We had to first go down in elevation this morning, as we drove down the winding roads of Rabbit Ears Pass.
The sign at the entrance of our campground warned campers not to bother the resident sheep and the sheep dogs that watch over them. We were hoping to see these free-range sheep in our valley up close, but only saw them as we sped down the highway today.
Those tight switch backs are interesting for a car, but it takes a very good driver to stay on his side of the road when driving a 35-foot motor home towing a car. We noticed a small number on the switchback signs that we were passing, counting how many of those tight curves we were passing. This was #3.
We are traveling 48 miles through Rocky Mountain National Park--all the way to the east end of the park today. But after seeing the series of lakes on the west side, we wish we would have planned to stay several days here as well. We later found that the main moose population hangs out around these lakes, and we're still wanting to see one of those elusive moose this summer.
Highway 34 is called "Trail Ridge Road," and it boasts iconic views of the Rocky Mountains. As we gained elevation, there are large drop-offs on the side of the highway. More of the mountain tops are now below us.
The poles along the highway help to guide the snow plows. But this road isn't plowed for most of the winter. In Mid-April one snow plow crew will begin from the west side, and another crew will begin working from the east side. This year the road didn't open to traffic until June 5, and was closed again because of a mid-June snow storm. They have crazy extreme weather up here.
Trees can't survive above 11,000 feet in elevation. This drive has such stunning views because much of it is above tree-line, with nothing to block the views of the majestic mountains around us.
Unless you are a high-mountain hiker, few people get to see the alpine tundra that is right outside our windshield today.
The highest point of this pass is at 12,183, But the highest elevation we caught with a picture of the GPS screen was 12,040. The air is mighty thin at this elevation!
We were blessed with beautiful weather and clear views across the alpine tundra today. We are wandering more of God's wonders sitting right inside the motor home today! We had read that the wind is usually gusty here at the summit, so we were super-blessed to have relatively calm winds for our trip over the pass.
Even though we are driving near the crest of the mountain, we are surprised to see no guard rails on most of this mountain drive. That makes some drivers uneasy. We followed this yellow convertible for a while. He was definitely not comfortable with the drop offs, and took his half of the highway right out of the middle. That's even more scary when meeting on-coming traffic on this narrow-no-shoulder highway. We're guessing he won't be driving a motor home on this road any time soon.
The top of the pass actually leveled out, giving drivers a view of the road ahead.
There's probably never a good time to work on a road like this. So we ran into some road construction on our journey today.
Denisa has to include a picture of Mark driving today. He's done some difficult driving to get us to some beautiful places this summer. But this is the epic drive of the year with the hair-pin turns, steep edges, and huge elevation gains and losses. He drove three hours today, rarely using the cruise control because these roads aren't made to cruise.
We're all the way down to 10,008 feet when Denisa took another picture of the GPS. The curves are more sweeping now as we make our way down off the pass.
The crowds are also thicker as we approach the busier east side of Rocky Mountain National Park. As if the turns and oncoming traffic weren't enough, let's add pedestrians, and cars darting in and out of road-side parking lots, to the mix of distractions on this narrow road.
We finally made it through all 48-miles of the Trail Ridge Road. When we got to the east entrance of Rocky Mountain National Park, we could see the long line of cars waiting to get into park.
After successfully navigating one of the epic mountain passes of the world in a class A motor home, Mark still had another obstacle to drive through. The narrow streets of Estes Park, Colorado, are not motor home friendly!
Add in the crowds of a weekend festival, and Mark decided this was the worst part of the drive today. He prefers mountain roads over narrow and busy city streets!
He continued driving a few miles outside of Estes Park to our campground for the next five nights. We are camping at the Jellystone Campground with Yogi Bear.
This is a popular place for families, with children's activities throughout the summer. But after Labor Day, the price for camping is cut in half during the week. That makes it the cheapest place to camp in this expensive tourist area. We checked out the miniature golf course . . .
and the huge bouncy toy while we explored our new campground.
Neighbors told us they saw two bull elk sauntering through the campground, so we went on an elk hunt in the evening. We didn't catch up with the big boys. But we had the camera out so we took a picture of the mule deer in the park.
After driving our home over the tallest paved pass in North America, we're glad to be all the way down at only 7,500 feet in elevation now. It was an epic drive, but we're glad to be living on this side of the pass for a while.
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