Beauty in the Backyard: Rocky Mountain National Park 6/5/10

Man - did we cheat our first time around on this one. Since Matt and I had both been to Rocky Mountain National Park before we were married, we decided to do a drive-by on the 4th of July, 2009. The crowds in Estes Park were numerous, and a steady rain with mountain cloud cover made the drive less scenic than usual. We drove up to the Fall River Visitor Center over the 4th of July Weekend, took a total of 5 minutes to get the stamp, and then we hightailed it out of there, not wishing to fight the crowds. When you live in a paradise like Colorado, you tend to take each sunny day (of which there are 300+) per year for granted.

 However - our guilt caught up to us the next year, when the snow melted enough to drive through the park in its entirety. However - there was another motive - the stamp at the Alpine Visitor Center, 11,796 feet at the crest of the Rocky Mountains.

The sobering realization that we treated this premiere destination literally in our backyard with ambivalence, came back to us on this June day. Taking deep, clear breaths of fresh mountain air while looking at the cold tundra above 11,000 feet (after leaving our house that late morning with 90 degree temperatures) left us invigorated.

Rocky Mountain National Park has several trails through the valley floor, following streams, elk grazing meadows, and bird watching outposts.

One could spend the day never leaving the valley. However, the highlight of Rocky Mountain National Park is undoubtedly Trail Ridge Road. This road takes the traveler from Estes Park to Grand Lake in approximately 45 miles. But these are no ordinarily traveled miles.....

The road twists and turns, literally passing through ecosystems and geo-climate regions. Keep a sharp eye on the temperature gauge as you drive....it will drop like a rock. You are climbing the Rockies with breathtaking vistas at every turn.

The treeline becomes visible as you pass the 10,000 foot level, and the chilled air begins to pick up velocity. Welcome to the fragile world of the tundra....Life is scarce here, and the snow only melts for 4 months, and even then not all that much. Snowshoeing and Cross Country Skiing are easily done here through August.

At the apex of Trail Ridge Road lies the Alpine Visitor Center. Swamped with tourist cars, it looks as though it takes a beating from the weather every day, and is lucky to stilll be standing at all. The toilets were off limits while we were there in June, as the pipes were still frozen......So apparently were the tourists. Screams of "Get back in the car!" and "Where's my jacket?" came from all sides of the parking lot from non-natives wearing sleeveless shirts and shorts...

On the opposite side of the center as you descend through the park, the snow drifts pick up......as does the scenery.

Trail Ridge Road eventually ends at Grand Lake, CO, and the Kawuneeche Visitor Center to the South. The Valley Floor here has some spectacular trails, that are very easy and wonderful walking.

We actually LIVE here........It seemed amazing to us both as we took the drive through Granby and Winter Park home....that this was a leisurely Saturday drive for us on our own roads. A wonderful Saturday spent in our own backyard......Wanna come for a BBQ at our place???

FINAL RATING

9/10