Fort Collins, CO
We made it to Colorado!
Our first stop is Fort Collins, where we camped so we could visit Rocky Mountain National Park. The park is about an hour and 15 minutes away, and currently requires timed reservations to enter. Our reservation was for 11:00, and we got there a few minutes early and were met by a short line. After about 10 minutes we were in! Our first stop was a turnout to look at the map and have a picnic lunch, then on to an Alluvial Fan:
The alluvial fan was caused when an earthen dam at Lawn Lake broke in 1982, bringing a wall of water sweeping vegetation and debris out of the way as it flowed down. More than 200 million gallons of water flooded the park and the nearby town of Estes Park! Researchers are now studying the success and composition of species in this area of the park as life returns to the area.
We then drove the Trail Ridge Road, which is the highest continuous paved road in the United States! the highest point is 12, 183 feet above sea level! This was a very twisty-turny road as it wound through forest, up the mountain, and eventually into tundra, which is above the tree-line. We took a short hike on the Tundra trail, which had small signs to explain about the landscape:
The area was stark and beautiful:
Even in late July there was a lot of snow! We went to the Alpine visitor Center, and saw some beautiful views:
The alpine lake was icy blue!
And this valley was so green!
We also saw some of the wildlife:
So cute!
And some incoming weather:
We could see the clouds getting darker and darker, and there was lightning, so it was time to head down the mountain. when we walked out of the Visitor Center it had started raining… and it was windy…and sleeting- we were a little wet when we got to the truck! It sleeted as we drove down the mountain, but we did see 3 separate elk! Unfortunately they were on Jerry’s side of the car so I couldn’t get a good picture, and there was nowhere to stop and take pictures- turnouts are few and far between or were packed with cars! DARN! But it was exciting that we saw elk! As we continued our drive we got hail, and then blinding rain- it was an adventure!
We found that a storm came in every day (sometimes twice!), with ominous clouds, wind, thunder and lightning, and finally rain- they have major storms in Colorado! In fact, on our first day there the sky was filling with dark clouds and there was a lot of wind, and I met some ladies who were walking around watching the storm develop- they said to watch for greenish clouds, because they can turn into tornadoes! Luckily we didn’t have a tornado, but we did have storms! As we drove through Rocky Mountain National Park we saw the effects of wind on some of the trees:
Note there are no branches on the left side of the trees- that is where the wind hits them!
In fact we did not go into the park on our last day because of the weather- our timed reservation was at 2:00 and the storm had already set in, so we skipped it and did some laundry and trailer upkeep. We went to Sweetwater brewery for dinner that night, and it was Family Bingo Night! We joined in and I won a game, getting green items as a prize- Jalapeno potato chips, green bag of sour skittles, avocado salsa, dill pickle peanuts, a 6-pack of different local beers, and tokens for free beer! So much fun!
Finally, here is the sunset :
