One of the 1000 Things You're Supposed to Do Before You Die

We did it!  At least it was right off of the highway so we didn't go far out of our way...

Wild Life Spotting

Guess what? We saw some elk in RMNP...

And some pretty great moose!

Then at Custer State Park, we saw some Buffalo...


And antelope...

But I think the prairie dogs are going to get their own post!

Rocky Mountain National Park

One of the highlights of our trip to Colorado was driving and hiking around Rocky Mountain National Park.

We found great settings for photo opps and even spots with another traveler willing to take our family pic.

High Altitude

Snow Mountain Ranch is at almost 9000 ft. altitude so I really needed to get acclimated. I went on a quick hike up 9 Mile trail with Edward which wasn't really 9 miles.

The aspen trees were cool.

The next day Bridget & I spent a couple of hours in Hot Sulpher Springs soaking in some minerals. Then I somewhat negated the effects with a 2.5 hour hike with the girls up to a waterfall wearing bad sandals, ie. no cushion. Live and learn is what I always say! John & Edward went to see the Colorado Rockies play in Denver.

The long hike was worth it for this pic however!

Snow Moutain Ranch

When we arrived at Snow Mountain Ranch, we went to see Maria at work and were greeted by a friendly face! So awesome to see her!

The lodge where we stayed is on the left and Maria's lodge is in the distance.

The whole ranch is surrounded by mountains. Many of the trees that were on the ranch were destroyed by the pine beetle a few years ago so it is quite open.

I went for a hike up Nine Mile Mountain with Edward and you can see the ranch sprawled out below.