President's Day Weekend at the Y!

Molly and six of her sorority sisters ascended upon the Rockies to celebrate the long weekend together.  They all flew to Denver and spent their first night at Pattie's house (she's the lucky one who gets to live so close to RMNP!).  After a wonderful breakfast the next day, the girls set out for the mountains.  Of course, a detour to visit the Coors Brewery livened things up a bit!

Mollie, Carolyn, Catharine peeking from the back, Traci, Molly

Molly shows her former roomate, Catharine, where they will be hiking.

Wow!  They made it up to Emerald Lake!  First time snowshoeing for all of them.

Mollie and Molly on the Frozen Lake

The seven of them together, slap happy, with an Unbelieveably Gorgeous view in the background.  Looks like Hallett to me.

Molly, Pattie, Carolyn, Annie, Traci, Mollie, Catharine

Awww!!!  So Sweet!!!  And makes a Great Picture too!

Hurray!!!  It's been a Great Day in Rocky Mountain National Park!                          

This and That - October 2009

What?!?  You say!  The Rocky Mountains in the Fall and NO Wildlife?!?  (Save, of course, Richard Hahn's awesome photographs that now grace our walls.)  Well, I must admit, we did not see the Huge Elks monitoring their Huge Harems like we did last year.  We were never in the right place at the right time or, well, you know our chauffeur's aversion to long lines - he he!  Yes, there were very long lines to enter the Park at times.  But what we missed in drama and excitement was more than made up by the closeness of our sightings.  We found this Elk and his Harem on our way back to the Y from The Pool.

...and check out this little one!  His mother was right behind him.  It didn't dawn on me in Sept. 2008 that the young offspring were with the Elks' Harems, but I guess they would be!  That's the advantage of getting up close and personal!

Another up close and personal sighting occurred when we returned from our steak dinner at the The Rock Inn.  And, you might know, it occurred on the Y property.  Two cute little Bambis.  Mule Deer, I think?

Isn't he precious?!?

Last, but not least, it did snow!  At our low (LOW? Ha!  It's all relative!)  elevation, it was only a dusting, but it surely made everything look so pretty!

The Pool: Colors, Boulders, & Rivers (con't)

In sharp contrast to the Big Thompson gurgling along on the hiker's left and the gorgeous mountains off in the distance, granite cliffs soar high on the hiker's right side.

The crazy colors continue ...

even on the boulders ...

which become larger and more plentiful.

Insert here the most famous of the large boulder formations:  The Arch which was presumably formed when a large boulder fell from the cliffs above and split into half.  Unfortunately, this is only one of the landmarks that I failed to photograph!

Does the photo below remind anyone else of the favorite fishing and picture taking spot of some of our clan?  Remember its name?  I blogged about it here.

After a most enjoyable stroll (1.7 mi.), the hiker reaches The Pool

which is a turbulent water pocket formed below the merger of Fern and Spruce Creeks with the Big Thompson River.

Unfortunately, (again!)  I failed to photograph the very picturesque bridge that crosses The Pool and (once again!) I failed to climb the boulder on the other side of The Pool for an even more dramatic view.  My serious omissions on this hike will hopefully create interest in what you have missed in the post!  One should plan this hike for the early morn in the summer; the trail receives more sun than many of the RMNP hikes and so can become hot as the day progresses.  Also, the Fern Lake Trailhead parking fills quickly, as do many to the trailheads' parking.