Thursday morning our goal was to get to Grand Lakes, the “quiet side” of the Rockies, and do some hiking and touring there. A great thing about vacation is no schedule, so we stopped and started whenever we wanted. This was a hike we enjoyed up near the top point of the trail.
For obvious reasons, this formation was called Mushroom Rocks.
Next stop was an interesting tour of one of the first guest ranches in the park, circa 1917.
I spy a trout!
22# buffalo skin coat.
Continuing on our west side tour, we circled the lake where we stayed in 2012, and Josh fished a little at the creek where Levi spent so many hours way back then.
Next stop: Adams Falls.
Short easy hike with lots of rocks to climb.
On to the races!
On to the quaint burg of Grand Lakes. Its tourist section was a fraction of the size of Estes Park and a fraction of the people also. Definitely the quiet side of the Rockies. We did a little shopping before we enjoyed supper at a grill that we remembered from 2018 (well, some of us remembered it anyway). It was memorable partly because of the delicious food and partly because of the peanut shells strewn all over the floor. Interesting place, with lots of antique décor in addition to the trademark peanuts before the meal.
Heading out of town back to Estes Park, we saw our first and second (and only!) moose (mooses? meese??). Was a mother/calf pair that rangers were trying to dart and mark, but we left before they got their mission accomplished.
More wildlife as we headed east.
Enjoyable (no rain!!) journey back over the mountains. Thankful for safe travels all week!
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