This gallery is of our day run to the park ... in honor of our 4th anniversary of marriage. Actually a day early, but we both work THE day. Rocky Mountain National Park is one of our home base places to get away to. We've found many new (to us) species of wildflowers in this stunning park. During our first ever camp out in the park we were treated to a thundering passage of a herd of park elk right past our pop-up, just as we were sitting down to dinner. What a memorable welcome we had the evening of our first stay in the park!

Our visit to the park this day was the first in the 2012 season. Earlier in the year we had been noses to the grindstone completing house projects. This was a great and very welcome get-a-away for us, with an anniversary to celebrate to boot.

Semi-drought conditions in Colorado, as well as the late season timing of the visit, left us wondering if we would see many flowers in bloom in the park. We were very pleased with the showing, and enjoyed the cooler temps at the higher elevation. Not many elk were about but marmots and picas were out as usual.

It is hard to wander the Rocky Mountain National Park at most any time and leave dissatisfied with the day. This visit was no exception. Enjoy the flowers, critters, and views that we saw.