Saturday - 25 June 2011

Leaving Colorado Springs on Saturday, we drove North on IH 25.
The speed limit is 75mph and the locals like to drive that speed.
Driving 75mph towing an R-pod is not a good practice.
The several miles through the center of Denver, CO was another matter.
We had very congested traffic, stop-and-go traffic through town. Then things picked up a few miles north of Denver.
Off IH25 we headed West through Loveland, where fuel was relatively inexpensive,
an on up the Thompson River valley.

The road was very winding and the river swift.

There was some sort of Viking festival in the central park of Estes Park,
the town at the entrance of Rocky Mountain National Park.

Rocky Mountain National Park

As one enters the park on the East side the road starts out fairly easily.

Soon we were traveling through an area where the forrest bottom is snow covered.

Over the top of the park we saw vistas of snowy mountains.

Elk migrate to high pasture above tree-line.

The Parks folks had to move lots of snow to get Trail Ridge Road open this year.
Just 2 weeks before we arrived they were still working on opening the road.

The Timber Creek campsite on the West side of the park.
Note the lack of trees. The pine bark beetle denuded this area.
The parks people cut down all the dead trees in the campground so the dead trees falling would not hurt campers or their stuff.
This beetle is a native species and infestations cycle over a long period of time.... maybe 100+ years.
Note also the leveling board under the wheel of the R-pod as the site was far from level.

Sunday - 26 June 2011

Photo taken June 26, 2011.
Just downstream from the headwaters of the Colorado River it is running fast and over bank full.
There was 230 percent of normal snowfall during Winter 2010-2011. This is the reason for a number
of things happening such as floods downstream... filling depleated reservoirs...
causing wildlife which migrates to high pasture in summer to do so later in the season.
This was the case at all the western mountain parks.
The Holzwarth Historic Site was on the far side of this bridge and since the bridge was considered too compromised by the high water it was unreachable.

The Alpine Visitor Center near the highest point on Trail Ridge Road. Roofs held on with big logs.

Looks like an avalanche might be forming on the right.

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Gerard and Joseph on the Milner Pass Trail - which only went 1/4 mile before it was lost in the snow.
This is about 11,500 feet ( 3,500 meters) above sea level - air is thin.

The Milner Pass Trail got soggy, then disappeared under a blanket of old snow.

There is an abundance of different species of flowering plants above tree-line.

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The flowers above tree-line are tiny - fingers give scale

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The yellow one the right is what is known as a Wallflower.

Joseph and Mona on the second trail above treeline.

Above a photo of the campsite from Trail Ridge Road about 1000 ft above camp.
Below a telephoto from the same vantage point. Note bridge which is where the upper Colorado River flows. See photo next to Campsite photo above for a closer look at the bridge.
Also note that the river is well over its banks flooding the meadow in the floodplain.

Seen on the West side of the campsite.

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Curious baby moose - - Where did the people go?

Mama is nearby - so do not get near the baby moose.

The evening before we left we drove South out of the park to find supper.
After some miles driving out of the park we found the little town of Grandby, CO.
Ate at Mavericks Grill. Good service, good elk burger and some excellent New Mexico style chile verde.

Monday - 27 June 2011

We hitched up the trailer and towed it back over Trail Ridge Road,
through the town of Estes Park, down the winding Big Thompson River canyon, through Loveland
and on to IH 25, then North to Wyoming.

Rock Springs WY between Rocky Mountain and Grand Teton