Sept 28, 2023
Written By: J.Couch
After our Mustang Mountain Coaster ride we drove into Estes Park to look around. There is a specific shop that we like to look in when we are there, called Trendz At The Park. They have a lot of cool gifts and knick knacks. We had to kill about an hour before we could head into Rocky Mountain National Park for our reservation time.
The park was still doing a reserve timed entry that you have to pre-purchase in advance or the day before your trip. We were able to get one at 5pm the day before when they released the rest of the 40 percent of reservations. We ended up driving in through the south side, Beaver Meadows Entrance, they were doing construction work on the north side Fall River Entrance and we didn’t want to get stuck in that delay.
We stopped at a few of the stops along the way, like Many Parks Curve and Rainbow Curve Overlook. Many Parks Curve is the highest point that you can get to during the winter time, it’s closed from there up between mid-October to Memorial Day. The trees up here had already turned to that yellow golden color and looked to be painted on the mountain side mixed in with the evergreen trees. Just past the Rock Cut we made a stop at the Tundra Communities Trailhead. From there we hiked the short hike out to the point where you can get an amazing view and a lot of times see the wild life here, like elk and bighorn sheep.
Back at the car we continued to head up, our final destination was at the top, the Alpine Visitor Center. There is a visitor center, a small gift shop and a restaurant if you want a coffee or snack. Not sure what all they have since we didn’t check out the menu. Beyond the amazing view from here as well, there is a hike on the Alpine Ridge Trail that takes you up a staircase to the top at 12,005 feet. It is always fun to do this short hike but exhausting because the air is so thin up there. It has become a ritual now to hike up to the top when we have gone up there. I think I am up to 3 or 4 hikes up now.
On our way back down we did not stop along the way, we just took in the beautiful scenery and headed down. We were going to go out to Bear Lake but when we got down near the Bear Lake turn off there was a line of cars 20 deep in each direction trying to turn in there. We decided to pass and ended up just heading back, we stopped in Boulder and had dinner at a Mexican restaurant called Rio Grande. This too seems to be becoming a ritual for us since this is the second time we have stopped here after a day in the park.
It was a great way to finish out the evening and the sunsets in Boulder don’t disappoint. It was another beautiful and enjoyable day. Little Couch and her husband got to experience Rocky Mountain National Park and the beautiful mountains that this state has to offer.
Thanks for wandering with us,
The Wandering Couchs
