Day: June 9, 2017

Pic: When Dave struggled to recommend hikes, this snowpack was why. Trail Ridge Road, Rocky Mountain NP, CO

Compared to the mountains I’m accustomed to, there was a lot of snow for June. During my stop at the Gore Range Overlook, I even encountered a fellow in his 20s skinning back up to his truck. I asked where he’d been skiing. He smirked and shook his head: “There’s lots of snow everywhere still.”

After a few stops in the rarified air above treeline, I followed the road as it wound its way back down to Earth. Solidly back in the forest at “only” 10,759′, Milner Pass is home to the Continental Divide, a wiggling dashed line on the map that delineates whether a given raindrop will ultimately return to the Pacific or the Atlantic.

I, like almost everyone who stopped at the Milner Pass parking lot, wanted a snapshot in front of the sign marking the Divide. I offered to take a picture for a couple if they would take mine afterwards. He posed facing east from the Atlantic side while she grabbed his waistband from behind as if dragging him back toward the Pacific.

“That was cute,” I said, handing their camera back. “And, it makes me feel better about the dumb picture idea I had.”

Pic: The dumb picture idea I had. Milner Pass, Rocky Mountain NP, CO

The hugeness of the Rockies became more real to me once I got closer to them. I’m beginning to see how awesome it would be to hike on the Continental Divide, amongst and upon those giants, when they’re not entirely snowbound. Rocky and Capitol Reef are the two parks I most wish to return to and explore further.

Pic: Although there’s no crosswalk, this young North American elk bull has the right of way. Trail Ridge Road, Rocky Mountain NP, CO

After a lot of walking yesterday, I was happy to take a break with one of the country’s epic scenic drives. The Trail Ridge Road is another legacy of the Park Service of the 1930s, an organization that brought public access to wondrous natural beauty through infrastructure development while remaining mindful of aesthetics.

Here my “too early” timing for Colorado proved useful, as the only-just-cleared-of-snow highway wasn’t too crowded. I survived my first three elk jams! The males were quite fetching with their new velvet-covered antlers.

The views from the frequent pullouts became more and more incredible as the road climbed and climbed past long sloping valleys toward the the roofbeam of the continental United States[1]. Topping out at 12,183′, the eleven miles of asphalt above treeline felt like driving on another planet thanks to the peculiar quality of the sunlight, the noticeably thinner air, and the sense that the whole planet lay splayed out below.

Stones Peak from Trail Ridge Road, Rocky Mountain NP, CO

 

[1] This seems like as good a place as any to remind smug Coloradans that the highest point in the lower 48 is in California: Mt. Whitney in the Eastern Sierra. : )