September 23, 2014

Good Morning all.
We didn't have to turn off the alarm clock this morning.  We were awoken to the sound of a male Elk singing his rendition of "Afternoon Delight"...and this was 6:30 in the morning.  Here is the bad boy.

Since we were up early, we had breakfast and got on the road.  Actually we had planned to do so anyway because the parking lot at Bear Lake gets full early and we wanted to hit a couple of trails there.  The morning sun was doing its job hitting the Aspen.

 We got to Bear Lake (9475 feet) and the trail was already busy.

This little feller tried to tell us that he was busy putting on the weight for Winter.  

He looked like he wasn't really having a problem doing so.

Next we planned to hike into Alberta Falls.  The trail went down and up for 8 tenths of a mile...and then back.  Alice was planning ahead.

By the time we got to the falls, it had already started to rain.  We were glad we had extra jackets to wear.

Heading back to the Trail Ridge Road was still full of great picture opportunities although the wind has been picking up and the leaves may not last to much longer.

It is easy to spot Elk when driving along the road.  Just stop where all the other cars are stopped.

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We went over the Longs Peak portion of the road and started down the other side.  In about 4 miles we hit the Continental Divide at 10,759 feet.

Just before the divide, we passed Ploudre Lake which is a main source of the water that drains East, eventually to the Atlantic Ocean.

Going just down the trail a bit (about a hundred yards from the sign) to the west I found a little bit of water in a tiny stream heading down to the West.  Would it be OK to go out on a limb and say that this is the beginning of the Colorado River.  It collects into Lake Irene and heads on from there.

On the way back is a great view of the mountains to the North but we couldn't see the train yard control tower in Cheyenne so the weather wasn't clear enough.

On the way along the road we thought the sign read  "Do not drive outside the white lines."

 

 Across the valley on the North side of the mountains there are still areas where the snow hasn't finished melting yet.

The Rocky Mountains extend many miles to the south and to the north into Canada.

We decided to hike up the Tundra Communities Trailhead.  The top was 12,310 feet.  The wind was very strong and the temp around 40.  We both wore 2 fleeces but wished we had our hats and gloves.

This is the Trail Ridge Road's answer to the Knife Edge.  In a few yards up ahead there is about 2 feet from the edge of the tar on either side.....and that's it.  This is NOT the place where you just close your eyes and say you will be past it soon.

Next year will be the 100th anniversary of the park.  Plan ahead and make the trip.  It is worth it.

Sign in a store window.

And finally, an update to this mornings start. The dominant Elk was strutting his stuff this evening while the rest of the males kept their distance.