We left Loveland, CO early this morning for our one hour drive to Rocky Mountain National Park. While driving just outside Estes Park, CO we saw three small Bighorn Sheep. In the city of Estes Park we saw three elk causally walking across the street. We realized then that we were not in Ohio anymore! In the park, there were many herds of elk and mule deer to be seen. We stopped at the visitor's center and got maps of the park and some help in deciding which trail to hike. We drove to Glacier Gorge Junction where we began a 2 1/2 hour hike. There was lots of snow on the trail and it was a difficult hike. It was around 35 degrees and a combination of snow and rain was falling. We choose not to use our snowshoes which was a mistake. The snow was deep and sometimes very soft making it difficult to hike. That plus the very steep trail and the higher altitude caused both of us to get short of breath. We needed to stop often. If that was not difficult enough, we got lost at least four times. The trails were not very well marked and we keep taking the wrong fork in the road! Even though we were glad to make it back to the car and to get out of our wet clothes we really did enjoy the hike. We then drove back down the mountain passing through Boulder and Denver on our way to Parker Colorado. We checked into our hotel and really enjoyed spending time in the hot tub. We then drove over to Matt and Gretchen's home for dinner. We had a wonderful time talking with them and playing with Brodie, Eva and Max. It was good to see them and their beautiful family.Pictures are available at: https://picasaweb.google.com/tschick62/2011418RockyMountainNP?authkey=Gv1sRgCPvUzti8jP6bOQ&feat=directlink
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