Saturday, October 17, 2015

From Colorado

I am in Colorado this week, visiting my Son and his family.  We have kept very busy, with yesterday being probably the busiest day so far.  They took us up to hike to Bear Lake in the Rocky Mountain National Park.
We drove up thru a beautiful rocky gorge, then thru Estes Park,  a touristy kind of town that reminded me a bit of Gatlinburg back home, taffy, fudge and all!  We were soon in the park and we followed the Park Rangers directions to get to the hike we wanted to do.  As soon as we made the the first turn however, we saw Elk!  Lots of them!

 On the right side of the road we saw this group.  There were an additional 4 or 5 in this group that didn't make it in this picture.


Then on the other side of the road we could see this group in motion.  They couldn't decided if they wanted to cross the road through the tourists that had pulled over to watch them or not.


After a good long look, we set off to do our hike.  The scenery was beautiful along the road!  You could see where the evergreens had been struck by insects here, just like in Tennessee.  My Daughter in law said that one of the interesting things that has happened, is that the Aspen trees are coming up where the evergreens have been destroyed.




along the road, from the car

We missed the peak Aspen display, but I could see little pockets of shimmering gold.  I tried to get a couple of pictures, but I doubt I have done any of those trees justice.


This one from the car too



The aspens on our hike were already bare of all those beautiful leaves, but the bark was still beautiful.

















This, of course is why we came all the way to Colorado.  We have 3 grandchildren that we don't get to see very often.  Hiking in the woods is one of the best ways to get to know each other.



On this hike we saw chipmunks, gray and stellar jays, and a beautiful little lake......





and a view that we will not quickly forget.
















On our way back through the town of Estes park we again saw elk.  A group of about 20 were hanging around a building in the outskirts of town.  They were just lounging around, watching the tourists, who were in turn watching them.  A little further on there were a couple in the middle of a shallow lake.  It was quite picturesque.

We came back home through Boulder, mainly because there is a wonderful restaurant there called "Pizzeria Locale".  We were seated with the kiddos right in front of the pizza makers.  It was fascinating!  Plus the Pizza was fantastic!  We had enough left over for lunch today, and it was just as good.

We were a tired bunch of hikers by the time we got home last night.  The kiddos were soon in bed and I managed a few rows on my travel knitting project, but then I couldn't keep my eyes open!  We all were in bed before long.  Anticipating another fun filled day today.


Until next time, Happy Crafting, Tina

2 comments:

LA said...

What a great day in the Rockies. I'm so glad you got to see some of those golden Aspen trees....and the elk were a real plus!!!! Have fun!

Theresa said...

Lovely photos and what a wonderful day! Lucky you seeing all those elk and having your kids and grands to share it with.