Another Wonderful Day in Rocky Mountain National Park, but Our Last For This Trip!

Ken and I went through the entrance of Rocky Mountain National Park by 7:30 and it was a 45 minute drive from the CG - we were up early for this gal!  We headed towards the Cub Lake Trailhead, but stopped on the way to view and photo a large herd of elk.  That was a surprise!  Unfortunately, Ken erased those pictures by mistake!

We started on the trail by 7:50 and hiked the 2.3 miles to the lake.  It was a rather rocky trail with 560 feet of elevation - not a real easy hike.  When we got to the lake we were disappointed with all of the dead, burned trees around the lake.  We later found out from a ranger that it was an illegal fire - how sad!

The hike began in an open meadow!

I think this is a dinosaur egg that is cracking open!

These photographers were ahead of us, then behind us
when they stopped to take pictures.  We switched positions
several times on the trail!

A small body of water near the beginning of the trail!

It was a rocky one!

This is Cub Lake.  Surrounding it is lots of water lilies, probably
too many of them!

We met a couple who were here 4 years ago when the trees
were gorgeous.  Now most of them are dead from the fire!

While at the top of the "mountain", I realized I was able to use my cell phone. So, I sat on a large rock and returned calls to Cindy, Jackie, and Noela.  It was an amazing place to talk on my cell phone!  We don't have service in our CG but at 9,000 plus feet, bingo, I can talk!

Several folks told us that we should not retrace our steps to our car, but go on the loop on the other side of the mountain.  It was a more scenic and easier trail to hike on, but they failed to tell us that it was about 4 miles to our car - really?????   So we only returned to our CRV around 12:45 after a 6 mile walk - wow!  Now we were hungry!

Loved all the fall coloring!

A rather sad sight!

We have walked over several of these bridges!

Just a scenic walk!  

Couldn't believe the sound this squirrel was making!  It
sounded like the starting of a car engine!

We saw more elk on the way to Estes Park to have lunch at Subway!  While there, we were able to call and make reservations for our next 3 stops on this adventure!  Hallelujah!

Usually they go back up to the hills during the day, but these
elk were resting in the meadow!

This was one large "lady"!

He had quite a large harem of 30 or more!

He is making the bugle sound and rounding up his ladies!

I had decided that I wanted a pair of earrings as my souvenir from this park that I had seen at one of the Visitor's Center.  So we drove back into the Park and at the second Visitor's Center I found the pair I wanted!  Thanks, Ken!

On the way back to the CG we saw the bighorn sheep again.  Our lucky day!

I find these bighorn sheep fascinating!

We stopped at the Colorado Cherry Company that has been around for over 50 years and sampled their Bing Cherry Juice and Cider.  They were delicious.  We bought a bottle of the juice that has no added sugar and is supposed to have some real health benefits! All we know is that it tastes very good!

We drove a bit further into Loveland to the Benson Sculpture Garden.  This Garden has provided a beautiful and unique outdoor setting for showcasing sculptures since 1985.  Currently there are 148 pieces of sculpture on permanent display from world renowned artists.  It has been recognized as 1 of the 200 most important modern and contemporary art sites around the world and as 1 of the 20 must see contemporary art sites across the USA.  It really was amazing!

This was a huge one!

Some jazz players!

This was one of my favorites!

This was called "Steady and Unsteady"!

I wonder whose shoe they are playing with???

The Ball Keeps Rolling!

This one is "Best Friends"!

This is Potato Man!

And my all time favorite!!!

We were back to the CG by 5:30 after a very long but spectacular day.  Time to prepare for our departure tomorrow.  We had no idea that we would spend an entire week in this area, but it has been such a wonderful adventure. Rocky Mountain National Park is a real treasure!