We arrived in Estes Park just outside Rocky Mountain National Park on Wednesday evening with our family for an extended weekend of outdoor fun and games. On Thursday, July 4, our first full day in the park we found it to be very busy. So busy that most of the popular trails were closed to traffic and on the recommendation of a park ranger, we head to Upper Beaver Meadows.

We took a short trail among the aspens that gave the grandkids a chance to run around and gave us a chance to get acclimated.

We didn’t see any wildlife but we checked out the red-bark Ponderosa Pines that smelled like vanilla.

We also had several flower sightings.

Heading back to the parking area.

Then we found a nearby picnic area for lunch with a nice rock to climb.

Next we went up the Fall River Road for another short hike to the Alluvial Fan. In 1982, the Lawn Lake Dam failed and all its water rushed downhill and when it reached the flatter area of Horseshoe Park, it left a fan of debris behind. Three campers were killed and the town of Estes Park was damaged by the flood.  In the photo below, the Roaring River meets the Alluvial Fan.

Also impressive was seeing this buck elk with an incredible rack of horns.

Next stop was Sheep Lake to hear a park ranger talk about Big Horn Mountain Sheep. He told us there are five herds of Big Horns in the park. The estimated total number of sheep has grown to about 600. Big Horns in the park area were nearly decimated in the early 1900s due to hunters and have been slowly coming back since hunting was banned. The group frequently seen at Sheep Lake is the Mummy Range group.

It was estimated there are about 100 sheep in the Mummy herd but they show up at the lake in “social groups” that can range from a few sheep to maybe 25. The Big Horns are the most elusive wildlife in the park and are totally unpredictable as to when they show up at Sheep Lake. They actually come down from the mountain to eat the mud – which contains needed nutrients – at the lake. The park rangers stop traffic so the sheep can cross the road safely. We did get to hold the incredibly heavy horns.

We keep looking up toward the rocks across the road but there were no sheep sightings today.

Afterwards the kids hiked up Fall River Road again to Chasm Falls and we went to the grocery store to stock up.

The next day we hiked the trail to Lily Lake. It started only a few feet from the house we were staying in so we could enter the park on foot rather than by car.

It was mostly through trees and a steady uphill partially following a bubbling creek.

A total of 5.8 miles round trip, it took us two hours to cover the first 2.9 miles and we gained 600 feet to end at 9,000 feet. Lots of switchbacks.

We occasionally met a few other hikers, most of whom were following the Storm Pass Trail.

Lily Lake was beautiful, very calm with a mountain backdrop.

The grandkids found lots of things to watch in the water including muskrats, a water snake of some sort, and Tiger Salamanders, for which this lake is famous.

Us by the lake.

After a brief rest and a handful of trail mix, we checked out the view once more and started the return trip.

It began thundering before we were back but the rain held off. A good reason to get started hiking early is because it frequently rains or storms in the afternoon.

Our only other wildlife sighting today was this mule deer near our house. This became a common sight in early mornings and late afternoons.

The view from our rental.

More adventures tomorrow.