Day 5 - Grand Lake, CO

Today was a jam-packed one for sure!  We started by driving 10 miles into the park at about 7:30 this morning to try to catch some wildlife.  One of my goals on this trip was to spot and photograph a moose.  Right after we entered the National Park entry gates, off in the distance we spotted a mama moose chasing (running) after her calf.  What an exciting way to start the day!  They were too far off to photograph, but it was good to spot them.  A short time later, a deer scampered up the hillside right next to the road offering a chance for a great shot.  We then took the Coyote Valley trail for a beautiful morning hike and while we didn't see any wildlife up close (except a pretty-sounding bird), there was a herd of elk off in the distance.  The walk did offer some amazing reflection photo opportunities as the sun was rising behind us and striking the mountains to the west.  After our hike we continued up the road further to an area called the Beaver Ponds.  No beavers were sighted, but we did see a baby muskrat!

We returned to our cabin to get ready for our big adventure of the day:  waterwater rafting on the Upper Colorado River.  After fueling up on some local coffee, packing our swimsuits and water shoes, and grabbing some PB&J sandwiches, we headed off an hour west to Kremmling, CO where we had a 12:30 appointment with the river.  Caroline LOVES to whitewater raft.  I've been twice in my life:  in Montana with my dad and with Jason & Caroline in Virginia.  This was the first foray for the kids, however, and we chose a company that catered to families.  We knew the rapids wouldn't be too much, but still fun for everyone.  We arrived early and were afforded the opportunity to take the conversion van down to the river with the guides as opposed to the big old school bus.  Once we put in it took Franklin and Sylvia a bit to warm up to the idea, but after successfully navigating the first rapids, we had smiles all around.  All three kids even jumped into the "refreshingly cool" Colorado River off Punk Rock.  The float lasted about 2 hours and we got to see some great countryside, including 2 Amtrak passenger trains, a bald eagle, a juvenile eagle, and an osprey.  Our guide, Johnny, was excellent and we all left tired, but so thrilled to have done it! (photo credits to Jason Hansen for this section as he has the waterproof camera)

We arrived back in Grand Lake about dinner time and had our first "meh" meal of the trip, but we followed it up with some yummy homemade ice cream.  One of our friends who recently visited the Rockies had told us she had luck seeing wildlife at dusk, so we decided to try our luck again and drove back up into the park.  WE HIT PAYDIRT!!!  Prepare for wildlife photograph overload below.  I came to the Rockies hoping to see and photograph a moose; in total today, we saw 7:  1 mamma, 1 calf, and 5 bucks.  We also saw several elk alongside the road and then a herd of 40+ out in a field just off a hiking trail.  And to top it off, we were treated to an excellent sunset.  This was a fantastic day and we head up into the mountains tomorrow.  Do we dare see bear, mountain goat, and marmots?