Rocky Mountains National Park

Once we finally made it there after a few wrong turns, some lunch, and bum equipment, went snowshoeing....but only lasted about one tenth of a mile on them, since they kept flicking snow all the way up the back of our legs and made our butts cold. Buried them for safekeeping, and then our snow shoes for the next 2 miles became the shoes we were wearing... They had ~48 inches of snow at Bear Lake - so we didn't deviate from the path (since no snowshoes). Hiked up to Alberta Falls...but no falls. Definitely felt the altitude sickness at 7,000+ feet...couldn't breathe too well...and kept stopping to "take pictures" - haha! Saw a bunch of elk on the way down the mountain - they just mill about & cross the road whenever they feel like it. Returned snow shoes to REI...to which they prompty refunded out $16 each and chastised us for snow-shoeing in jeans....apparently you NEVER do that, says the crazy old man. Clearly we were going backcountry in jeans, and not staying on a well-packed path. Sure. I could have made about 6 steps in 4-foot snow before running out of air and turning back.

(Burying shoes for later...hoping they will not be there when we get back)

See the falls behind the sign? Me neither.

Very windy - snow blowing over the distant mountain top.

Why did the elk cross the road? Because it can.