After spending the night sleeping with one eye open :-) we were up bright and early for the short ride to RMNP. Got some crappy sandwiches in Lyons, rolled into Estes Park about 9:00. Gassed up the big rig to the tune of $40 and headed into the park. Since Bruce had never been to the park before (this was my fifth visit), I wanted to make sure to show him all the highlights in one day (like that's possible).
Our first goal was a hike from Bear Lake up to Mills Lake, a fairly strenuous 5 mile round trip. Since there was no parking left at the trailhead we wanted (glacier gorge?) we had to park at Bear Lake and hike a 1 mile connecter trail to get to our intended starting point. So far so good. Strolled up to Adams Falls, hung out there a bit and enjoyed the scenery. Eventually started towards Mills Lake. I had done the hike before with Deb during RoadTrip98, so I knew it was not a killer and contained a good variety - wooded paths, ridge crossing, bridges and some cairn-finding on bedrock. Without dying we finally made it to Mills Lake and sat down to take in the views.
Somewhere about this time I got the idea that instead of heading back the way we came we could take the 2.1 mile connector trail to Lake Haiyaha, then head back down to Bear Lake via Nymph and Dream Lakes. I don't know what I was thinking. The connector to Lake Haiyaha was all uphill, really rocky and seemingly never-ending. By the time we got to Nymph we were ready to collapse. Thankfully the remainder of the hike was mainly downhill. I think we ended up doing 7+ miles. Not too shabby for some out-of-shape folks from sea level.
We spent the rest of the day driving over Trail Ridge Road and back, looking for wildlife. We saw some elks and in the far distance, some bighorn sheep. I had never been a passenger on Trail Ridge Road before, and it was quite a "thrill" to be that close to the edge for most of the ride. Especially in a big 4x4 (felt like) 20 feet above the ground.
 Our cute bed in the Boulderado. How 'bout 'dem Bears? |
 The Big Rig |
 On the way to Mills Lake |
 Follow the cairns on the way to Mills Lake |
 Bruce relaxing on the second-most-comfortable rock in the park |
 Mills Lake |
 Mills Lake |
 Mills Lake |
 The trail to Lake Haiyaha was a bit more than we bargained for |
 Some snow by Nymph Lake |
 Great view |
 Nymph? Lake |