July 9-11

We visited friends in Erie, CO near Boulder and they served as out guides to Nederland, Rocky Mountain National Park, and Eldorado State Park.  The road to Nederland, an old mining camp town, runs up a canyon with many views of a fast flowing stream alongside.  We had lunch at the German restaurant.

The trip to Rocky Mountain National Park took us first to Bear Lake (elevation 9,450 ft), where we took a leisurely walk around it on a beautiful day.  We then drove up the Trail Ridge Road to the Alpine Visitors Center which is at an elevation of 11,796 feet, well above the timberline.  It was very chilly and windy.  The highlights of this drive were the tundra flowers, the elk herds in the snow at two locations, and the many gorgeous views of the still snow covered mountains with wonderful clouds.

On another day we drove past Boulder up another canyon to Eldorado Canyon State Park.  This is a prime rock climbing site where we got to see two different groups high up on the rocks.  South Boulder Creek was running fast over many rapids.