Rocky Mountain National ParkJun 23, 2009
|
|
The Colorado near the West entrance to the Park
1/3 of Never Summer Range
Clark's Nutcracker - black tail with white tips
It took me two full days to see the whole park. Route 34 is also called the Trail Ridge Road through the park and it goes from about 8000 feet above sea level to over 12000 feet and back down again on the eastern side. You can definitely get a Rocky Mountain High here, but I didn't get altitude sickness.
Views were breathtaking, as expected. Glaciers melted off the high peaks and created the valleys below. They call them parks here, at least. I understand there are a few small glaciers left in the park. I probably saw them, but so many of the mountains still have snow on them, it is hard to tell. There's a mountain range here on the western side called the Never Summer Range because most of the peaks have snow on the tops of them all year long most years. Peaks in this range have names of cloud types like Cirrus and Cumulus. Other peaks in other mountain ranges have names of explorers or Indians, or who knows what.
I also saw quite a few animals here along the road, in fields, in the woods, and on rocks.
The eastern side of the park is more populated because most of the people stay in Estes Park or Boulder or even Denver, and visit the eastern side only. The western side wasn't acquired until around 1974 when the last family that had homesteaded there died out. The Colorado River starts on the western side and flows down the newer part of the Park.
There are a lot of mountain views, so I hope I didn't include too many so that it all looks the same!
