We are currently staying on the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park. We had visited the park back in 2015. We made a promise to ourselves that if we came back, we would spend more time on the less crowded west side. We are camped just outside the park entrance at Winding River RV Park.
Today was our first full day at over 8,500 feet elevation. We decided to hike a portion of the East Inlet Trail toward Lone Pine Lake. We got an early start to beat the heat and the afternoon thunderstorms. Here's Kathy at the trailhead, all bundled up, as it was 40 degrees!
It didn't take long for us to warm up. We could see signs of fall all around us. The first part of the trail is well worn.
A short side loop took us to see Adams Falls, a very impressive waterfall that drops roughly 55 feet in a series of steps through a narrow rock gorge. The gorge was so narrow it was hard to see where the creek went.
As we began our hike up the valley, we were greeted with a number of views of East Inlet Creek.
Further up the valley, the creek meanders through a large meadow.
From our creek-side vantage point, we watched small brook trout leap out of the water in pursuit of breakfast.
By now, you've heard all about the wildfires out west. While there are no current fires in Rocky Mountain National Park, we still feel the effects, as the smoke from the west fills the valley.
We had stopped at this scenic overlook and encountered a couple hikers on their return trip. They mentioned spotting a meandering bull moose in the upper part of the meadow. We were lucky enough to see the big guy, but he was so far away that our photos didn't turn out. Instead, here's another pretty stream valley picture.
Dave took a moment to commune with some rocky mountains in the photo below. Shortly thereafter, we met a couple backpackers on their way to Lone Pike Lake for an overnight. It was fun to chat with them about their time on the Continental Divide Trail.
We learned that the East Inlet Trail is an example of National Park Service naturalistic design work. Both the National Park Service and the Civilian Conservation Corps built naturalistic designed trails that required the use of local materials, such as rock, wood and dirt, in order to harmonize with the local environment. It also required a maximum grade of 15%, a width of 3-4 feet, and had to meet sustainability standards through the use of stone steps, log checks, and log or stone culverts. As a result, the East Inlet Trail was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. You can just feel the history as you climb this stairway toward heaven.
We reached our turnaround point 3.5 miles from the trailhead. From this vantage point, we looked back down the valley toward Grand Lake. We heard a large waterfall below us, but the creek had cut such a deep gorge that we never did get to see the water actually falling. It still made for a great hike.
On our return trip, Kathy made a point at stopping at some raspberry bushes she spied on the way up.
Sweet!
We took one last look back at moose valley. By the afternoon, the winds had picked up and removed some of the smoke from the valley. We looked, but we didn't see the moose this time.
After finishing our hike, we decided to stop in Grand Lake for lunch. To celebrate our moose sighting, and, in the spirit of our moose sighting, Dave ordered -- Moose Drool!
After lunch, we stopped at the National Park Visitor's Center. We got lots of great hiking suggestions from the local rangers. We probably won't be able to hike them all, but we are going to try a few. Until then, stay thirsty my friends.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.