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| | Rocky Mountain National Park, CO | | | |
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Rocky Mountain National Park, CO
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| Hiking | 5.70 Miles |
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| | Hiking | 5.70 Miles | | | |
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| no partners | | Finally made it out to RMNP for a proper hike. We went through the east entrance and hiked some of the lakes (Bear, Nymph, Haiyaha and Emerald). Camped outside of RMNP near Granby, then drove through the park again the next day on the way home to Denver with many stops along the way. Driving Trail Ridge road was my favorite part, the views are pretty out of this world.
At first I was a bit put off by the crowds and thought RMNP would be a "one and done" kind of place. But, after driving Trail Ridge Road 2x and seeing the west side of the park, it really grew on me. I ended up really loving the whole area, there's just something special about it! I would definitely go back, but would probably stick to the west side of the park as it seems to have far fewer visitors.
There's a plaque somewhere along a trail on the west side of the park which states that area is the headwaters of the Colorado River and I really wanted to find it, but we ran short on time. Plus a ranger told me that the true headwaters are closer to Long Draw Reservoir and that the backpacking spots in that area only recently cleared of snow. Noted that as a possible backpacking trip for another time, after doing more research on where the headwaters really are.
That weekend was also the 1-year anniversary of my sweet pup passing away and I wanted to sprinkle some of his ashes in the most beautiful place I could find, for all the hikes he was supposed to go on with me but couldn't because he left this earth too soon. A serene and beautiful alpine lake high up in the Rocky Mountains surrounded by wildflowers and butterflies seemed fitting. <3 |
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