Rocky Mtn National Park

Last Friday 12 of us, Matt's Mom and Dad, Patt and I and Matt, Laura, the Kids and a friend of Matt's went to Rocky Mountain National Park. First up was a stop at Alluvial Falls where the kids played in the water.

and Matt and Laura climbed, scrambled up to the upper reaches of the falls.

me too!

Then on to the one-way up Old Trail Ridge Road to the Alpine Visitor Center that is located on the new paved road.

On the way we found a wide spot on the road near a hiking trail and hiked up the trail a bit and had a picnic lunch.

Along Trail Ridge Road the views of the snow capped mountains were awesome and it was a bit cold.

Laura and Isaac hiked up one of the paved trails at a scenic overlook spot — the 12,000 feet above sea level altitude made the walking just a little slower than normal going up for some of  us.

and speaking of a little huffing and puffing, that was me going up "buffer's hill" at the Alpine Center to an elevation of 12205 feet. — Matt and Laura came up also and were not huffing and puffing as much.  Here with Laura is bit of our view.

Elk were a common sight along stretches of the road; they were quite unconcerned with being photographed, some came close while grazing.

And looking carefully at the middle of the photo you can see the road we drove along with several hundreds of our good friends.  Lots of people think this is a nice drive and it is.

The 11 of us at the Alpine Center on Trail Ridge Road — a good day for a trip and a good trip too.