feet.

Eventually you reach the Alpine which is above 11,400 feet and the highest spot on this road (Trail Ridge Road, the highest continuously paved road in the United States) is 12,183 feet. I got out and hiked along a trail to take some photos (Bob stayed in the car with Auggie because dogs are not allowed on the trails) and the air was cool, clean, and very thin. It was a bit hard to breathe at that altitude. We had packed bag lunches and enjoyed them while sitting in a pullout with the most amazing views.

Here are some of my favorite photos.

This was definitely the best time of year to visit this popular park.