We spent many hours on the 15th and 16th enjoying a winter wonderland.
The drive from Del Norte was the longest leg of our trip, 4 1/2 hours if we went straight through so it took more like 6 hours.
We knew we were driving into some weather.
We got to watch it snow.
The lauded view from our balcony when we arrived.
How it looked FIVE MINUTES later.
And how it looked it the morning.
Yes! Moose! Dad is centered, behind the trees but you can make him out. The one in the foreground is either Mom or a juvenal.
Here’s Dad a little closer. This was exciting!
In 2020 there was a massive wildfire here called the East Troublesome Fire, the second-largest in the history of Colorado. The fire burned through large stands of lodgepole pine affected by bark beetles. Estimates of the proportion of trees killed by bark beetles in the area the fire made its unprecedented run through were as high as 70 to 90 percent.
Many of the buildings in the town were destroyed too and have been rebuilt in a Western Movie style.
These burned trees were crazy, how they bent.
This part of the Rocky Mountain National Park was mostly closed. There was one 10 mile road from the Visitors Center and then we had to turn around. Some hikes were open but were too rugged for us so we took it easy, wandered around the town a little, and enjoyed breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and an early night.
