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Rocky Mountain High
Nov. 4th, 2009 04:49 amYesterday a bunch of us piled into three cars and headed to the Rocky Mountain National Park. After driving for an hour and a half, we arrived at the Stanley Hotel, a hundred-year old building that gleamed white on the side of a hill, with impressive views towards the mountains. (Apparently this hotel was the setting for Stephen King's The Shining, which would have had more impact on me if I'd actually read anything by Stephen King). We stopped here for coffee, or in my case the previously mentioned milkshake.
From there it was a short ride to the Lumpy Ridge trailhead, where we split into groups of varying ability and did a little hill walking - nothing epic, just 6 or 7 miles. The views were superb. The weather was clear. Most of the snow had cleared from where we were but the mountain tops were still snow-capped.
Next we drove into the National Park proper and up to a viewpoint. It was cold up there, around freezing, and there was a bit of ice on the road. The road through the pass beyond the viewpoint is already closed for the winter. At that point, we were about 9,000 feet above sea level. Denver calls itself the "mile high city", so we'd climbed quite a bit as we drove into the mountains. The views were fantastic. We even saw some wildlife - elk grazing, a marmot or something like that running through the woods and a blue bird with a distinctive looking crest.
I can see why people like living around here, although it must be pretty bad in the winter. I took loads of photos. I don't have the means to upload them from here but I will attempt to put some on the web when I return home.
From there it was a short ride to the Lumpy Ridge trailhead, where we split into groups of varying ability and did a little hill walking - nothing epic, just 6 or 7 miles. The views were superb. The weather was clear. Most of the snow had cleared from where we were but the mountain tops were still snow-capped.
Next we drove into the National Park proper and up to a viewpoint. It was cold up there, around freezing, and there was a bit of ice on the road. The road through the pass beyond the viewpoint is already closed for the winter. At that point, we were about 9,000 feet above sea level. Denver calls itself the "mile high city", so we'd climbed quite a bit as we drove into the mountains. The views were fantastic. We even saw some wildlife - elk grazing, a marmot or something like that running through the woods and a blue bird with a distinctive looking crest.
I can see why people like living around here, although it must be pretty bad in the winter. I took loads of photos. I don't have the means to upload them from here but I will attempt to put some on the web when I return home.
