On our way south to Colorado Springs to meet up with my dad and Lynn, we took a short stroll around Lily Lake on the southern end of Rocky Mountain National Park. We saw more birds and small mammals here than on any other trail in the park… including this chipmunk who happily posed for us.

I was mostly bummed about all the snow because it meant it was too early for wildflowers. However! We did find some blue pasqueflowers on the southern side of Lily Lake just coming up. Imagine a fuzzy crocus. :)

We finished the southern end of the Peak-to-Peak highway which included a drive through Blackhawk, a town (seemingly) consisting entirely of casinos.

We took a short detour to Evergreen, CO to visit Creekside Cellars. The red wine was passable, but overpriced, and the white was, well, not really drinkable according to Eric.

Once in Colorado Springs we headed to North Cheyenne Cañon Park to see Helen Hunt Falls and Silver Cascade Falls.

Helen Hunt Falls is adjacent to the parking area, so the place was pretty crowded. It was next to impossible to get a shot of the falls without people posing on the bridge or even sitting in the creek above the falls. Silver Cascade Falls is not worth the uphill climb to see it, although you do pass this lovely cascade on the way. Our shot was taken from an overlook further up the road.

The drive out of the park with the sun behind us was beautiful; the light was really making the red rocks stand out.

After acquiring our rental car (Hertz takes forever, so I only use them when we get quadruple credit on Southwest), we headed west to Boulder and our first stop of the trip—Boulder Falls.

The sun was pretty strong, but Eric managed a darn good shot of this beautiful falls, regardless. It’s an easy hike to the falls, but most of it is on slippery rocks, so watch your step.

In Nederland, after a delicious BBQ lunch, we picked up the Peak to Peak scenic byway that took us north to Rocky Mountain National Park. We encountered both snow and sun on the way.

We also saw quite a few elk, both grazing on the side of the road and sprinkled throughout the meadow areas.

Many of the roads were closed still, which we knew could happen, so we had to discard some of the hikes we wanted to do. We were also at the mercy of daylight, but fortunately, the hike to Alberta Falls is only about 2 miles roundtrip.

In the snow.

Totally worth it.

The trail (what we could make of it anyway) paralleled a gorge, passing aspen groves and a creek. We even saw a beaver! The falls itself was very lovely, too.

We left the park after sunset, stopping at the alluvial fan for a quick shot of Horseshoe Falls before Eric had to retire his camera for the day. This shot was about 3 seconds - thank goodness for tripods!

Best of all, by the time we got to the park, all the stations were closed, so this visit was entirely free! Don’t worry though, they’ll get us on a future visit… we’ll definitely be back.