Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado ~ Day 2

Let's call this Alpine Day. 😀

Knowing that rains and thunderstorms were heading our way, we took advantage of clear skies to drive to the west side of the park via Trail Ridge Road - taking a hike and small walk along the way. 

After driving for a while, our first stop and only real hike, about two miles round trip, was along the Ute Trail which traverses alpine tundra. It was super cool and very different than yesterday's lake hiking.

Once we got back into the car, we passed a huge herd of elk - maybe 200-300....

We then stopped at the Alpine Visitor's Center where there is a walkway (all stairs) to a pretty high (and windy) point:

 (This was our highest elevation of the day.)

Here is the view of the ranger station. Why the large tree trunks on the roof? Well, to hold the roof down in the high winds - yowza!

 We continued our drive and found ourselves in the 2020 East Troublesome Fire:

 On the way back to Estes Park, we saw a moose having some dinner.....

So another great day in Rocky Mountain National Park! We saw (literally) hundreds of elk and one moose!