Sunday, August 26, 2018
Fall River Road, Lake Irene, Stillwater Pass trail, a couple moose near Cameron Pass

Goals for the day are to re-visit Lake Irene (so why not stop for a sweetroll at the Glen Haven general store before taking Fall River Road up to the Alpine Visitor Center) and to travel some of the trails west of Rocky Mountain National Park. That trail would be Stillwater Pass. It is a main connector road between US-34 at Grand Lake and CO-125 south of Willow Creek Pass. With dry soil, Stillwater is low(ish) clearance two wheel drive automobile navigabale - with care.

Out of Stillwater, I saw a couple short trails and decided there was enough daylight for more exploring . Deadfall trees to clear as well. The trails are old logging roads for timer harvesting.

The top stayed off of the jeep for much of the day, though near the end, rain showers seemed a bit stronger so I put the small top on (no doors along for the ride today).

A couple moose were out near Cameron Pass. A female crossed the road in front of me - close but not worry of collision while a male was grazing in the meadow at the pass.

Some stats for the day
Start 10:24 am
End    9:00 pm
Length 201 miles
Elapsed Time 10h 35m
Average Speed 19 mph












Heading up CR-43 towards Glen Haven. Fencing into the stream to allow water access to horses.




Between Glen Haven and Estes Park - a nice view of Longs Peak (right center) and Mount Meeker (just left of it).




Bighorn sheep at West Horseshoe Park




Working up Fall River Road
















Darker cloud over the ridge.




Back to the east - nice blue.




Lake Irene




The meadow down from the lake.













The start of Stillwater Pass trail - easy driving for this portion.




Though rocks would get larger in sections - I'm keeping in mind if I were to take this with my car.




Assorted rain clouds passing by.













To the south













At the end of the trail - hitting a few miles of county gravel before getting to CO-125
















The first odd trail off of 125 - why not - what's around the corner?!







Deadfall to tend.




Rain clouds getting thicker. Parkview Mountain.




Narrow trail = lots-O-pine needles in the jeep.




A curious rock spine.




The first of two moose for the day. This passed in front of me. Far enough to not be concerned of collision though nice and close for a photo.













The second moose for the day at the meadow at Cameron Pass