Rocky Mountain National Park

Hiking through the mountains has been on my bucket list for quite some time. Since it was so hot in Kansas City this summer it seemed like a great time to enjoy the cooler climate of the mountains. Scott and I decided on the town of Estes Park, Colorado to stay since it was close to Rocky Mountain National Park entrances.

I had booked a private session with Jared, a local photographer and owner of Yellow Wood Guiding, to learn landscape photography near the beginning of our trip. After getting up at 4:00 we packed up the heavy gear, donned headlamps and hiked up to Dream Lake to capture a sunrise. I haven’t seen a sunrise for a long time and this one was remarkable. I learned that there is only six minutes to capture the beautiful color in the pictures. So, I was sure glad Jared helped me learn the ropes to enjoy photographing the rest of my trip. I was able to see more beautiful sunrises in a week than I’ve seen in many many years. There is something to be said about getting up and watching the sun bounce off beautiful mountains with crisp fresh air all around you.

I have never hiked in the mountains before so I wasn’t sure how ‘hard’ it would be. We chose easy to moderate hikes for this trip and it’s a good thing! It was a great physical and mental challenge that I completely embraced. I had to chuckle when more experienced hikers twice my age would pass us but I thought “I hope that is me at their age!” Around every corner was beauty and panoramic views of majestic mountains. Like many of you, I’ve only seen pictures of mountains but to actually witness it was breathtaking. I had to stop frequently just to take it all in because pictures really don’t do it justice. Scott and I are already planning our next hiking trip and can’t wait to see more natural wonders and extreme beauty.

Here are a few of my favorite shots…enjoy!

This was my sunrise shot at Dream Lake…..seriously breathtaking!

Nymph Lake

Elk are common place in the town of Estes Park. They are enormous in person.

This deer holds a special place in my heart. He is absolutely beautiful…after a while he got up because we probably startled him. I noticed he was limping and not using one of his legs. I got a shot of him while standing up and I decided to zoom in to see if I could see his injury. Upon inspection he had broken a bone in his leg and it was sticking out. It really broke my heart for this beautiful animal.

On our way to our trail for the day we captured this sunrise over St. Malo stone church. It was such a beautiful place.

Copeland Falls

I was fascinated with the intricate tree roots. My boyfriend was not impressed with them but I still thought they made a great black & white picture.

Calypso Cascades

Ouzel Falls

I loved the bridges and signs along the trails.

Sunrise at Morraine Park. This was one of my favorite areas. The meadows were full of beautiful grass and textures with a winding streams (not pictured) running throughout. It was so beautiful and reminded me of Little House on the Prairie 🙂

There were so many interesting shaped trees throughout our hikes.

The beginning of our trail to Mills Lake. This is really misleading because the last half of the trail was boulders and rocks and places where you felt like you were walking on the edge of a cliff. It was all still really beautiful and this was my favorite hike of the trip.

Alberta Falls. Wow, I really loved this one along the Mills Lake trail. I climbed down some boulders to take this shot. I did NOT have my tripod for this and can’t believe I was able to shoot at such a low shutter to soften the water and manage to get the rest sharp!

We passed some workers along the Mills Lake trail. They told me they were “trail builders.” How cool is that?! Well, not really because they have to climb the trail with all of that equipment.

The Mills Lake trail was my hardest hike. It was partly due to back to back hikes and I was getting tired. The end of this trail at Mills Lake was amazing and I felt like it was surreal. I wish I had better pictures or taken a panoramic because it was stunning.

Our last day we drove up the famous Trail Ridge Road. Ummmmmm I guess everyone who has been there neglected to tell me that if you are afraid of heights you might get scared. We drove to the top (14,000 feet) along a 2 lane road…a NARROW two lane road with drop offs like I’ve never seen. Most of it does NOT have guard rails and I had a few panic attacks. I made a deal with Scott that I would drive up so he could take it all in and he would drive down. I became a little nauseated at 14,000 and we couldn’t stay long plus it is cold and windy up there. You can see in the image below just how close the clouds are. It is tundra on top and don’t see a lot of vegetation. The road has many designated pull-off to take in the spectacular views.

One of many lakes in the mountains.

Pika are very common at the higher elevations. They look like mice to me 🙂

Elk sighting…everyone has to slow down. At this particular time a ranger came running across the road and told everyone to keep moving because it is considered “harassment” to follow them since it can change their natural behavior. The park rangers take their jobs very seriously and I was so impressed at their dedication to protecting and preserving the National Forests. Scott and I kept thinking, why would these elk even want to leave this protected area and go into town. I guess they don’t realize how good they have it 🙂