Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park-Day 5 - Contagious joy...Catch it!

Welcome back! This is Day 5 of our trip, and we had a surprise in the parking lot this morning. It was 8:15, and there was an adolescent elk just trotting along all by himself (maybe herself). 🙂 We headed out to Devil’s Gulch Road in the Lumpy Ridge area in search of a place in our Estes book. We found the sign, but didn’t drive back onto the land to see the actual building because it was on private property. We stopped at the Lumpy Ridge Trailhead to get a few pictures. I love the huge rocks there! We didn’t hike there this time, but we have in the past. My favorite rock formation is one of a puppy with a bone.

Surprise! Elk in the parking lot 🙂

Little bobbin’ dog is ready to go!

Husted Ranch, established 1893, off of Dry Gulch Road

This is OFFICIAL grass-fed beef! Courtesy of Colorado

The image is a bit blurry, but see the railroad car attached to the house?

Twin Owls straight ahead

Vibrant blue sky!

Rock formation at Lumpy Ridge

Rick and me at the top of TRR

We drove OFRR again (of course!) We got some good pictures on TRR on the way down. It was such a beautiful day!

What a view!!

This bird was soaring right above us!

Waterfall beside TRR

See the naughty people walking toward the elk?!

View from right near the edge of the road, SO steep!

Alluvial Fan on the left, TRR winding up the mountain on the right, and the valley and Estes Park in the distance.

We left the Park and headed down highway C7 for more history hunting (see Days 1 & 2).

It is a fun and beautiful drive.

Heading south out of Estes Park on C7

Chapel on the Rock, Allenspark, CO

The first place we came to was the Baldpate Inn, which was built in 1917. What a fascinating and fun place! It has lots of memorabilia and old photos, as well as their famous Key Room. The Key Room began when, instead of giving departing guests a small set of keys as a souvenir, the owners suggested that the guests donate keys of their own. The collection includes keys from Buckingham Palace, Mozart’s wine cellar, and Frankenstein’s castle, among many others! It is currently a bed and breakfast but also serves lunch and dinner.

We also saw Wind River Ranch, which started as an 1878 homestead, and High Peak Camp, 1908, and a couple other places. This area is just oozing with history! 🙂

Wind River Ranch, now a Christian guest ranch

High Peak Camp, as it is today, is owned and operated by the Salvation Army

Looks like a fun place to stay 🙂

High Peak Camp, originally called Columbine Lodge. This is an image from my “Estes” book. It has hardly changed!

Let me say a few words about Long’s Peak. As the only “fourteener“ in Rocky Mountain National Park, it can be seen for miles around and is easily recognized. The first recorded ascent was on August 23, 1868, by the surveying party of John Wesley Powell. The oldest person to summit Longs Peak was Rev. William Butler, who climbed it on his 85th birthday, in 1926! The peak is named for Major Stephen Long, who is said to be the first to spot the great mountain on behalf of the U.S. Government on June 30, 1820.

Mount Meeker on left, Long’s on the right (with the missing “tooth”)

My best shot of Long’s Peak, from Beaver Meadows, looking south

We had had a long day of sightseeing. It was very exciting to find so many new places in our book! We went into Estes and grabbed a bite to eat, then walked around downtown for awhile. This town is truly in the Rocky Mountains! There are huge boulders everywhere, even right downtown. Some even have houses built on top of them. Most mountain towns are colorful and Estes is no exception. I love all the flowers!

We were tired and had an early morning planned for the next day, but wanted to see just a bit of the park before bed. So, we drove to Many Parks Curve from the south entrance. It is always so peaceful at this time of day.

We started the day by seeing an elk and ended it seeing more elk on TRR, as well as deer and a coyote! Good night mountains. 🙂