Springtime in the Rockies

Spring in Colorado is pretty wonderful. The foothills turn green, our backyard is full of birds and their new babies, the days are longer and warmer – although a bit too warm recently with highs already in the 90’s! Since we took our R-Pod out of storage for Memorial Day, we’ve actually been camping up in Estes Park every weekend.

Dave and I made it a point to not make any concrete plans of what we were going to do, which has created quite a few memorable moments. We saw FOUR moose swimming and eating at the pond in Sheep Meadow, and we watched an elk wade across an entire lake, stepping out just feet away from us!

The timed entry to Rocky Mountain National Park this year has been a bit more restrictive. The earliest reservation we could make to enter the park was at 1pm, and Moraine Park was now included in the Bear Lake entry, which we couldn’t get into until 4pm. While this wasn’t ideal, it allowed us to discover new areas like MacGregor Ranch; a historic homestead that now protects elk and bighorn sheep habitat. And every type of wildflower was blooming along the trail – including Colorado Columbines!

Another new spot we discovered was this little oasis off of the Cub Lake trail. Colorful wildflowers and tall grass surrounded a small waterfall gently flowing through the meadow.