Tom's National Park Adventure

Early start this morning. Up early to see all the amazing animals here in the park. The first one I saw was a Mule Deer. It surprised me and i didn’t have enough time to get a picture. I did see two of them yesterday and got a picture of one bounding away. The next animal I got to see were three Moose. They were in the water at Sheep Lake. I did get a very long shot of them running away. From there i drove on the “Old Fall River Road”. This is a non paved road That is only open about four months out the year. It is only 9 miles long and it took me almost an hour and 15 minutes to drive it! It is very steep and has lots of switchbacks. It is one way only…..uphill! The road ends up at the Alpine Visitors Center. This is the highest elevation Visitors Center in the National Park Service.

After a brief stop at the Alpine Visitors Center (it wasn’t open yet) I drove Highway 34 south and west to the Grand Lake area. The drive through the west side of the park is every bit as beautiful as the east side of the park. However there are some distinct differences.

In October of 2020 the “East Troublesome” fire rampaged a huge area of Colorado. A big portion of the west side of the park was badly burned. The evidence of the fire is still very apparent today.

Once i got to the Grand Lake area i had some lunch and then went on a couple of hikes. The views of the lake were great and i got to see another Water Fall. “Adams Falls”

On my way back to the Alpine Visitors Center i stopped off at the Milner Pass area. This is where you can walk across the Continental Divide! There is also another pristine lake nearby Poudre Lake.

I found myself stopping all the time to snap pictures of all the iconic scenes set out in front of me. This one shows the Kawuneeche Valley.

I finally made it back to the Alpine Visitors Center. It was interesting to look down on the road i drove up earlier in the day.

I drove the “Trail Ridge Road” back down to the campground where I am staying. There were lots of interesting things to stop and look at along the way. The most interesting to me was the lone Moose standing in the Sheep lake munching on water plants.

It’s been another great day. I have one more here before I head to my next National Park.