I was excited to drive Trail Ridge Road which crosses over the Contintental Divide. We first planned on driving Trail Ridge across the divide and hiking Timber Lake Trail.
The views along the drive were breath taking.
We made it up to the Alpine Visitor Center and had to turn around, the road was impassable due to snow drifts.
So we headed back down and asked a nice park ranger what a good day hike would be. He informed us of a nice hike to Cub Lake and The Pool which would be "relatively" snow free.
Starting on Cub Lake Trail.
Some wildlife we spotted along the way.
Nice marmot dude...
Feeling good, feeling great.
Cub Lake.
A pair of male and female Mallard ducks that came right up to us.
As we continued on past Cub Lake toward The Pool, we started to encounter some snow.
And even more great views.
The Pool.
It seemed like I was taking the camera out every couple feet to snap pictures of our amazing surroundings.
Cow elk.
As we were driving out, we saw a coyote near the road. From the safety of our vehicle we got some pictures.
After the park, we went and checked into a really quaint cottage at River Rock Cottages. We had read some good things about the Rock Inn Mountain Tavern online so we decided to check it out for dinner.
If you are ever there, you gotta try the devil's on horseback. Figs stuffed with garlic wrapped in bacon. It may sound a little strange but they were so good.
Day 6: We left Estes Park and started heading towards our last destination, Vail. We will definitely have to go back to Estes Park and RMNP again though. I feel like we saw such a tiny fraction of what the park has to offer.
Driving through Central City. I insisted on staying off the highways and sticking to the less traveled mountain roads which I love driving. Christine went along with it as she knew there was no arguing this point.
Christine found a great deal for the Vail Cascade Resort on Groupon since it was the off season. The room and resort were probably our favorite of the trip.
We decided to walk over to Vail Village from where we were staying in Cascade Village.
We did a little shopping and Christine decided she needed to upgrade her footwear. We probably checked every shoe store in Vail Village for a pair of tan uggs but weren't able to find the right color. Christine settled on a black pair which I liked more anyways.
I watched this guy while Christine pondered her purchase.
Day 7: We decided it would be fun to hike a trail in Vail so we gotr some local advice and headed towards Booth Lake Trail.
In the beginning the trail was nice and dry, but the farther we went up the muddier and snowier it got.
Suns out, guns out!
As we continued up, you could see the snow melt rushing down the mountain under the snow. There were a few points where we would break through or feel an entire chunk of snow start to give way under us. So we (Christine) decided it was best to head back down.
Some other hikers were out with their husky puppy, Koda. Christine fell in love.
After our hike, we decided relaxing in the Cascade's pool sounded like a good idea.
Day 8: We headed out from Vail back to Denver where we flying home from. Back to Florida.
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