Estes Cone

This weekend was our annual RMNP trip! This year we went with a couple friends, and it was a great time.

We found camping at East Portal, which was super ideal. The East Portal campground is not technically in the national park, but it may as well be, as the Wind River trail begins next to the campground.

I set out around 6:30 when the sun was rising.

The Wind River trail has several designated backcountry campsites along it.

I soon arrived at the junction with the Storm Pass trail. So far, the trail had been rolling, very gradually going uphill, but highly runnable. The Storm Pass trail was steeper, but still solidly runnable.

I got to see some classic Colorado scenery. 

I still felt pretty good with only 0.7 miles to go at the Estes Cone trail! This was to be the steepest part of the run today. Not exactly runnable, the last half mile took quite a bit longer than expected.

The summit views were worth it!

Mt. Meeker and Longs Peak from the summit of Estes Cone:

In summary, Estes Cone is a great little summit to enjoy, and the trail from the campground was almost fully runnable. I'm happy with this year's choice of trail in RMNP. I'm honestly hoping to go back before the end of the year. One trail per year is not enough!