Beautiful Vacation

My husband and I just spent 5 incredible days in Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park.  We had a lovely cabin with a small fireplace that was perfect for curly up and taking a nap.  We hiked in seven different areas and spent time sitting on one of our favorite rocks in one of our favorite valleys.  We were fortunate to make the trek up Old Fall River Road (not always open this time of year) to the Alpine Visitors center and trek back down via Trail Ridge Road.  The color was at peak and so I was able to get a ton of great photographs.  It always amazes me how one tree can have so many different colors within it's leaves.  The Aspens varied from green, to yellow, to orange, to red, it was an amazing sea of color.  We always go out into the park super early (before daylight)  to see what we can find at least one day of the trip.  This time was no exception; on Wednesday morning we were up and moving by 5:00 am and in the park before sun-up.  When the sun did start to make it's appearance the alpine glow on the mountains was spectacular.  We were also privileged to see a bull elk getting his morning drink in the middle of Big Thompson River as we listed to the other bulls in the valley bugling back and forth.  If you have never heard a bull elk bugle echo off the mountainside you are missing an incredible sound.  One of the areas we decided to hike was new to us.  It's called the Lumpy Ridge Trail and it takes you to the foot of a rock formation called the Twin Owls, although it was a little more up and down that we expected it was a great hike and we thoroughly enjoyed getting to see a new area of the park with some spectacular views.  One of the other things we enjoyed was watching the way Long's Peak (the hightest peak in RMNP) creates it's own weather.  We would watch the clouds come rolling in and hover for awhile and then move on or they would settle in and the bottoms would get heavier and darker.  We woke up Friday morning to discover all the mountains had been covered in a new layer of snow so we had to take one last drive into the park for more photos.  Everyday was filled with many awe inspiring moments and we considered each a gift from God.  We feel truly blessed!