Reaching the Summit

A few more pictures from the last leg of our winding ascent through the Rocky Mountains.


This is the beautiful view from Rainbow Curve, where I spotted the Clark's Nutcracker of my previous post. In fact, at the top of the largest clump of scrubby-looking trees in the lower center of the picture is where the nutcracker was perched. (If you look at this much larger version of the image, you can barely see the little blog of light gray and black that is the nutcracker.) Not quite at "eye-level" as I had remembered, but still an excellent vantage point from which to bird.

Running crazily in and out of the rocks and boulders in the foreground were several small chipmunk-looking critters, which according to this authoritative site were actually Golden-mantled Ground Squirrels.


These spastic little creatures were constantly on the go and not at all afraid of people, to the delight and enjoyment of a number of kids and other sightseers who seemed more interested in their antics than in the beautiful panorama spread out before us.

Moving farther up the slopes, we quickly move beyond the tree line and into more and more patches of still-lingering snow. And enjoying the thin air and cool summer temperatures were a small family of the most magnificent animals we had yet encountered in the park: North American Elk.




Unfortunately, it was just about the time we spotted the elk that the altitude sickness hit me square in the head (with a corresponding kick to the stomach). We stopped off at the Alpine Visitors Center for the kids to realize their lifelong dreams of touching real snow, and for me to get a little fresh air to clear the cobwebs. But as the headache and nausea increased and a wave of dizziness started to take hold, a resident park ranger / E.M.P. sent us scurrying back off the mountaintop with scare tactics worthy of a middle school principal. The rest of the trip was, quite literally, downhill from there.

Rocky Mountain Skies

We break the blow-by-blow account of our recent trip to Rocky Mountain National Park to simply enjoy the deep blue perfection of the Colorado skies, the peaceful green valleys, and the brilliant snow-capped peaks of this beautiful area.






Click any image to see the full-sized version

For more intriguing images of the skies above our world, check out the SkyWatch Friday home page.

A River Runs Down It

Once we got inside the park, our first stop was for a nice picnic lunch with the birds. Next stop, however, was to do a little climbing to see this glorious sight:




With my knee problems, I quickly decided that I would be the one to stay down low and take pictures. Cat and her Aunt Susan got a little more adventurous, climbing up the rocks that bordered the swift-moving flow.


Of course, if the girls were going to do a little climbing, then Cowboy and Uncle Jason were going to have to work to show them up. This shot is taken from the same vantage point and at the same resolution as the one above. See those two little blue forms in the middle of the picture that appear to be waving?


Eventually, they all came back down, and my sister even enticed me to get out from behind the camera for a change, if just to prove that I really was on the trip. Then it was time to pile back in the car and head farther up into the mountains.




For more great water-themed images, visit Watery Wednesday #43.

Lake Loveland and the Search for Bighorn Sheep

Starting out for the mountains, we first passed through the city of Loveland, Colorado. Loveland is well-known for its public arts collection, most of which consists of sculptures that decorate various public lands and parks around the city. (In fact, one of the sites I hope to see the next time I visit the area is Loveland's Benson Sculpture Garden, which contains what is reportedly one of the nation's best outdoor sculpture exhibits.)

We hadn't planned on stopping in Loveland, but as we drove alongside Lake Loveland we just couldn't pass up such a picturesque view of the mountains.




And of course we then had to stay and enjoy some of the sculptures located along the scenic shore.

 
Once we finally had our fill of scenery and sculpture (and, of course, had skipped about half the rocks in Loveland across the surface of the lake), we piled back in the car and headed into the foothills of the Colorado Rocky Mountains.


One of the things Cat had been hoping for was to catch a glimpse of the mountain goats that live in the mountains of Colorado. (Well, the actual request was for "yodeling mountain goats," but I blame that on too many hours spent watching The Sound of Music when the kids were younger.) As we passed through the canyons leading toward the park, we soon discovered that Colorado doesn't have mountain goats. We all agreed that Bighorn Sheep would do just fine, but no matter how hard we looked we never did spot any of the creatures. Yodeling or not.




Another thing we had talked about seeing was waterfalls, and Cowboy was so excited when we came across our first one that he used up half the film in his camera documenting this natural wonder.



Unfortunately, this one was man-made and only about three feet tall, located near the parking lot of a strip center in the touristy town of Estes Park. A bit of a letdown, but the next leg of the trip more than made up for it!

TOMORROW'S POST: The real thing...