Our Excursion: 20230911: Colorado Trip – RMNP Day 2
(Part of trip: )
Date of our excursion: 2023-09-11
Location: Rocky Mountain National Park - Gem Lake, Alberta Falls, Bear Lake
Mileage: 8.6
Our Planned Itinerary:
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Travelers on this Excursion: |
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We hit some cool places.
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Continents: North America |
Some featured areas we visited: |
Some points of interest we hit: |
Monday, September 11, 2023
Rocky Mountain National Park
Today, we have a ticket to get into the main areas of the park at 9 and the Bear lake access ticket at noon. Since we like to eat, we are going to try breakfast at the WayFinder – a fairly close restaurant. The food looked amazing and tasted good as well. They didn’t overcook the eggs in the Benedict so that was a good sign to us of knowledgable cooks in the kitchen. Since the portion size was fairly immense, we were now stuff full of carbs which we could burn on today’s hikes.
The first hike for today is not through one of the main entrances. We are going to hike UP to Gem Lake. The weather is supposed to be cold with a few showers; but, since this is Colorado and the sun is fierce, we quickly shed any exterior layers. The climb goes up up and up some more for about 1000 ft and 2.5 miles. Along the way, we stop on some side trails for some vast views. The lake is gorgeous. As we wait on the rocks overlooking the lake, we get visited by very bold chipmunks. Apparently they are not scared of humans and know that humans carry delicious snack in their backpacks. They especially like the smell of our energy bar creations. We look away for a brief moment and the bold chunky chipmunks launch an assault on our open backpacks. Thankfully we notice them and manage to close our bags in time to save our bars from their grubby paws. Eventually we decide to leave and head back down the trail. We notice the afternoon rain clouds moving in and we would prefer NOT to be out on the mountains for the downpour. As soon as the whole party reaches the bottom and climbs into the vehicle, the sprinkles begin. What timing!
Lunch is sandwiches back at the Villa. The Villa is between the Gem Lake hike and the main RMNP entrace we will be visiting this afternoon. As we eat our sandwiches and snacks inside the Villa, we watch the downpour roll in and drench everything. Glad we aren’t on a mountain!
Once the rain stops, we pack up and head to RMNP. We had the same ranger at the gate but he does not seem to remember us or want to have another lengthy conversation. On to the hikes! First we walk up to Alberta Falls, walk around the rocks, and eat some snacks. Then we head back down and traverse over to Bear Lake. We didn’t see any bears, thankfully; but some people with binoculars did see a few bears on the mountain side above the lake. We did see some elk VERY CLOSE. They were in the water bellowing but as we were completing our loop, they decided to get out of the water and join us on the path. Once they crossed over into the other woods, we made our way back to the vehicle. There we saw some drama with multiple park ranger SUVs, lots of park rangers, and a guy taking a DUI/DWI test. They then began searching his van. We decided not to be too nosy so we left. Again, there are a few drivers who decide to stop in the middle of the road to see wildlife out in the fields.
It’s a great afternoon/evening for sitting by the outdoor firepit by the river. Very relaxing. But then some of us get hungry. We decide to try Smoking Daves BBQ place. The wait is pretty long but this gives us time to peruse the menu and really contemplate what we should try. Also, they have chocolate mints and we definitely help ourselves to a few. Once we get seated we putin our order right away and get our food fairly quickly. It is soooooo great! The sauces are pretty tasty too.
The evening we hydrate and drink tea while discussing our plans for the next day.
Beautiful views. Wow. Almost as pretty as Switzerland! Those wild animals are too close for comfort. Just don’t take a picture of any bears nearby.
Thankfully we haven’t seen any bears yet!