Thunder Mountain wrote:
I'm not saying that RMNP is not one of the crown jewels of the NP system. It is just hard to sit your horizon high enough to find peace and solitude.
Our son is in the CO Army National Guard and was assigned to Estes Park during the 2013 floods. They were put up in the Stanley Hotel and he said the the locals would bring them food and coffee while they were out on duty. He really enjoyed meeting the people who lived there and it still has a warm spot in his heart. It was also his first natural disaster so it's even more memorable.