CO Road-trip 2012: Day 7

We took our time checking out of the YMCA and when we eventually did we headed for Rocky Mountain National Park. We turned off of the main highway in the park so we could drive up Old Fall River Road (dirt one-way), which we had done a little over eight years ago. The meadows surrounding Fall River are pretty and we spotted a group of elk from a viewpoint on our way down US-34. On the Old Fall River Road we stopped at Chasm Falls, but they were constructing a new viewpoint so we weren't able to get the best view. We pulled over a couple of times on our way up and recognized some of the views we had seen eight years prior. At the top (Fall River Pass at just under 12,000'), we paid a visit to the summit house. After buying a few souvenirs we drove back down (east) along US-34 and stopped at several viewpoints. We were worried that the views were not going to be very good because there was a lot of fog near Estes Park in the morning. However, once we started to gain elevation along the Old Fall River Road we found clearer skies. At the Gore Range Overlook (along US-34) we tried to repeat a picture (above) we had taken on our previous trip. We didn't linger too long outside because of the brisk wind at 12,000'. The view from the Forest Canyon Overlook was one of the better ones (below-left). At the Rainbow Curve viewpoint we met a very nice couple who have been traveling for the past 3 years. TJ was originally from NYC and Stacey was originally from Texas. We talked to them for quite a while about each others' travels before heading on. We ran into them a couple more times along the way, the last time near a large group of elk just off of the highway (below). As we drove back into town we made a quick stop for lunch before continuing on to Boulder. It was interesting to drive at the feet of the Rockies with the large mountain peaks waiting to the west and the flatter than flat plains to the east. After checking into our hotel, we walked to the Pearl Street Mall to check out the shops and restaurants. We eventually stopped to eat at Pastavino, which was wonderful. We had Penne Arrabiata and Cappellini Pomodoro. For dessert we got gelato (not quite the real thing, but still pretty good) from a shop down the street. It was a pretty chilly night and the gelato definitely didn't help. We stopped in a fun shop on the eastern end of the mall and warmed up a bit while checking out their weird and random things. Back at the hotel, we put on our swimming suits and headed to the indoor pool and hot tub. The pool was ~93F and was steaming while we were swimming. It was great and we were the only ones in there. After our swim we relaxed in our hotel robes for the rest of the night. For the day we drove a total of 81 miles.