RMNP Camping - Days 4 & 5

Our last full day in RMNP we hiked from our campground to Sprague Lake hoping to get there and back before a forecasted rainstorm. 

During our walk around the lake, we came across a goose and her goslings. Very cute!

We were going to take the shuttle back to our campground because the storm was looking imminent and also the kids were getting cranky about hiking. Unfortunately we waited for the shuttle for a good 20 minutes and never saw it. We were afraid if we waited longer, then we would get caught in the rain. We decided to take a different trail back - the same trail that the horses go on for one of the many horseback rides available in the park. It was going fine until we came to a creek that was a little too deep and wide to walk across and the stones were too far apart for us to use to cross it.  A group of horseback riders came to cross it when we were trying to figure out what to do, so we asked the guide if there was someplace along the creek to cross. She didn't think there was and told us our best bet was to backtrack to the trail we initially took to Sprague Lake. Carlton and I turned around to do that but before we got very far, Brenden and Christine had found a way to cross that had been hidden by some trees and tall grasses. Thankfully we were able to cross there and not have to go back!! We made it back to the campground just as the rain started to fall.

Later that day we went to a Ranger talk at the Discovery Center and then decided to drive to some of the same spots we were at before to look for more wildlife.

We went to Beaver Ponds (where beavers no longer live) and found this moose hanging out.

Here the kids are showing their Junior Ranger stickers they got after the Ranger talk.

We also went to Sheep Lake area thinking we might see some Bighorn Sheep but instead we got to see this Bull Moose! Sorry the pictures aren't great - all I had was my phone for taking pictures. But I also took a video (below).

In the parking lot for Sheep Lake there were a couple Rangers who had a Moose antler so the kids could see how big it was.

We also saw some deer on the side of the road and this Elk who seemed to be posing for the camera.

The next day was our day to pack up and head towards Dinosaurland in UT. A few pictures of our campsite and the kids entertaining themselves.

Avery really loved riding her bike in the campground and had to get one last ride in before being stuck in the car for 5 hours.

On our way out of the park, we stopped for the kids to get sworn in as Junior Rangers for RMNP now that they had completed the activities in the Junior Ranger books.

We didn't get to see any bighorn sheep in RMNP but we did see this group on the road north! A few were right next to the highway and the rest were up on the mountainside. They are a bit hard to see - they blend in with their surroundings really well.

The next post is on Dinosaurland!