We considered a number of different trails and decided on a loop from Cub Lake, up to The Pool, and down to the Fern Lake trail head. It was 6 miles round trip, but pretty easy hiking. It was also made a bit easier for my by my dad who carried Natalie for nearly half the trip, (and much of the uphills!)
We were a bit concerned about the weather... driving up to Estes we passed through fog and mist, but as we were about to come into the town, the sky opened up to blue. It ended up being perfect! I didn't wear any of my additional layers, and Natalie didn't either! This part of the park is so lush. There were flowers everywhere and the Big Thompson River was running very high.
I've seen many animals hiking in Rocky, but I don't think they've ever seemed so tame as on this trip. And though we didn't see many elk as we entered the park, they were scattered all throughout the valleys here. We didn't see many bucks around here... it seemed like they were all female or young, (or maybe they'd shed their antlers recently?) 
Here's one we saw taking a stroll through this pond... she, like many of the elk we saw, was tagged around her neck. Seems like the rangers have been very busy lately.
Here's a mom and her baby... the baby was just tagging along behind her down alongside the stream. 
And this one was lying right below a raised section of the path... she was so close, this pic is taken without any zoom!! 
Here's a little snake we almost stepped on on the trail!
At lunch we stopped and ate at Cub Lake. Natalie had been a real trouper the whole way but was getting pretty hungry at this point. 
Undoubtedly our choice of location has been used by picnickers before. As soon as we settled ourselves we were beset by "wildlife". I use the term loosely because, as you can see, these guys were no stranger to people.
Natalie got to feed the ducks, and they took our bread very gently! I'm afraid I'm going to have a difficult time explaining to her that not all animals are quite so nice.
When we finished our lunch we started the hike around to the Fern Lake trail and The Pool. The pool is a spot in the river that has been carved out by the water. The Big Thompson was so engorged that the pool was impossible to see and it just looked like more river.
We stopped to take a break, and I discovered that Natalie had been busy in her diaper. Well prepared mother that I am, I then discovered that all the fresh diapers I had packed for the trip never made it out of the car and into the backpack. What's a mom to do?
What you see here is the Macgyver of diapers. (Natalie is unimpressed). The three of us searched our packs and this is what we found: a burp cloth and a target bag. We had paper towels and water to clean the baby. With a couple of holes cut for her legs, the bag held the cloth in place, and the baby, (and my back!) remained dry for the last 1.7 miles of hiking back to the car. She even had a little nap. 
On our way back to the car we saw one more, very tame animal! This guys is a marmot... I've seen them from afar, and heard them before... but never seen one this close up. He was so close I could have picked him up!! Pretty crazy, huh? 
And no visit to Estes Park is complete without a stop into one of the touristy candy and ice cream shops! 
I recommend the rootbeer floats!
1 comment:
I am so impressed with that Mommy Macgyver move....awesome!! I need to remember that....we have had some close calls :)
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