A pair of velvet-antlered elk graze on the Trail Ridge tundra while Longs Peak, the highest summit in Rocky Mountain National Park, stands above the yawning expanse of pines, ridges, and streams.
My last day in Colorado began as a brilliantly sunny, breezy morning. I packed up my campsite — packing my big rolling duffel bag in the process — and left the Moraine Park campground for the last time. My immediate goal was driving Trail Ridge Road, the scenic highway which crosses the park, much of it above treeline. I had driven the road as far as Many Parks Curve earlier in the visit and had made it as far west as the Continental Divide in 1998. This would be my first time to go all the way to Grand Lake.
There were lots of cars parked alongside the road approaching the Forest Canyon overlook, and for great reasons. A half dozen photogenic elk were grazing on the tundra with snow-capped peaks as an impressive backdrop. I opted not to park on the tundra and instead pulled into the viewpoint parking lot, then hiked down the hill to the elk. Using others’ cars as screens, I was able to get some terrific photos of these magnificent creatures. Another pair of elk were grazing above the road, and I was able to get some photos of them through the stream of cars crawling by the crowds. The wind was quite chilly, and the walk back to my car was longer that it had first seemed. The pretty mountain views kept my mind off the chill.
A short trail leads from the parking area to a series of viewing platforms along the tundra, providing sweeping views of Forest Canyon and the mountains lining it, from Longs Peak to Terrah Tomah Mountain. Marmots were playing on the sun-warmed rocks scattered across the tundra, chasing each other and wrestling to the delight of the assembled human spectators.
From Forest Canyon overlook, Trail Ridge Road continues to climb in long, looping switchbacks until it reaches Rock Cut at 12,090 feet. A trailhead from this parking area provides access to the tundra, which I hoped would have lots of wildflowers. As it stood, there were a few. I was either too early in the season or too late. I got particularly good photo of the mountains behind some yellow blooms. The trail heads more or less straight uphill to a high point along Trail Ridge offering nearly 360-degree views of the surrounding tundra and high peaks. Interesting rock formations line the trail. The wind was gusting at the top.
Back in the car, I headed over the road’s highpoint (12,183 feet) and down to the Alpine Visitor Center near Fall River Pass (11,796 feet). I parked underneath a snowbank several feet above the car’s top. The snack shop inside had just brewed some ice tea, so I got me a big glass while I wandered the gift shop, getting myself a cap. The back deck offered great views of the snow-covered north side of Trail Ridge. Across the road, a viewpoint offers splendid views of the Gore Range.
The aptly named Mount Cumulus is identifiable by the large unbroken snowfield covering its summit, visible just to the right of center, directly under the clouds. To the right, the peaks Howard Mountain and Mount Cirrus appear as the horns of a saddle on the right edge of the frame. To the left of Mount Cumulus (going leftward) are Mount Nimbus, Mount Stratus, and Baker Mountain near the photo’s left edge. Trail Ridge Road quickly descends from this point and travels down the tree-lined canyon beneath these peaks.
I drove down to the Continental Divide and stopped at the Lake Irene picnic area. A short stroll from there takes one to the shoreline of pretty little Lake Irene. Surrounded as it is by tall pines, the trail does not offer much in the way of views. The trail ends at a viewpoint which can be skipped.
The road continued its rapid descent, and that’s when my heart was practically broken. Most of the pine trees along the Colorado River’s headwaters were dead, victims of a boring beetle epidemic. The Timber Creek campground was completely devastated. A construction crew was clearing out all the dead trees, leaving a handful of sickly pines to stand above the torn up ground. It looked like a strip mall construction site. Where trees stood, they were brown and dead. Road construction slowed my progress, giving me ample opportunities to observe the destruction.
Conditions were better near Grand Lake. I drove around the lake to reach the West Portal, trailhead to the popular Adams Falls. There were several school buses parked among the dozens of vehicles there. This hike would have lots of company, and, indeed, the area around the falls was packed. Fortunately, I was able to find a viewpoint, in the direct spray of the falls, from which to take a person-free photo.
The falls thunder down a narrow chute in the rocks before taking a hard right turn to continue down a narrow gorge. This is the upper portion of the falls, before it makes that turn. The jagged edge of black rock on the left side of the frame is actually in the foreground; there’s a crowded viewing platform on top of it. About 20 feet below the bottom of the frame, the falls make that hard right turn, passing invisibly underneath where I was standing. The hike was pleasant, but I was officially hungry, and so I left Rocky Mountain National Park behind to return to civilization.
In the town of Grand Lake, I parked along the main square and sought out a place for lunch. As luck would have it, none appeared to be situated on the lake itself. I ended up at Max & T’s Bar and Grill, where I sat at the outside bar and chatted with Max. I had a beef au jus sandwich and fries which were quite tasty. I also stopped for ice cream at the crowded Grand Lake Chocolates, which has a mural of some rather creepy looking children painted on the wall. I sat on a bench on the town’s boardwalk to study the road atlas. I decided to head for Mount Evans on the highest paved road in North America. I was getting a late start, so I was risking getting caught in some bad weather.
The 14-mile Mount Evans Highway is a white-knuckler. The curves are sharp, blind, and exposed. It reminded me of all those mountain roads I drove in the San Juans back in 2003, except that this one was paved, and had more cars on it. At the top, a parking area sits at 14,130 feet beneath an observatory and the stone ruins of an old restaurant and souvenir shop. Rain was streaming down from some of the clouds. Or, snow actually.
I climbed up a portion of the trail to the summit, until it reached a steep icy stretch. My hiking boots were already packed, and I was already slipping on the level parts, and it was already starting to snow. So I turned back, and admired the view across a sea of mountains and clouds.
The drive down was pretty much as white-knuckling as the way up the mountain, particularly the stretch between the summit and Summit Lake. Along the way, I spied a mountain goat using a roadway marker to scratch his head. The stretch of road around the lake area had buckled, creating a series of speed bumps and cracks. The lake itself sits in a steep-sided head of Chicago Basin to the northeast of a line of a peaks, creating an environment more like the Arctic Circle than the Rocky Mountains. A short trail heads across the permafrost to the lake’s edge, situated at 12,830 feet of elevation.
Much of the lake was still frozen over. Its mirror-still waters reflected the snowy ridge between Mount Evans and Mount Spalding. At several times in its history, this basin sat beneath 1,000-foot deep glacier.
Continuing the drive back down the mountain, I stopped briefly at Echo Lake and watched another family of ducks swimming in its cold waters. The summit of Mount Evans was shrouded by clouds. From there, I drove east toward Denver on a highway following a ridge of mountains northeast of Mount Evans, stopping briefly at a picnic area overlooking the forested canyon beneath Warrior Mountain.
The side-trip to Mount Evans got me into Denver after the traffic had died down. My Australian-accented GPS guided me to the hotel a few miles from the airport. I ate at the restaurant there, enjoying a buffalo filet mignon and an ice cold Fat Tire. Before dinner, I got to watch the sun set behind the Rockies from my hotel room.
The next morning, I headed to the airport, which was surprisingly far away from my “airport” hotel. The baffling signage required me to ask for directions to the security line, which snaked across the terminal floor. Someone was walking on its fabric roof, which is arrayed to look like the mountains. Favorite sight in the (long) security line: a bedraggled woman carrying on a bulging Hefty bag and a roll of paper towels. I sat in a window seat on the right side of a practically deserted plane back to Austin. Out the window, I looked over the Front Range of the Rockies, seeing the mountains one last time … until next time.
Elk and Longs Peak, RM09-0629-4531R; Gore Range, RM09-0629-4578R; and Adams Falls, RM09-0629-4605R; Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado | Top of Mount Evans, CO09-0629-4611R; View From Mount Evans, CO09-0629-4612R; and Summit Lake, CO09-0629-4628R; Arapaho National Forest, Colorado | Sunset From Denver, CO09-0629-0029J, Denver, Colorado | ©2009 Jeff Blaylock
Complete trip report:
- Day 1: Stormy Day in the Rockies
- Day 2: Fern, Odessa and Cub Lakes
- Day 3: Three Gorges
- Day 4: Trail Ridge to Mount Evans
Also see:
- Rocky Mountain High, a blog entry from beside the Big Thompson River in Estes Park
- Loch Vale, some photos from my dayhike to Loch Vale
- Wildlife Shots From the Rockies, photos of wildlife spotted during the trip
- Wildflower Shots From the Rockies, photos of blooms found during the trip
- Self Portrait at Odessa Lake, photo of me at this beautiful lake
- Photo 2000 – Mills Lake, the 2,000th photo posted to jeffblaylock.com
- Chapel on the Rock, photos and write-up of my visit to this famed Catholic church
Potentially related posts:
- Wildlife Shots From the Rockies
- Self Portrait at Odessa Lake
- Photo 2,000 – Mills Lake
- Wildflowers in the Rockies
- Loch Vale
- Trail Ridge Road Snow Scene (6/21)
- Tundra Trail (6/11)
Tags: clouds, elk, jun09 colorado trip, lakes, longs peak, mount evans, mountain vistas, reflections, rocky mountain national park, Snow, trail ridge, trail ridge road, tundra, waterfalls, Wildlife