Trail Ridge Road & Grand Lake

Today we spent the day driving up and around the Trail Ridge Road to Grand Lake.

As we neared the outskirts to Grand Lake we witnessed the devastation from last October's wildfires.  I overheard a ranger say that 30,000 acres burned in the National Park alone, and a total of something like 400,000 acres. Really sad.

This sign pretty much sums up our visit to Grand Lake.  We had no idea when we set out on this lengthy excursion today that just about ALL of the stores in restaurants in Grand Lake are closed on Mondays.  What?!?!  There wasn't a heck of a lot to do, and the weather crapped out just as we arrived.  So much for our beach day (although Grand Lake wasn't quite as grand or as beachy as we were expecting it to be anyway....)

Our drive back to the hotel in the evening made up for the less than stellar day in Grand Lake.  We stopped so many times to see the amazing wildlife.

Here's a momma elk feeding her baby.  💞