Spent the last two days exploring the eastern segment of Rocky Mountain NP, hiking and taking lots and lots of pictures. There is a museum at Moraine Park that has a lot of helpful information about the flora and fauna of the area. There is also an art gallery and one of the artists represented is one of my favorites, Clyde Butcher.
I learned what a Moraine is and the different types of moraines from a very helpful Park Ranger. Basically, it is what is left to the sides, front and deposits left from an advancing or retreating glacier. I also read up on the history of the area and how it came to be a park. Most of the RMNP was at one time either a ranch, a fishing and hunting camp, or a resort. Lands were acquired in the early 1900’s and RMNP was established in 1915. They continued to acquire lands well into the 1950’s.
In this part of the park, there are several different trail heads and a couple of mountain lakes. Bear Lake at the top of the road was quite beautiful and still had about two feet of snow on the ground. Sprague lake turned out to be a personal favorite. There is a 1/2-mile loop trail around the lake that is fairly level. The lake also supported lots of wildlife, especially birds and waterfowl.
This is my first experience at dry camping in earnest and it worked out pretty well. My solar charger managed to keep my batteries at 2/3 capacity which is a good thing. The hardest part was getting used to not having electricity to run and recharge PC’s, cameras and cell phones. Also not having cell service or internet access has gotten me a bit behind on my homework.
Over the course of these two days, I took it upon myself to do a little camera work, mainly to keep my pace on the trails down to something a little more casual, and to familiarize myself with my new camera. So, I managed to shoot over 500 photos, about 150 of which I have already trashed. The remaining shots have to be edited and prepared for posting here, so look back later in the week.
A personal observation on my part about this park, or at least the eastern segment, is that the people here have come to get away from the big cities of Fort Collins, Boulder and Denver, but managed to bring it with them. The folks here drive the mountain roads like they are 20 minutes late for work. They act the same way while waiting for service at the ranger stations, the museums and the trail heads. I could recite dozens of occurrences where I personally witnessed their rude and impatient behavior, but I must say that I have since validated my opinion with a number of other sources.
The Rangers here however, are absolutely fantastic. Very helpful, very friendly, and quite knowledgeable. Three of them had to suffer a number of newbie questions that I had on multiple occasions, and they did so with a smile and a thank you!
Several firsts for me on the wildlife life listings. Had elk right in my back yard (Moraine Valley), Ground Squirrels, a Stellar’s Jay, and a Goldeneye (waterfowl). Also saw some Mule Deer, Mallard’s, Chipmunks and lots of Robins.
Don’t forget to stop back by this date for gobs and gobs of photos . . . . and here they are !!!
