Hot Sulphur Springs, Buffalo BBQ and Rocky Mtn Nat'l Park

After Leadville, Max and I left the group and headed to Hot Sulphur Springs.  I had never been there and the thought of a hot springs sounded good.  Plus, I love Rocky Mountain National Park.

Parked at Pioneer Park in Hot Sulphur Springs.  It is a State Wildlife Area  located on the Colorado River.

A look at the Colorado River.

As we headed to Rocky Mountain National Park for a day trip, we found Grand Lake was having a festival.

We stopped and had some buffalo BBQ before heading onto the park.

Everyone was out enjoying the celebration.

In 1881 James Cairn built his first store to serve the miners.  He rebuilt the store in 1908.  It now remains as the main part of the Humphrey Store.

Ezra Kauffman built this as a hotel in 1892.  He operated it until 1920.  It is now a museum.

They were having a wooden boat show too.  The canoe on the left was built in 1915.  The darker canoe was French made, exact date unknown, but the logo on the side was used by the company in the 1890s.

Another wooden boat, this Chris Craft was built in 1944.

Although this is only a picture, I though it captured the heart of winter in Colorado.

Grand Lake Lodge opened with a Grand Ball in 1920, the same year Fall River Road was completed.

A unique way to state the elevation.

The west entrance of the park.

Moose usually hang out on the west side of the park and I was hoping we would see some.  Here we have a mother and her young.

In 1917, German immigrants, Sophia and John Holzworth built this homestead.  They started hosting their friends at the Holzworth Trout Lodge in 1920.  Eventually it became known as the Never Summer Ranch, and offered fishing, hunting and horseback riding.  It was in operation until 1975 when it was purchased by the park.

This was in 2010, notice all the snow behind the sign.

Notice there is no snow anywhere in site this year.  They even opened Trail Ridge Road two weeks early because of so little snow this year.

In 2010, the snow was still piled around the visitor center.

At the Trail Ridge Visitor Center this year at over 12,000 feet.  Notice the lack of snow.

We even spotted some elk.  When I was here in 2010, all the elk were on the east side of the park.

We spotted this bull moose on the way back to Grand Lake.

Once back in town we stopped for the entertainment at Lefty and Pancho's.

Adams Falls on the outskirts of Grand Lake.  This is part of the Colorado River.

On

Just above the falls.  Part of the headwaters of the Colorado River.

On our way back to the car this fox passed us on the trail.  It wasn't afraid at all, but simply gave us a wide berth.  It was carrying a corn cob in its mouth.

I was hoping to see moose, and I saw lot more than I expected.  These were on the side of the road outside of Grand Lake.

It was a long day and I'm glad we're headed home.  Tomorrow I think I'll soak at the hot springs.