August 2019: Epic Roadtrip Part II: Rocky Mountain National Park

This might be why they call these the Rocky Mountains

Epic Roadtrip Defined
I struggled with calling this trip an epic roadtrip for the blog because it doesn't really fit what the previous epic roadtrips have been.  Previously, the Glacier National Park trip, Arches and Canyonlands, the Badlands trip, and the Fossil Butte/Dinosaur National Monuments trips were all considered Epic.

What all of these had in common was that they were themed.  Mostly they were themed by multi-day trips that were mostly about visiting in the National Park Service.  The epic roadtrips were planned and had a daily itinerary.  Often they involved camping.  So why is this Denver trip considered Epic?  It wasn't really themed, and it wasn't really planned.  We made this one up as we went along.  In fact we had planned to go home via the southern route, down to Mesa Verde National Park, Four Corners and Monument Valley.  When we got to Denver, all of those plans were abandoned for one reason or another.

The whole reason for the Denver trip was to see The Rolling Stones with my dear friend Oss.  His wife and The Hot Chick didn't go to the show with us.  So why is this epic?  You could make a case that anytime you see The Rolling Stones it is epic.  In the end, I guess what makes any trip epic are the superlatives.  I believe this trip meets that guideline.  Our trip took us to see The Stones, then to Rocky Mountain National Park and then to Medicine Wheel, Wyoming which is nicknamed, "America's Stonehenge."  So ultimately, there were plenty of superlatives to go around.  The Rolling Stones might be the greatest rock band in history.  I say that knowing I have just offended all of The Beatles fans, but The Beatles quit, The Stones never did.  Rocky Mountain National Park has it's own share of superlatives as does Medicine Wheel.

So, I think what should qualify an epic roadtrip would be a standard that involves superlatives.  This trip qualifies.

Rocky Mountain National Park
Rocky Mountain National Park is the ninth National Park in the United States National Park System.  It was established in 1919 when Woodrow Wilson signed the Rocky Mountain National Park Bill.  In 2018, it was the third most visited park in the National Park System, behind Great Smoky Mountains and Grand Canyon National Parks.  It ranked just ahead of Zion National Park.  Yellowstone came in fifth.  Rocky Mountain National Park had 4,590,493 visitors that year, compared to 11,421,200 visitors at Great Smoky Mountains.  Interestingly, it is relatively modest in size and is the 26th largest park in the system.  It's proximity to Denver is likely the reason it is so well attended.

First photo of Rocky Mountain National Park (taken by me)

spectacular views

Evidence of glaciation

Big granite mountains

We only had half a day to visit Rocky Mountain National Park, so we decided to take the Trail Ridge Road which is possibly the main attraction of the park.  The road was made by the Civil Conservation Corps in the 1930's.  The first road they made was a dirt track which still exists and connects with the main road.  The Trail Ridge Road has the distinction of being the highest elevation paved road in the United States.  The Civil Conservation Corps left their mark on Rocky Mountain National Park and their campsite is one of the historical attractions.

Valley where the CCC camped

I'm old and I'm bald

The Hot Chick

Meandering river at the site of the CCC camps

Mountains touch the clouds here

Wild rose

Beautiful valley

We decided to take the dirt road up.  In Yellowstone there are side roads that were once part of the main road, or sometimes they were freight roads.  Those side roads take you to places like Virginia Cascades and Firehole Falls.  We wondered if this road did the same.  It did.  We love falling water and like to spend time at waterfalls whenever we can.  Falling water is relaxing to us, which is ironic because falling water is water's least relaxed state.  There was a beautiful waterfall on that road called Chasm Falls.  It was at the roadside with a minimal walk.  The trail to the base of the falls was steep, and the fact that we are old and at a much higher elevation than we were acclimated to made it seem more difficult than it was.  You can translate that to mean we are out of shape.

Chasm Falls is on Fall River, which to me seemed like a small stream.  That does not diminish it's beauty.  It was a cascading falls that had a single spectacular drop of 25 feet between boulders, hence the name Chasm Falls.  It was photogenic.

Cascading through the canyon

More cascades

Drops like these were everywhere

More of the same

And another view

False alarm

Sign

The Main Event

Looking downstream

More whitewater

I think this was above the brink of the falls

We continued up the dirt road which was very nice with few ruts or potholes.  It is pretty well maintained.  The road went through a series of very steep switchbacks.  Sometimes we were the fast car on the road, sometimes we were the slow car.  There was alot to see.  There were also many wide spots in the road so a visiting car could pull over to allow another car to pass.  The road was a one way road.  We didn't see much in the way of wildlife in Rocky Mountain National Park.  I think it was probably too late in the year for much of that.  We did see a pair of dusky grouse though.  They were unafraid of humans.

The dirt track connected to the main road near the summit.

Dusky grouse

And the other one

Another pic

And another

Cool rock formations

Rocks

Tree line

This was in August, so I think this is a year round waterfall, at least until all the snow melts

Nice little falls

Purple penstemon 

This kind of stuff was everywhere

About to hit the main road

Around the summit of the road, which is over 12,000 feet above sea level.  There are eight miles of this road that are over 11,000 feet above sea level.  This is well above the tree line.  The evidence of glaciation is everywhere.  There is tundra at this elevation.  There are also many small glacial lakes or ponds at the summit.  We drove past the visitors center for several more miles, but because out time was short, we turned back and went back on the main road.  We passed a glacial bowl that had a sign that warned people to stay off the glacier because of danger.  Yellowstone isn't the only place with stupid people.  I'll leave that one here.

Glacial lake in the tundra

Tundra at 11,000 feet

More lakes, more tundra

Mononicus Idioticus in his natural habitat

The views were stunning

Glacial valley

Heading back down

The scenery was stunning

Might be why they call this area The Rocky Mountains if I were to hazard a guess

The shadows lengthen 

When we got down from the summit, we realized we had an hour or two of good light left so we looked at the map to see what was close and what we could do in that amount of time.  We were staying with friends so we didn't want to get in too late.  We ended up in Rocky Mountain National Park because they had a previously scheduled event with some friends.  We didn't know the friends and didn't want to cramp their style, nor did we wish to be a fifth wheel.  Nevertheless it was an hour and a half drive back to Denver and we didn't want to come back in the middle of the night.

What we found was a small lake with a half mile trail around it called Bear Lake.  It was a beautiful little lake surrounded by trees that were then surrounded by mountains that were then surrounded by clouds and sky.  It was idyllic.  We walked all around the lake and didn't see a single bear!  False advertising if you ask me!

First view of Bear Lake minus all bears

Mountains in the background.  I imagined a bear standing on this rock

The reflection of the mountain in the water was neat, even if there wasn't a bear there

That's me standing on a rock.  It was too chilly to be bare

Even without bears, this view was stunning

Maybe the bears live in that valley

The Hot Chick wasn't bare either.  

There was no bark on this fallen tree.  It was bare

Loved this view, wasn't eaten by a bear

Overhang wasn't big enough for a bear den

This might be a hallucinogenic mushroom.  Whoever named this "Bear Lake" might have eaten one of these

Outlet of Bear Lake

Every now and then on our journeys, we are treated to a benedictory sunset that is stunning and out of this world.  Rocky Mountain National Park did not disappoint on this account.  As I mentioned earlier, an epic roadtrip needs to have superlatives.  I think the National Parks also fall into this category.  Half a day was not enough time to spend at this park.  There are 300 miles of trails here and we only got to walk on about a mile of them.  We will need to get back.  Who knows, maybe The Rolling Stones or The Who will come back to Denver in the summer sometime and I will have an excuse to come back.

Sunset over Rocky Mountain National Park

Kept getting better

superlatives

I liked this pic too even though it is similar to the other one

Last view of Rocky Mountain National Park

I don't know if the hiking trails in Rocky Mountain National Park are primarily destination trails or journey trails.  I like both.  I would love to spend more time in this park.  I hope I get the opportunity to.


August 2019:  Epic Roadtrip Part I:  Denver and The Rolling Stones

August 2019:  Epic Roadtrip Part III:  Bighorn Medicine Wheel