The Rocky Mountains form one of the world's longest ranges, stretching almost unbroken from Alaska to Mexico. Rocky Mountain National Park, established in 1915, preserves a small section within this range in Colorado, approximately 400 square miles.
Created deep in the earth, pressure transformed sedimentary and metamorphic rock into hard crystalline metamorphic rock. Mountain-building raised these ancient rocks up nearly 10 miles from where they were formed 1.7 billion years ago. And yet, these peaks we see today are still considered young compared to the range on the east coast.
Today's Rockies occupy the site of two much older mountain systems. The first set completely eroded 600 million years ago, the second by 200 million years ago. By 30 million years ago, erosion had reduced the Rockies we see today, which are now considered to be rolling hills.
Beginning about 10 million years ago, the entire region - from eastern Kansas to central Utah - rose more than a mile. Aided by the higher and steeper terrain, streams like the Big Thompson River began to cut deep canyons. The debris eroding off the mountain filled deep basins between the mountain ranges. According to one reader board, driving here from the midwest you spend hours driving over debris that was once part of these original mountains. Denver sits on top of 13,000 feet of this sediment!
Without a doubt, these mountains are majestic, awe-inspiring, grand, and leave you breathless at their magnitude (literally for me at the highest elevation of over 12,000 feet).
We explored the park over the next four days, a first-time visit for us. What we were unprepared for was how busy this park is and at this time of year!
The traffic was constant, and it wasn't the tour buses or rented campers but primarily cars with number plates from New York, New Jersey, Missouri, Ohio, Illinois, Minnesota... it seemed that every state in the nation was in Rocky Mountain National Park this week.
On a chilly but blue-sky day, we headed into the park and along Bear Lake Road, our objective to reach Bear Lake and do a couple of short hikes.
We stopped to check out the elk in the meadow at Moraine Park. Cars were pulled over and Michael took this photo because I had no intention of getting out of the car!
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| a herd of elk in Moraine Park meadow |
We continued on to the Moraine Park Discovery Center and viewed the moraine formed from glaciation, now covered with trees.
From there, we continued on to Bear Lake, the road twisting and winding through gorgeous scenery, the peaks straight ahead looming large, the aspens aglow in fall colors.
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Tyndall glacier, still one of 5 active glaciers in the park, up ahead
in the u-shaped valley between Hallett Peak and Tyndall Mountain |
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| aspens in their fall garb shimmering in the sunlight |
At Bear Lake we and dozens of other cars were turned back because the parking lot was full. There is a shuttle bus visitors can take from a park-and-ride area close by, but even that was full. We stopped at Sprague Lake instead and did the easy .75-mile trail around the lake, where it was peaceful and quieter.
From there we headed further north towards the Alluvial Fan. The scenery again was stunning, especially down into the valley.
We saw more elk and a couple of frightened mule deer along the road.
We had our picnic lunch in Endo Valley, enjoying the peaceful surroundings, the inquisitive chipmunks and blue jay.
We made a stop at the Alluvial Fan and walked to see the river. Presumably with the spring run-off, most of the rocks are covered with water.
Our final stop was at Fall River Visitor Center which featured displays about the wildlife in the park. What caught my attention was this fabric wall hanging created by fiber artist in residence, Darcy Love, in 2003. She cleverly portrayed all the wildlife residents of the park within the elk, an appropriate symbol of the park since they appear to be frequent sighting at this time of year especially.
Day two began very early to avoid the crowds. We made our way along the Trail Ridge Road, covering about 45 miles of twisting, winding, and tight hairpin bends all the way to the mountain tops. It was like entering another world when we reached the tundra area where it is too cold for trees to survive. Only hardy plants can survive here in the thin soil, strong ultraviolet light, and a short 4-to-6-week growing season. They hug the ground in dense mats. Plaques on the pathways stressed the importance of staying on the trail because damage caused by stepping on the plant mats can take decades or sometimes centuries to recover.
The surrounding scenery was breathtaking. The highest point along the road was at 12,183 feet. John Denver's song came to mind: It's Colorado rocky mountain high....
We were experiencing it for ourselves.
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| climbing our way above the tree line |
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| at the top of the world where nothing much grows |
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| breathless (me) over 11,000 feet |
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| on top of the world in the early morning sunshine |
At Milner Pass (elevation 10,758 ft), we crossed the Continental Divide. The Rocky Mountains are the backbone of North America. The Continental Divide which runs through them is part of a hemispheric divide, splitting watersheds from Alaska's Brooks Range through the Andes to the Straights of Magellan. Between Canada and Mexico, the Great Divide stretches approximately 3,100 miles, connecting the summits of 13,000 and 14,000-foot peaks.
West of the Divide, water flows to the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California. East of the Divide, all waters end up in the Gulf of Mexico, Hudson Bay or the Arctic Ocean. In Rocky Mountain National Park, the Divide follows the alpine tundra passing through forested land only twice. Within the park, the Divide is the point of origin for Cache La Poudre, St Vrain, and Colorado Rivers.
After 5 tight hairpin bends, we descended to the Kawuneeche Valley on the west side of the range. Compared to the east side of the range, this was more open and flat. After a quick stop at the Visitor Center, we returned to the picnic area at Harbison Meadows to have our breakfast.
The Trail Ridge Road is one way in and one way out. We made our way back, the scenery still as riveting in reverse.
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| Poudre Lake |
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| Never Summer range |
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| views into the valley, called parks after the French "parque" |
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| climbing back up to 12,000 feet on our way back |
Four and a half hours later, we were back home again.
Our next attempt to return to Bear Lake was successful in the late afternoon. By then, the crowds had eased and we were able to find a spot in the parking lot. We walked the pretty .5-mile trail around the lake.
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| Bear Lake (elevation 9,449 ft) |
Then we continued along an even prettier 2-mile round trip trail to Alberta Falls.
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| a pretty Aspen grove along the trail |
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| Alberta Falls and blue jay on the tree branch |
Close to the Sprague Lake turnoff we saw many cars parked along the side of the road, always a tell-tale sign of wildlife. And that is how we saw our first bull moose. He was quite oblivious to the crowds watching him.
Wildlife has kept us entertained through our entire stay, in many ways outshining the scenery itself. We have been entertained daily with elk viewings during this rutting season. They have been as close as in our RV Park, and one walked right past the Alpine one morning! Every morning and late afternoon, the elk created traffic jams as curious and excited visitors pulled over to take photos. One afternoon the traffic jam was so bad that the rangers were called in to help direct the never-ending stream of cars. Once again, I was reminded that when it comes to wildlife, more often than not the biggest challenge for the rangers is not animal but people management. After all, we are the guests in their natural homes.
The elks' bugling kept us awake every night. At first it was rather exciting to hear their high-pitched almost pitiful calls. Eventually I wondered whether their ceaseless bugling ranked up there with my feelings about trains blaring their horns through the night.
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| a lucky stag with at least two dozen cows, right here at the entrance to our RV Park |
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| this stag is herding his cows back to the other side of the road |
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bugling his way into the camp ground... I watched with fascination as the
stag elegantly stepped over the fence |
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| these two were at it, horns locked and at one point literally eye to eye |
Tomorrow our national parks tour comes to an end as we continue on towards Albuquerque, New Mexico for the annual Balloon Fiesta that begins October 6th. The next leg will take us through Pueblo, Colorado and Taos, New Mexico before we arrive in Albuquerque by October 3rd.
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| Elk Meadow RV Park with the Rocky Mountains surrounding us on all sides |
