This is the end of the line. Our great traveling buddy heads home this weekend. Her Aunt Alison and Uncle Steve will pick her up on Saturday and on Sunday she'll fly home, unaccompanied for the first time. She's excited but probably just a little nervous.
We have an absolutely gorgeous campground site here in Rocky Mountain National Park. We overlook Moraine Park and the mountains. The elk roam the park. I had noticed this site in 2005 when Ron and I cruised through here prior to getting our Lazy Daze. I decided to give it a try when I booked reservations last January. My memory served me well.
Ally and I are off to Bear Lake. Rocky Mountain is all about hiking. The hike around Bear Lake is beautiful and not too long. I'll take Ally on a ten mile hike past the alpine lakes when she gets a bit older.
It feels good up here in the clear mountain air. We're pretty high but we've been traveling above 8000' for a while now and the altitude doesn't seem to affect us.
It's always a good idea to drink lots of water when you're high up in elevation. We do.
The south side of the lake that faces north still has a lot of snow on the trail and thin ice on the lake. Most of the trails in the higher elevations of the park are still snow covered.
A good hike should be followed by a nice nap, don't you think? We can't send Ally home tired. We've had a few late nights along the way. Time to rest up for her return.
Pop and Ally love to sit by the fire at night (and nibble a S'more or two).
The full moon comes up over the mountains as we sit by the fire. How beautiful is this?
Yesterday, we had hoped to travel over Trail Ridge Road, the highest continuous highway in the U.S. It would have taken us to over 12,000 feet in elevation. There's was just a little problem. Rain here in the campground during the night fell as snow in the high country. Trail Ridge was closed. Instead, we attended a ranger program at the Moraine Park visitor center. The ranger taught us about the natural history of the area and about the social history of this part of the park. Not too long ago this visitor center was used as a dance hall. Change, it's often a good thing.
Ally earned her 29th national park Junior Ranger award. She's done an amazing job of learning about our national parks. What's next? We've got plans! Bye, Ally. We'll miss you.
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