Rocky Mountain National Park

This was the last big stop of the 2022 Summer Road-trip with Kahlan, Avery, and William.  We started the scenic drive from the west and traversed the length of the park to the east entrance. Stopping at overlooks along the way, visiting the Holzwarth Historic Site, visiting the highest visitor center in the country (11,000 ft above sea level at the Alpine Visitor Center), seeing snow in July, and hiking to Alberta Falls (1.8 miles round trip) near Bear Lake.

We all experienced the shift in air pressure in different ways with Kahlan taking the brunt of the effects and actually suffering from a bit of legitimate altitude sickness (mild headache and a bit of nausea). 

Avery, William, and I hiked the extra 1000 feet at the Alpine Visitor center to reach the twelve thousand foot altitude cap. The drive back down was a bit nerve wracking as we snaked down the mountains through sleet and a wee bit of snow.  After reaching the Bear Lake area, we tackled the hike to Alberta Falls. We had planned to camp in the campground itself, but as the rain and storms were looming in we opted to grab bite to eat, hit the road and get as far into Kansas as we could before crashing for the night. 

There are a lot of hikes in this park and not a place that can be fully appreciated in a single visit. I look forward to going visiting it again in the future with the time to tackle many more of the hikes.