Aerial View of Rocky Mountain National Park

An aerial view of the valley by the camp sites. Last March we saw herds of elk feeding down there.

Fire Breathing!

This past weekend Jenny and I went to the Colorado Rennaisance Festival and had a great time. This is "Small" from the Barely Balanced stunt group. If you ever get the chance to watch them I highly recommend it.

More information on Barely Balanced can be found at www.barelybalanced.com

Foot Bridge

On the way back from Cub Lake we came to this neat foot bridge. The river was really moving with all of the recent rain. We did wade into the water at one point and boy was it cold! It was the kind of cold that makes your feet physically hurt to be in.

Cub Lake II

Here is the second shot of Cub Lake taken at ground level looking back toward the mountain we just hiked down. Once reaching the lake we visited some golden mantled ground squirrels and ate lunch at the rocks you see on the right.

Cub Lake I

Here is the first of two pictures of Cub Lake that I will be putting up. It was quite a hike for us to get here. Especially having just moved here from an elevation of 27ft in Texas. Cub Lake is at around 8,620ft so the air was a bit thin for us.

Up close the lake looks a lot like a wetland. You can see the lily pads in the water. At the edges of the lake there were submerged grasses and small plants. According to the news Colorado is getting a lot of rain so that probably explains the water level.

Aspen Forest

The aspen trees here in Colorado are really interesting. These trees grow in groups and share a root system, making them a single organism.

Their leaves are round and about two inches accross. When the wind blows they sort of rattle together making an interesting sound. Another interesting point if you haven't seen these trees before is their white bark.

From what I have seen these trees are really a site to behold in the fall when their leaves turn colors. Jenny and I will be making another excursion to check out the leaves later this year.

Trail Ridge Road

Here is one of the incredible views from Trail Ridge Road. This winding road follows the crests of the mountains in Rocky Mountain National Park. It takes about two hours to drive the entire road and is worth it.

There is a visitor center up in the tundra portion just under 13,000 ft. elevation. The road at some places is on the edge of nearly vertical faces of the mountain. At one point you cross from one side of a mountain to the other side of the next mountain where it is several thousand feet down on either side of the road.

Thankfully that portion only lasted a few hundred feet. This drive is definitely a white knuckle experience. I urge you to check out the birds eye view in Google Maps. Just do a search for Rocky Mountain National Park and zoom in on the road.

Golden Mantled Ground Squirrel

These little squirrels are everywhere at Rocky Mountain National Park. They have no fear of people and will come and eat out of your hand as you can see by the peanut in his hands. A caution, however, it is illegal to feed them. We didn't do this.

Bear Lake - Frozen

Here is another shot of Bear Lake in March. Jenny and I were able to walk across the lake almost to the middle. We didn't even see the path that goes around the lake as it was under five or six feet of snow.

Bear Lake

Late in the afternoon Jenny and I decided to take a walk around Bear Lake, which we had visited earlier this year while it was frozen. I could literally spend an entire day photographing this lake, there are endless angles to view from.

Rocky Mountain Elk

During our trip to Rocky Mountain National Park we passed a couple of elk right on the side of the Trail Ridge Road. If you haven't seen one of these in person, they are huge! We were able to walk to within thirty feet or so of this one.

Traffic in Rocky Mountain National Park

While driving back to our campsite we passed this coyote just trotting down the road. It was a lucky shot to catch this one as I did not have time to stop driving as I snapped the shot.

Blisswood Flower

While wondering around the ranch I found this unique scene where this flower was illuminated by the sun through the trees while the background was left in shadow.