Rocky Mountain National Park in the fall is a beautiful sight to see: bursts of bright yellow color among a sea of evergreen covered mountains and tons of elk everywhere in the park.

The alpine forests turn into tundra at higher elevation with cold temperatures, high winds, no trees and cloud cover.

We stopped in Grand Lake over night, a cute little town near the west entrance to the park.

The next day we drove to Bear Lake area where we hiked around Bear Lake and Dream Lake.

Lessons leaned:
1. Find out when they offer free admission to the park and avoid it at all costs. The traffic is not worth it.
2. Altitude sickness is real and will make hiking at high altitudes very challenging.