We decided to take a full day to drive up to Rocky Mountain National Park, across and then down the other side. This took us on Trail Ridge Road, pictured above, which is the highest continuous road in the U.S. As you can see, there is still snow and the temperatures are chilly at these heights.
It was windy at this spot, as attested to by my "hairdo". Don and I were "divided" as to who should stand where at the Continental Divide sign. It looks like the arrows were pointing directly at us! From now on you can refer to me as Atlantic Ocean drainage, or "Atla" for short. Don can be called "Pod", short for Pacific Ocean drainage. Or maybe we should just go by our given names, which is less confusing for us.
Our first hike was the Coyote Valley Trail which took us through the Kawuneeche Valley. "Kawuneeche" is the Arapaho word for Coyote. This area was added to Rocky Mountain Park in 1975. In the 1920's this area was home to the Never Summer Ranch and other dude ranches. Before that, the Utes and Arapahos traversed this beautiful valley.
This beautiful guy was one of the 5 elk lounging in the meadow here. He looks like he posed for this picture. No, I wasn't that close to him. This is where my telephoto lens came in handy.
The antlers from one elk seem to blend in with another set here.
Our next hike was to Adams Falls, and the trail head is close to Grand Lake. The hike was a shorter one, but it was steep! Us "old fogies" had to stop along the way to catch our breath, and the next day, my calves were a bit sore. It was still worth it.
Our third hike of the day was on the Shadow Mountain Trail, which led us around Shadow Mountain Lake. I was happy to have found two Columbines along the trail, the Western Red Columbine pictured above, and the Blue Columbine below. Don saw a moose, which I missed since I was ahead of him on the trail. On the way back to the truck, a bald eagle flew directly over us! Couldn't have asked for more.
We decided to take a full day to drive up to Rocky Mountain National Park, across and then down the other side. This took us on Trail Ridge Road, pictured above, which is the highest continuous road in the U.S. As you can see, there is still snow and the temperatures are chilly at these heights.
It was windy at this spot, as attested to by my "hairdo". Don and I were "divided" as to who should stand where at the Continental Divide sign. It looks like the arrows were pointing directly at us! From now on you can refer to me as Atlantic Ocean drainage, or "Atla" for short. Don can be called "Pod", short for Pacific Ocean drainage. Or maybe we should just go by our given names, which is less confusing for us.
Our first hike was the Coyote Valley Trail which took us through the Kawuneeche Valley. "Kawuneeche" is the Arapaho word for Coyote. This area was added to Rocky Mountain Park in 1975. In the 1920's this area was home to the Never Summer Ranch and other dude ranches. Before that, the Utes and Arapahos traversed this beautiful valley.
This beautiful guy was one of the 5 elk lounging in the meadow here. He looks like he posed for this picture. No, I wasn't that close to him. This is where my telephoto lens came in handy.
The antlers from one elk seem to blend in with another set here.
Our next hike was to Adams Falls, and the trail head is close to Grand Lake. The hike was a shorter one, but it was steep! Us "old fogies" had to stop along the way to catch our breath, and the next day, my calves were a bit sore. It was still worth it.
Our third hike of the day was on the Shadow Mountain Trail, which led us around Shadow Mountain Lake. I was happy to have found two Columbines along the trail, the Western Red Columbine pictured above, and the Blue Columbine below. Don saw a moose, which I missed since I was ahead of him on the trail. On the way back to the truck, a bald eagle flew directly over us! Couldn't have asked for more.
Beautiful beautiful beautiful.... it is so great to see everything. What great wonders the sceneries are! Beautiful, I'm in great awe, even though I've seen wonderful things in nature too, stil.. I'm struck with every picture you post on your site!
ReplyDeleteThanks a million!
Love Jann