We woke up bright and early with the plans of spending the whole day in Rocky Mountain National Park. We were on the road by 8:00 and it was COLD. We bundled and layered with pretty much everything that we had and I had brought hand warmers as well (which proved to be a lifesaver!). Disappointment set it though when we arrived at the gate to find out the pass in Rocky Mountain was closed due to weather.
We were so bummed.
The road throughout Rocky Mountain National Park is kind of like a big upside down U. We were on the west with no way to get across. We were really disappointed because everything we had planned to do was on the other side of the park. The west side is definitely the less visited side of the park (the side we were on). BUT we went in trying to think positive!
And it paid off! We hardly made it down the road when we saw a large herd of elk. These animals are beautiful and majestic. I am always in awe of this beautiful world we are blessed to enjoy. We went into a pullout and just watched. The kids were in heaven. And it only got better! After a time, we started making our way down the road only to be joined by a large bull elk. It was amazing to watch him walk right in front of our car.
And before we knew it, we also saw two moose! We were star struck!
We drove down the road as far as we could and then decided to go down into Coyote Valley. This was an accessible hike so it was perfect for Lydie Lou. It takes you down into a beautiful valley {although I am sure it is even more incredible when you can see the mountains!} which is usually a good opportunity to see more large game. We didn’t see any more animals but we weren’t too disappointed because we had seen so much on the road. We did freeze our little fingers off though and the kids had us laughing as they rubbed their hand warmers on every part of their bodies!
Bonus to bad weather – we had the whole trail to ourselves! That is, except for our little Steller’s Jay friend. Right when we started the trail, we saw this beautiful bright blue bird. The kids were thrilled {we are studying birds right now in science} and the bird was so fun to watch. It led us down the trail for a LONG way!
The weather really wasn’t making things easy though so we decided we would head back down the road and hope for better. While we were heading out, we were also able to see a bald eagle sitting oh so perfectly on a tree. It was beautiful and I loved that even the kids seemed to have a sense of reverence about watching him.
The clouds had been trying to snow but it was starting to let up a little. So we stopped and did the hike to Adams Falls. It was a really nice, short hike but Lydia just wasn’t having it. She was a sad, tired little girl. So we did it quick and then hopped back in the car.
I don’t think we even left the parking lot before Lydia was sound asleep. She was nice and bundled up, and so we drove to the Kawunceeche Visitor Center and Mark and the big kids went inside and checked things out and got their Passports stamped while I stayed in the car with Lydia. They were so excited when Jacob came out with a book all about tracking, Sarah got an animal coloring book, and Benjamin had some binoculars. It’s the little things.
We went back to our condo and got snuggled in. Our favorite part of the condo was definitely the fireplace – we need one! We loved it. We took it easy the rest of the afternoon. We ended the day with cupcakes and ice cream – fun fact, it was my birthday! I loved being able to spend the day with my favorite people, enjoying this beautiful world. But let’s just say, Rocky Mountain – we did NOT get enough of you! We are definitely coming back!
