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Pictures by Kirk Fratzke (August 2006) 

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Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
• Select thumbnails to view larger images and captions •

RMNP Entrance Sign
RMNP Entrance Sign
Longs Peak
Longs Peak
Couple at Bear Lake
Couple at Bear Lake
Bear Lake
Bear Lake
Nymph Lake
Nymph Lake
Ducks at Nymph Lake
Ducks at Nymph Lake
Hollowell Park
Hollowell Park
Many Parks Curve
Many Parks Curve
Rainbow Curve
Rainbow Curve
Kirk at Rainbow Curve
Kirk at Rainbow Curve
Clouds at Top
Clouds at Top
Kirk at 10,580 ft
Kirk at 10,580 ft
Rainbow Curve
Rainbow Curve
Stones Peak
Stones Peak
Forest Canyon Viewpoint
Forest Canyon Viewpoint
Forest Canyon Viewpoint
Forest Canyon Viewpoint
Mount Ida & Arrowhead Lake
Mount Ida & Arrowhead Lake
View from Trail Ridge Road
View from Trail Ridge Road
Gore Range
Gore Range
Gore Range Viewpoint
Gore Range Viewpoint
Forest Canyon
Forest Canyon
Trail Ridge Road
Trail Ridge Road
Medicine Bow Curve
Medicine Bow Curve
Poudre Valley
Poudre Valley
View from Trail Ridge Road
View from Trail Ridge Road
Trail Ridge Road
Trail Ridge Road
View from Rock Cut
View from Rock Cut
Elk Crossing Road
Elk Crossing Road
Sheep Lakes Area
Sheep Lakes Area
Deer Mountain
Deer Mountain
Clearing Storm Hidden Valley
Clearing Storm Hidden Valley
Clearing Storm Horseshoe Park
Clearing Storm Horseshoe Park
Mountain at Sunset
Mountain at Sunset
Alluvial Fan
Alluvial Fan
Old Fall River Road View
Old Fall River Road View
Spires
Spires
Landslide
Landslide
Old Fall River Road View
Old Fall River Road View
Old Fall River Road
Old Fall River Road
Chaplin Creek
Chaplin Creek
Alpine Visitior Center View
Alpine Visitior Center View
Alpine Visitor Center View
Alpine Visitor Center View
Cache la Poudre River
Cache la Poudre River
Continental Divide
Continental Divide
Farview Curve
Farview Curve
Kawunkkche Valley
Kawunkkche Valley
Kawuneeche Valley
Kawuneeche Valley
Mineral Point
Mineral Point
Farview Curve
Farview Curve
Alpine Visitors Center
Alpine Visitors Center
Jackstraw Mountain
Jackstraw Mountain
Gore Range Viewpoint
Gore Range Viewpoint
Forest Canyon
Forest Canyon
Alberta Falls
Alberta Falls
Mills Lake Trail
Mills Lake Trail
Mills Lake Trail
Mills Lake Trail
Mills Lake Trail
Mills Lake Trail
Mills Lake
Mills Lake
Mills Lake
Mills Lake
Mills Lake
Mills Lake
Mills Lake
Mills Lake
Mills Lake Trail
Mills Lake Trail
Boulder Brook
Boulder Brook
Strom Pass
Strom Pass

Helpful Links
Rocky Mountain National Park
Estes Park, Colorado



  Trip Itinerary

  Friday, August 25
  • Caught cold, called in sick to work
  • Caught up on sleep in morning, shot Booster Club photos at Noon
  • Left for Madison at 3 pm
  • Meet Amy in Madison had dinner at Rocky's and went to bed early
  Saturday, August 26
  • Up early and off to Madison airport
  • Flight to Denver via MSP
  • Arrived in Denver and had to wait for 50 minutes for luggage
  • Got rental car started driving to Estes Park
  • Stopped to have lunch at Uno's & picked up supplies at Walmart on edge of town
  • Remembered I forgot to buy film and stopped at Target in Boulder, students moving in made the place a madhouse
  • Arrived in Estes Park and checked into Silver Moon Motel
  • Town was busy with tourists
  • Dinner at Mexican restaurant, went to find place for sunset but missed it
  • To bed early due to long travel day
  Sunday, August 27
  • Weather colder then expected so went to store to buy Amy a sweatshirt
  • Entered RMNP and missed turn and drove in a bit then turned around and took road up to Bear Lake
  • Walked the nature trail around Bear Lake, weather was cloudy and cold
  • Hiked trail up to Nymph Lake, altitude and cold took their toll and wore us out
  • Started to rain so headed back to car
  • Back to Estes Park for lunch at burger place and then a nap
  • Late afternoon back to the park and drove up trail ridge road
  • Stopped at Many Parks overlook and Rainbow Curve, by the time we got to the top it was clouded in and snowing so turned around
  • Had dinner at Taco Bell/KFC/Pizza Hut, got ice cream and talked to people with dog
  Monday, August 28
  • Amy woke me up at 5:30 and said she was really sick so took her to the hospital
  • She was diagnosed with pneumonia and given a bunch of drugs and released after a few hours, going to altitude with a cold is a bad idea, lower air pressure let it spread to her lungs
  • Went back to the hotel to let Amy rest, lunch at other burger bar
  • After a nap went back to RMNP and drove Trail Ridge Road to Alpine Visitors Center
  • Weather was still pretty cloudy and cold but got some interesting photos
  • On way back had nice Elk sighting with herd crossing the road
  • On way back down near sunset got some great photos near meadow
  • Dinner someplace, more ice cream (of course Amy bought)
  Tuesday, August 29
  • In morning drove old gravel road up valley to visitors center and then down the other side weather was good and much warmer had lunch at visitors center parking lot with Subway sandwiches we picked after our daily trip to Safeway
  • Probably had nap again because that is what Amy does, plus she was sick so I had to be nice to her :)
  • Dinner at nicer restaurant
  • Went to movie at theatre
  Wednesday, August 30
  • Hiked to Mills Lake by myself, left Amy with the car
  • 5.8 mile hike pretty much uphill, should have allowed more time as I had to haul butt to get it done in 2.5 hours
  • Mills Lake was really nice and picturesque in a glacial valley
  • Back to town for lunch at pizza place, something about it was odd
  • Went by dog park to try to cheer Amy up
  • Had yet another nap
  • Afternoon went up to Rainbow Curve and caught the scenery for a while
  • Came back and had dinner at someplace nearby where had yet another burger
  • Decided since we were pretty sick to cut vacation short and changed reservations
  • So didn't got to Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP or Great Sand Dunes NP on this trip
  Thursday, August 31
  • Got up and checked out of hotel
  • Took slow trip back to Denver
  • Had lunch at Macaroni Grill and went to mall where Amy got her toes done
  • Flight was late due to weather
  • Had shorter layover in MSP and had trouble finding a place to eat since everything was closed
  • Flight to Madison was late
  • Finally got to Amy's about 1:30 am, Gizmo was surprised and happy to see us
  Friday, September 1
  • Layed around Amy's unshowered and watched TV
  Saturday, September 2
  • More of the same except took a shower
  Sunday, September 3
  • Back to Winona with Gizmo (Amy's cat)
  Monday, September 4 (Labor Day)
  • More laying around unshowered at home watching the big screen HTDV

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