This is the seventh in a series of posts sharing photos from a 21-day road trip I did with my older brother in June.
Our time in Rocky Mountain National Park wasn’t what I’d expected. I’d been to the park previously in 2014 and that experience had framed my assumptions about what this visit would be like. But our time in RMNP reminded me of something I should have learned, years ago. National parks have been set aside for current and future generations for a reason. They are amazing, inspiring places and you cannot – no matter how many parks you’ve seen or how many times you’ve visited a park – ever assume you’ve seen it all. Just when you think you’ve mastered the national park experience, a place will emerge from the shadows and surprise you.
We had a two-day drive from Jackson, Wyoming to Estes Park, Colorado where we would be visiting Rocky Mountain. At the recommendation of a guest at the hotel in Jackson, Steve and I decided to take the scenic route to Laramie, Wyoming where we would be spending the night. Rather than driving south and east on Hwy 191 to pick up I-80 in Rock Springs, we drove north on Hwy 191 – one last look at the Tetons – to Hwy 26/Hwy 287, which would take us through Dubois and connect with I-80 in Rawlins.
Dubois is a small town with a population of 911, according to the 2020 census. The population nearly doubles during the summer with the arrival of part-time workers employed by the local lodges. The town also has a couple of major attractions; one of them being the National Museum of Military Vehicles. This was the reason we opted for the scenic route to Laramie.
My goodness but that was the right decision. Our time at the museum began in a vault where military firearms, including the musket used to fire the first shot at the Battle of Bunker Hill, are on exhibit. There are three major galleries, one exhibiting vehicles used during World War II, a second devoted to the Korean War and the third to the Vietnam War. The World War II gallery includes landing craft used on D-Day, Red Ball Express vehicles that supplied the Allied advance across Europe, and American and German tanks that were used during the Battle of the Bulge.
We spent several hours at the National Museum of Military Vehicles and every minute was quality time. I took hundreds of photos with my phone camera, the best of which I’ve shared on Facebook.
The next day, we had a short two-hour drive from Laramie to Estes Park, Colorado. Estes Park is the gateway community to Rocky Mountain National Park. Back in May, I had reserved an entrance time of 11am for this first day in the park.
Now, we’d just come from Grand Teton National Park where it had rained both days. The forecast for Rocky Mountain National Park called for more of the same. So, as we drove into the park, we talked about taking the same attitude during this visit as we’d had at Grand Teton; we’d take whatever the weather gods delivered, enjoy ourselves and make the best of it.
We needn’t have been concerned. The weather for the two days we were at RMNP was fantastic. In addition to being treated to fantastic views, we enjoyed great wildlife encounters. This post will be the first of three in which I share photos from our time in Rocky Mountain National Park.
A bull moose feeds on fresh shrub leaves in Rocky Mountain National Park.
A bull moose gnoshes on fresh green leaves from Hidden Valley Creek in Rocky Mountain National Park.
As short as summers are in RMNP, elk continuously graze to strengthen themselves for a winter season that's just a short 8-weeks away.
A husky bull elk feeds on sweet summer grass along the treeline in Rocky Mountain National Park.
A Rocky Mountain NP marmot soaks up the sun from its perch atop a boulder in a high-elevation tundra field.
A Rocky Mountain NP marmot soaks up the sun atop a boulder on the tundra.
Ypsilon Mountain and Mt. Chiquita stand left-to-right at the middle of the frame in this viewto the east from Lava Cliffs Overlook.
