RMNP – Trail Ridge Road to Estes Park

One of our goals for Colorado was to drive the Trail Ridge Road, which has the distinguished honor of being the road with the highest continuous pavement in the USA (thanks internet!). Due to its height, the road becomes too dangerous to travel in the winter so it is only open from May to October.

After leaving Big Meadows, we were off! The drive isn’t particularly steep or winding  compared to Pikes Peak where we were encouraged not to use air conditioning on the way up to avoid engine overheating and the drive down necessitated using the lowest gear of our rental car.  For much of the ride you are still driving right next to the cliff drop-off, which might be nauseating if you think about it too much.

The Continental Divide runs across the Trail Ridge Road. This is the theoretical north/south line that separates where water (rivers) flows toward the east (Atlantic Ocean) from where water runs toward the west (Pacific Ocean).

We made a lucky find at the Continental Divide when we noticed other travelers pointing to the nearby cliffs.  We went to investigate and were rewarded with a large group of bighorn sheep with babies in tow! We watched them Class 3 scramble upside the cliff’s side like they were born to do it (which they probably were).

The Alpine Visitor Center at roughly 12,000 feet makes for a great break point.  Restrooms and food are available, with inside cafeteria tables looking out the window and at a glacial valley.  We got a pulled pork sandwich for $10 and it hit the spot.

Trail Ridge Road includes dozens of scenic overlooks.  We did not stop at them all but we did stop at a few.  We definitely took some GREAT pictures at Forest Canyon overlook, possibly our most beautiful pictures of the park.  Another site is Rock Cut which we did not stop at but just drove by/through.  Two rock outcroppings surround the road and make for an impressive site.  Brad recommends stopping there as the scenery is unique with many rock outcroppings compared to the rest of the Trail Ridge Road.  Other overlooks include Rainbow Curve, which we thought was underwhelming (maybe because there was no rainbow at the time).

Unfortunately (time for an Erin aside), we saw many tourists and their children feeding chipmunks. This is actually illegal because the chipmunks come to rely on human food which does not sustain them through the winter. Please do the chipmunks a favor and do not give them food! It may seem cute when they come right up to you and grasp for whatever you are snacking on, but it won’t be so cute when they cannot survive in a few months.  Also, if you have children, don’t let them spit at the chipmunks!

In the end, we made it to our Air BnB 5 minutes outside the RMNP Estes Park entrance.  We went to dinner at Smokin’ Dave’s BBQ, which was tasty.  Once the sun went down, we drove back into RMNP to view the stars over Bear Lake, recommended by our Air BnB host.  Unfortunately, the moon was so bright that it was difficult to see many stars. The park was slightly scary at night (Erin was nervous) but there really was nothing to worry about.  EXCEPT, we did have a close call on the road with a moose.  Beware!  We almost swerved off the road into a fireball of doom (probably just would have hit a tree).

The next morning, we selected another relatively easy hike in the park. The goal was to go to Emerald Lake, by passing Nymph Lake and Dream Lake, supplied by the Tyndall Glacier.