Rocky Mountains National Park

July 12, across the Rocky Mountains National Park

We leave Grand Lake at dawn and we directly enter Rocky Mountains National Park, still hoping to see some wild animals before the rush of visitors daily. Not a chance, the park road is already crowded with huge construction trucks and animals are already hidden!
The road climbs up to 3700 meters. At this altitude, there is no forest, just a short grass tundra and some flowers.

At the top of the pass, the temperature is around 0 degrees and the wind is violent: we just a few short rides before descending on the eastern side where the temperature rises very quickly. Arrived in Estes Park, we find a home for the night.
In the afternoon, we go back to the pass by Old Fall River Road, a dirt road with little traffic. This is an opportunity for a short hike at altitude and meeting with a herd of mule deer.

July the 13, back to Denver

Before taking the road to Denver, we offer a last walk in the park, starting from Bear Lake. It's amazing: as we arrive at Bear Lake, on about eight o'clock, we find a huge parking already 3/4 full: Bear Lake is a popular starting point for hiking, the weather is beautiful and all the hikers seem to have made ​​an appointment here. Unfortunately, we do not really have time to enjoy it: we need to be in Denver in late morning and we'll just walk around Bear Lake and Nymph Lake. When we leave, at about 10 am, the parking is full and hikers have to park in the valley and use a shuttle to reach the starting point.

In Denver, we still have to do some shopping. We need to replace the suitcases which were destroyed in the fire. Nothing exciting during this afternoon in a big shopping mall.

Here we are. We started a month ago in a large motorhome. We return by car and will have to leave some camping stuff, outsized, before taking the plane. The trip was certainly dramatic in some ways, but it gave us the pleasure to fill the eyes of these wonderful landscapes of the American West.