Life in Littleton: Old Fall River Road

We very much enjoyed this week’s trip up to Estes Park! Jennefer has been wanting to show me the Old Fall River Road, which goes up into Rocky Mountain National Park, and ends at Trail Ridge Road, and has some pretty yellow Aspen foliage to see in the Fall. We were fortunate to get there just before the road closed for the season. We stopped along the way, to make the short hike down from the road to Chasm Falls.

We loved the peaceful feeling of this pretty pond, with the Fall River bubbling down into it.

The Old Fall River Road is mostly dirt, although there are some remnants in places, of the original paving.

Pretty stand of yellow Aspen along the road, with the mountains in the background.

Nearly to the top and end of this road, which joins up with Trail Ridge Road just ahead, not far from the Continental Divide. That's a visitor center on the ridge line above and to the left.

We passed some beautiful mountain lakes.

Starting a short walk up the path from Trail Ridge Road. This path goes above 12,000 feet, which can take your breath away, if you push it. We were in fairly good condition, after living and hiking in the local Denver area, so we were able to stroll along to the end of the trail and back. The high altitude Tundra is so delicate, it can take years to grow back from people leaving footprints, so they encourage you to stay on the paved trail.

The Tundra Community Trail is a skinny little paved trail through the Rocky Mountain high tundra, up to the Roger Toll Memorial.

Spectacular view from the trail up above 12,000 feet.

We were feeling a little chilly in the breeze at altitude, but I talked her into stopping for a selfie before heading back down.

There are lots of cute little chipmunks up in the Rockies. They want to come close, but we didn't reach out to pet them, and they respected our non-contact policy.

We saw this pretty Stellar's Jay along the road, on the drive down the hill.

We had a nice view of some deer along the road. This was also the season for the Elk to be out and about, but we didn't see much of them, until we got back down to Estes Park.

The Sheep Lakes had some pretty yellow around them.

We went for a walk at Estes Lake, and found ourselves with an up-close Elk viewing opportunity. They were resting comfortably in various places around the lake.

Pretty path around Estes Lake.

Our first view of Estes Lake from the trail, with Mount Olympus in the background.

Pretty fence line along the trail at Estes Lake.

Another closer look at Mount Olympus near Estes Lake, with some fisherman wading in the Big Thompson River. This river had a serious flooding incident in 1973 that killed 144 people, and destroyed many homes and vehicles on the nearby highway. It's normally peaceful and beautiful, as it was today.

We loved seeing this Osprey at Estes Lake! We even got to watch it diving for fish.

Several elk lounging on the Frisbee Golf course.

We saw this water discharging into Mary's Lake, while driving down to Lilly Lake for a hike.

Starting our hike at Lilly Lake. This hike was recommended by Jennefer's cousin, who lives up in Estes Park.

Lilly Lake from the trail above.

Little bits of color along the trail around Lilly Lake. Most of the Fall color in Colorado is yellow, so it's extra fun to see other colors around.

Some rare red color along the trail.

Another pretty Aspen tree along the trail.

Looking down at Lilly Lake through a stand of colorful Aspen.

Looking toward the mountains through a stand of pretty yellow Aspen.

Jennefer's birding eye spotted this Clark's Nutcracker in a dead tree along a side trail we were exploring.

The techie in me is really enjoying the new Garmin GPS watch I got for my birthday. This one has topographic maps stored in it, which are a lot of fun for someone who loves maps, as they can be helpful in staying oriented, especially when the trail peters out in the rocky places where there are no footprints to be seen. In this snapshot, we're just working our way back toward the lake, after taking that side trail.

Nice view of Lilly Lake from the far end, where the higher trail comes down from the hillside and joins the flat trail around the lake.

Nice elevated trail through a large marshy area along the lake shore.

Pretty rocks and colorful Aspen east of Lilly Lake.

Lilly Lake was glassy smooth at times.

We saw some more pretty yellow leaves, when we got back and were walking around Lake Estes the next day.

Hard to spot deer down by Lake Estes.

More fisherman in the Big Thompson River.

Looking south from the Lake Estes trail, I think we spotted Longs Peak off in the distance. That's one of the few 14,000 foot mountains that are visible from the Front Range flatlands.