Out West

After taking a brief break from camping (mainly to stay away from the tourists visiting for the holiday), Dave and I picked it right back up mid-July. And we were super excited because Fall River Road had just reopened for the year. It used to be the main thoroughfare through the park, but was later replaced with Trail Ridge Road. It’s one of our favorite areas to explore, and was the first thing we did after setting up the R-Pod.

While Dave was looking for river access to fish, we actually discovered a hidden trail that took us to this fairytale setting inside the woods. The river was calm, and the light illuminating through the trees was just magic.

We also had a rare sighting of a ptarmigan and her babies crossing the road! Unfortunately the babies were too quick for me to get a photo; but just picture little balls of fluff scurrying by, trying to keep up with their mom.

At one point we came up on a group of bull elk. We see elk pretty often in the park, but it’s not every day that they are standing just feet away from us! We arrived just as they started wandering across the road to continue grazing in another meadow. A few curious bucks walked right up to our car – making our large SUV look like a mini cooper – and these guys aren’t even fully grown!

Before moving out west, we had a similar encounter on our honeymoon where we spent an entire evening sitting on a picnic table in Moraine Park surrounded by an elk herd grazing and playing in the river. It made us rethink our lives on the east coast, and how we wanted to experience more moments like this. We moved out to Colorado the following year, and still pinch ourselves that we get to call this place our home.

Once the elk allowed us to proceed, we headed over to our usual spot along the Colorado River for lunch. Dave of course wasted no time and started fishing. He wanted to venture further upstream, and finally convinced me to cross the freezing cold river – only to turn right back around when we saw a large moose staring at us from her comfy spot underneath a tree!

Driving back east through the alpine tundra we saw an unexpected sight. Up on the hill, no more than 15 feet from our car was a coyote! We are not sure whether it was hunting or a bit lost because we’ve never seen them at altitude before.

Then we had yet another unique animal sighting – a mama & baby moose swimming at Sheep Lakes! It was the cutest thing to watch. The baby dipped in and out of the water, running around the lake to dry off each time, while the mom kept a watchful eye as she ate. There was even a sweet moment of her feeding her calf.

Before heading back to the campground, we made a quick stop at Moraine Park to fish and scan the meadow for blooming wildflowers.

After dinner we went on an evening drive over to Lumpy Ridge. This quiet area is just north of Estes Park, and has fantastic views of the town and surrounding mountains. Rustic cabins and open fields line the small weaving street underneath the rocky cliffs that give this neighborhood its name. We had the windows rolled down because the weather was perfect. We watched a group of horses being released to a front pasture, all rushing to get a prime spot for grazing. And the sunset was so radiant that we had to pull over to watch it.