Autumn in Colorado 2012

Today we went to Estes Park to take in the autumn sights.  I was hoping we could make it all the way into Rocky Mountain National Park (to Bear Lake) and repeat a family photo we took this time last year with Evan, but alas, plans didn't quite work out as I'd hoped.  However, we were still able to take in some nice sights and have an enjoyable, albeit exhausting, afternoon.

We left when John got home from work (around noon) and took the scenic way (i.e. Peak to Peak highway between Lyons and Estes), which took nearly two hours with a few stops.  One stop was for a "picnic" lunch, which we ended up eating in the car because it was raining.  We could have waited but Evan was quite hungry and not willing to delay his lunch any longer.  Then we stopped at an overlook to change him and get out and stretch.  And then we also stopped at a few other nice vistas for some photos.

Example #1 of said vista (Saint Malo center)

Example #2 (Long's Peak with golden aspens in foreground)

When we got to Estes Park it was a zoo!  There were herds of elk all over, which drew large crowds (we overhead a ranger in Rocky Mountain park later refer to them as "elk jams").  Evan had been screeching for the previous 20 minutes or so, thus we stopped at the Lake Estes trail to get out and walk.  And walk Evan sure did!  We had forgotten the stroller, so we either carried him or he walked.  He much preferred the walking, but he mostly refused to hold our hand and would often just start walking away from us without looking back!  That was quite frightening, in fact, to learn he wasn't afraid to leave us and not worry about where we were! :(

Along the walk, Evan met many dogs and certainly enjoyed that.  After the walk, we went into the downtown part of Estes, only to keep on driving as it was packed!  We instead headed into Rocky Mountain National Park, which was also crazy busy and the road to Bear Lake was under construction and thus by bus only.  Without a stroller, and with Evan still having not taken an afternoon nap, we decided to play it safe and just stop at the Moraine Park visitor center instead of venturing all the way to Bear Lake by bus.  We explored the museum at the visitor center (well, Evan probably explored it more than us) and then after Evan had his fill of the place we headed home.   We took "the quick way" home (down Hwy 36 back to Lyons) and thus got home within an hour or less, just in time for dinner.

Thus, it was a short day, but we did see some beautiful vistas with golden aspen trees, as well as other trees with nice autumn colors, and Evan got to take a walk in the fresh mountain air.