OLD FALLS RIVER ROAD, Colorado

This is part II of our wonderful trip up the  unpaved mountain road (Old Falls River Road) in the ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK in Colorado, on September 17, 2012.   If you missed Monday's post,  go to the bottom of this blog post and click on 'older posts'...

Monday's post talked about some of the things we saw along that road ---as we drove higher and higher up into the mountains...  I ended that post showing you one picture of some snow on the tops of the mountains.  Luckily,  there hadn't been much snow that night before --so all of the roads were opened that day!  However,  we had shorts on ---and I'll admit that it go colder and colder the higher we went up into those mountains!!!!

The picture above shows us standing on a big rock --with the beautiful Fall Aspens blooming behind us!   George set up the tripod for some photos of us since there weren't many people around that day at all (which we loved).

As we got higher,  we could finally see the  Alpine Visitor Center at almost 12,000 feet UP.  See it up there?

This is what our Garmin GPS said when we were getting UP THERE.  See that elevation????

Here's another picture of the SNOW and our road,  as we got higher!!!!!

George caught me taking a picture of the treeless area --when we got up above the 'tree-line'..  Interesting that there was snow in some areas ---and none in other areas!

BUT---it was very cold UP there on the top!!!!!!  Can you tell?  (The wind was one thing which made it feel so cold.... BUT---I will say this:  It wasn't nearly as cold as it felt the day we went up on Grandfather Mountain, North Carolina,  on Nov. 8, 2012!!!)

I love this picture of George  'on top of the world'.....  Don't you love seeing us with shorts on ---with SNOW behind us????? ha ha

Here's a happy girl admiring the little bit of snow around her!!!!! ha

Here's what the road looked like --looking BACK down the mountain, where we just came from!!!

FINALLY we made it to the top!!!!!!!  It was a GREAT trip ---and I'd do it again and again... IF you ever get to the Rocky Mountain National Park,  be sure to go on the Old Falls River Road.  You will love it!!!!!


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Bay Lee and Brooke at Fall Creek Falls

Here's another photo from our family Thanksgiving week.  This is two of my 5 grandchildren.  The one in white is in college and the other one is is high school... Hard to believe how they have grown up so fast!  They are both such gorgeous and smart young women --and I'm a VERY proud Grammy!

Have a great Wednesday.

Hugs,
Betsy

Old Falls River Road, Rocky Mtn. National Park

On the morning of September 17, 2012,  we headed back from our motel in Fort Collins to the ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK.  We had tried to go up the unpaved Old Falls River Road when we were there in 2011,  but it was closed last year due to snow.  This year,  we had had a little snow the night before we drove up that road ---so we were afraid that the road might be closed again... BUT--luckily for us,  it was open!!!!

This is OUR type of road,  a non-paved road up the mountain with many pull-offs along the way to enjoy the surrounding area.  We don't like crowds --and we love 'back roads'... This was OUR type of road.  For that reason,  I will have TWO posts showing you the area.

Hope you enjoy our photos.  Be sure to click on them for enlargements.   IF you have missed other posts from our latest trip out west,  go to my sidebar and scroll down to Favorite Sites and click on West Trip 2012...

The picture above shows you what the OLD FALLS RIVER ROAD looks like...  More pictures are below.

BEFORE we got to the the Rocky Mountain National Park,  we were driving along one of the beautiful Colorado scenic roads... GUESS what we saw that morning???? Some BIGHORN SHEEP !!!!!!

Of course, we stopped and both of us took alot of pictures of them..  The neatest thing to me was seeing them climb those STEEP rocks/cliffs.... AMAZING!!!!  (It was steeper than it looks!)

Once we got on the Old Falls River Road,  one of the first things we stopped to see was of course a WATERFALL.   "Chasm Falls" is another one of our NEW waterfalls on this trip.  However,  the main trail to the falls is being renovated --so George did ALOT of bushwhacking in order to get pictures of several of the drops of that beautiful waterfall.  Above is only one of several he saw..  I think he called this one  "Lower Chasm Falls".

The views going up the mountains were awesome...  The weather had started out cloudy (since they had had some rain/snow the night before)---but it gradually cleared up so that we could enjoy a fabulous day!

One can get an 'up close and personal' view of the ROCKIES from the Old Falls River Road.  I love seeing those peaks!

We actually took a short hike in this area---enjoying the beautiful Lodgepole Pines and a small creek,  complete with some  cascades... It was so pretty.

George is on the trail where we took a hike.  It was such a beautiful area --even though it was getting cooler and cooler---the higher we got up that mountain!!!!

Look at this pretty MOSS.  Everything looked so green and lush up here.

Higher and higher we go!!!!!!   WOW---look at that!!!  Betsy sees some SNOW on the mountain!!!! WOW!!!  Isn't it pretty behind those beautiful blooming ASPENS????

MORE to COME!!!!!  Hope you are enjoying seeing photos from this marvelous trip!!!!

I also hope that each of you had a fabulous THANKSGIVING.  We ALL do have much to be thankful for... Beauty is all around us!!!!!  Thanks be to God.



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A Happy Mom on Thanksgiving --with son Mark and family at Fall Creek Falls

We had a nice Thanksgiving this year --enjoying FAMILY, FOOD,  and FELLOWSHIP --plus being together with my Sweetheart,  and continuing our wonderful life together.

Hugs,
Betsy