Kris and I visited RMNP after the URMIA conference that I worked at in Denver, Colorado. RMNP, locateda bout 1 1/2 hours northwest of Denver, is a large mountainous park that is home to elk, bighorn sheep, mule deer and many other critters large and small. We saw mostly elk as it was the beginning of the rut, which delighted us with bugling, fighting and amusement. The views were breathtaking and the mountains amazing. We drove up Old Fall River Rd through forests up to the alpine tundra. The 9 mile road took us about 3 hours to traverse as we stopped on many pull outs to admire the view, waterfalls and take short hikes. Our last morning there we hiked up to Emerald Lake, 1.8 miles to the lake. And I mean UP to. It took us about an hour, as we hustled to be sure we did not miss our flight home.