Estes Park, CO – Fern Lake/Cub Lake

Five months.  I still can’t believe it took us over five months to get up to Rocky Mountain National Park.  I just love the town of Estes Park and, of course, the National Park.  Even the the drive to Estes is a beauty.

We were so fortunate to have such a perfect day to hike:  crystal clear, blue skies, and warm temps in the 40’s.

Due to snow conditions further up Trail Ridge Road, we stayed down in the Bear Lake/Moraine Park Region.  We started out at the Fern Lake parking area and did a loop trail taking us past The Pool and past Cub Lake and then past Cub Lake Trailhead.  About a 6.2 mile hike.

Here, we’re leaving the Fern Lake Parking area….

We hiked through aspen groves and pine forest.  Saw an incredible frozen waterfall from several angles…

….past huge boulders that seemed to defy the laws of gravity…

And had incredible views of mountains along most of the hike…

I love being stunned into silence (by nature’s beauty).  And when we rounded a bend in the trail and saw a frozen, snow-covered Cub Lake below us, I had exactly one of those moments.  And, as usual, it makes for an impulsive snack break.  We find a rock and sit down and it allows us an opportunity to just sit and soak it all in.  All that glorious silence.

Unfortunately, Andy was sitting above me on the sloped rock.  The snow melted off of his boots and down to my bum.  Because the rock was cold, I didn’t realize I was also getting soaked!  That made for an uncomfortable hike for me!  Good thing it was only another 2.5 miles after that.

There are a couple of other pictures on the WebAlbums if you want to check them out.

Funny enough, all of the elk we saw were near the Visitor Center/Park Entrance or just outside of town.  The same place we’ve seen them over and over on prior visits.  Heck, I don’t care where they are when I see them, I just love seeing these beautiful creatures!

This was our first trip to RMNP in the winter.  Usually we’re here in the fall.  So I learned new things about elk.  This is the time of year  (Feb/Mar) that the elk start dropping their antlers.  The males and females generally don’t hang together either, because the males are still recuperating from all the activity during rutting season.  They don’t eat during the rut, so I can understand the need to eat and recuperate, but the ranger made it sound like there’s a bunch of bachelors hanging out together.  I had a chuckle over the image of that.  A bunch of guys, hanging out, drinking beer, eating pizza, and sharing stories of their conquests…ha!

There are lots of hikes that you can do in the Winter in RMNP, so I’d love to get back up there.  And maybe even do a guided snowshoe hike with the rangers.  Several places in Estes Park rent snowshoes.  Wouldn’t that be cool?