A Snowy Morning

Elk cow in Rocky Mountain National Park

Wednesday morning, I had my alarm set so I would be sure and get up in time to see sunrise from somewhere in the park. Hopefully somewhere with a nice view! I knew it was supposed to snow during the night, and when I opened the cabin door it was still snowing. We had about four inches of fluffy powder already.

The last time I had been to Rocky Mountain National Park during the winter was the fall of 2000. I took a detour from Golden to the park for a quick run through. Made for a long drive back to Wichita but it was worth it. On that trip they had about six inches of fresh snow, and the clouds had left already. Many Parks Point was fabulous with a fresh coat of snow on everything. It was also very cold. I believe that was when my old camera decided to die and never take another picture. Sigh.

Fast forward to 2021, I was happy to see a fresh batch of snow. I had my gear loaded and ready to go an hour before sunrise and headed out. To my chagrin I was not even the first person on the road though! I made a direct line to Many Parks Point which is the farthest the road is open in the winter. From that vantage point you have a marvelous view of the surrounding valleys and meadows. These meadows are called parks, and yes you can see many of them from this spot.

Perhaps I should rephrase that. Normally, you would be able to see many parks from Many Parks Point but not when it is still snowing and blowing, and you are kind of up in the middle of the clouds. You could look over the edge and see a couple hundred feet down, but there was no sign of any mountains beyond a shadow of the closest ridge below me. Other than the fact that it was not dark anymore there was no sign of there being any sunrise view to hold me there. In fact, the way the wind was blowing snow around at 12 degrees there was not much reason I wanted to stay out there and look for any longer than it took to take a few pictures.

A scene from Many Parks Point

I believe this is looking towards Moraine Park

The scenic overlook at Many Parks Point

The contrast between this picture of this rock pile and the one I got the next day is striking.

A view from Many Parks Point

Somewhere on the way down the mountain

Just about to Horseshoe Park

I began the descent from the road’s high point and headed down Fall River Road towards Horseshoe Park. There are several scenic turnouts on the way, and I was stopping at every one to grab a few pictures. Fact of the matter is there was just about nothing to see except blowing snow and clouds. Once down to the level of Horseshoe Park, visibility improved to where you could see from one side to the other and there was almost a patch of clear sky to the lower end.

In Horseshoe Park looking back across the Fall River bridge toward the mountainside I just drove down.

Usually there would be a very impressive mountain scene here.

At Sheep Lakes looking down the valley

Across the valley at Sheep Lakes

I got pretty excited about actually having some light to make pictures with. I found a small herd of male elk feeding in the meadow and watched them for a while as they had breakfast on a snowy morning. After eating for an hour or so the elk began to move back toward the woods where they will spend most of the day. Usually they will come back down and eat in the late afternoon. Watching the elk had given me an appetite for dry grass so I figured it was time to head back toward the cabin. I decided not to go back up the mountain again since there was obviously no change in the conditions.

A small group of bull elk having breakfast in the meadow

Elk in Horseshoe Park

After feeding they all begin to head up into the woods for the day

On the way out of the park I finally got into a little bit of sunshine so I took a couple pictures by the entrance station. After leaving the park, a flock of turkeys made its way onto the road and gave me some nice poses.

Looking down the road at the Fall River entrance station

Turkeys along Fall River Road

Turkeys along Fall River Road

Traffic Jam

I took a long detour on the way back and went to Mary’s Lake. I didn’t really plan on making a detour but it was my first morning driving around Estes Park and it ended up going somewhere I didn’t know. I ended up at Mary’s Lake in time to see some nice light and scenery for a few more pics before heading back to the cabin for brunch.

Sun behind the clouds at Mary’s Lake

Snow whipped up by the wind at Mary’s Lake

Looking across Mary’s Lake

By this time, it was past mid-morning and I had been in and out of the truck into a blustery and cold day for several hours. It was time to head back to the cabin and warm up and get something to eat.