Our hotel was located next to the Fall River. We stopped on a short bridge to see the river. It was near the edge of its banks as well.
Our hotel was very close to the park. Today we drove from the north of the park to the south of the park. As we drove south, we saw multiple mountain vistas. Some had several peaks.
Some were single mountains viewed at a distance from the road.
Our destination was Wild Basin. The dirt road was the first indication of the source of the name.
The stream next to the dirt road was the second indication.
In many places, the road was only wide enough for a single vehicle. We only had to back up one time to provide a passing space. Wild Basin was an interesting tour of a different part of the park.
From Wild Basin, we headed to Long’s Peak. Long’s Peak is a massive mountain on the east side of the park.
Long’s Peak is so huge that it was still in view when we arrived at Lily Lake.
Lily Lake had multiple mountain views from its shores. One of the surprises in the Rockies is the frequency of the meadows like this one on the opposite shore of Lily Lake.
Our tour next took us to Alluvial Fan. When we got here, we decided our timing for the Rocky Mountain National Park was perfect. The days were clear, the skies were blue, the streams were full, and the water was fast and white.
It was easy to find special photos everywhere you turned.
The Alluvial Fan was a gorgeous and noisy place because of the rushing of the water.
Even when you cannot see the main part of the Alluvial Fan, the downstream view is still wonderful
It was interesting to note the plant life growing in the rocks near the stream.
We decided to drive past the Alluvial Fan to the end of Fall River Road. When we got to the end, we had difficulty navigating the turn at the end of the round. At first we thought it was slow drivers looking for parking spaces. Then we realized they were trying to avoid all the moose. This is one of several moose that were blocking the road.
We saw even more moose as we headed back down Fall River Road.
Fall River Road was originally a dirt road. The part that is still dirt was closed today. The reason the road was built was to give a sense of all parts of the park. It had numerous mountain views
It also includes a large meadow with a stream and several ponds where big horn sheep graze and drink on occasion. Unfortunately for us, today was not one of those days.
We finally found a park entrance sign without a large waiting line as we drove back to our hotel.
We also found more moose on the highway leading out of the park. This moose was about the tenth moose we saw today. The group of moose we saw here was blocking traffic on the highway.
It was a wonderful Tuesday in the park. Because of the number of moose we saw today, we joked the day should be renamed Mooseday rather than Tuesday.