The temperature dropped into the low 50’s last night – the first time we needed the quilt over us. But the morning was sunny and soon warmed up as we had a slow start today. The altitude certainly makes us tired.
We made it an easy day. There are several Visitor Centers in the park. Moraine Park Visitor Center has a small museum which explains the creation of the large, flat, meadow strewn with rocks which is just outside the museum. Huge glaciers used to cover the area and left behind thousands of boulders and many small streams. The area was the site of 3 hotels, a nine hole golf course, and many shops before this became a national park. Now the buildings have mostly been removed and the area is regaining its natural beauty. The Visitor Center and Museum are located in one of the remaining log buildings. As we drove in to check out the Moraine Park campgrounds we saw a coyote crossing the road in front of us. I was so surprised I did not get a decent picture. Following the coyote was about an 8 year old girl. I was wondering what she was doing walking down the road alone. Then as she got to the entrance to the campground a Ranger walked her back to her family. She must have gotten turned around on her way to the restrooms. This campground still has trees and lots of big boulders. Therefore a lot more shade than the one we are in. However, the wonderful mountain views are blocked by the trees. Everything is a trade-off. We also stopped at Beaver Meadows Visitor Center – it is large and modern. We watched a movie about the park to get oriented to the roads and trails. Our drive took us along another rushing mountain stream. There are many fly fisherman enjoying the high water and abundance of trout.
In the afternoon we drove even higher in the park to Bear Lake. This was a popular attraction and the parking lot was full. There is a shuttle which runs throughout the park and helps to keep some of the congestion down at the most popular sites. Luckily we found a spot and discovered the beautiful lake had a half mile walking path around it. No challenge in Minnesota but at almost 9500’ it was work. A large portion of the walk was wide and flat for strollers and wheel chairs. It is so nice to see these remote areas made accessible. There are several wheelchair accessible trails in the park and an accessible camgground at Sprague Lake. This campground is one of the sites visited in another of the Nevada Barr novels about Rocky Mountain National Park.
Our campground emptied out quite a bit and now is filling up with weekend campers from Denver, Loveland and other nearby communities. Nice to have such beauty in your backyard. We spent a quiet late afternoon watching folks arrive. At one point we watched in horror as the awning on the camper next to us blew up and over the top of the camper. Rick and another neighbor rushed over to get it under control before it banged up the siding. Then we got out the tie downs for our awning and secured it from the unpredictable breezes. Now it’s time for a campfire.
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