Rocky Mountain National Park is HUGE! I always forget how much driving you have to do to get around in a lot of national parks. There are four sections in this park and each section has so much to see and do. WQe started off the morning at the Alpine Visitor Center. This visitor Center is located on the TYrail Ridge Hwy and sits at 11,796ft. It is very popular and so we were lucky to get there right before they opened and beat the all day rush.
While we waited for the visitor center to open we hiked the Alpine Ridge Trail. It was a short paved out and back with lots of steps up to just over 12,000 ft. The views from the scenic spot were amazing.
I love the mountains!!!!!!!
I wish I had time to hike them all. They are so grand. I can not hike and not think of Heavenly Father and this beautiful world he created. My thoughts always turn to God at some point while I hike.
The view from the Alpine Trail was amazing. I had to end the hike down with a selfie.
The gift shop up here at this visitor center was the best. We bought all our souvenirs here. They had a lot of really cute things and lots of variety, not the case in all national park shops. It was fun to look around.
Most the other hikes from the parking lot were still closed because of the snow. Like Utah Colorado had a very snowy winter and there was still lots of snow. We decided to walk on the Ute Trail until we ran into snow. We made it one mile before there was a snowfield.
So much snow!
After the Ute trail we hopped in the car and headed to the Lawn Lake trailhead. We ate lunch by our cars before hiking up to Ypsilon Lake. I always like to ask the rangers for advice on which hikes to do. This was one they recommended and it was great. We walked through a beautiful valley. It was not too steep and it was a great workout. It is always a bonus when a lake is the final destination. They are just so pretty.
The hike started by a river. They have a couple of floods in the area and you could see how they have affected the landscape.
The scenery was amazing.
The majority of the hike was in the forest. there were not a lot of views. The forest is nice because there is shade but you kind of see the same thing over and over. We finally got to a little lake.
I was disapomineted at first because I thought it was Ypsilon Lake and it was pretty tiny. We soon realized we were not quite there yet. Ypsilon was much bigger and so beautiful.
This area of the park reminded me of the Uintas in Utah. The lakes and trees looked so similar. We stopped and had a snack on the river bank.
We didn't stay too long and then headed back. The way back was great. The nice thing about a more gentle uphill is that the downhill is also easier on your body. I was loving the blue sky and tall trees. It was a beautiful day.
It is always fun to hike back and see different things than on the way there.
Amber and I did better on this trip and actually got a couple of pictures together.
After our hike (just over 9 miles and up to 10,760ft elevation) we headed into Estes Park and had dinner at McDonald's. It was a nice day with a good amount of hiking. We saw lots of new places, enjoyed amazing views and I continued to fall in love with Colorado.
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