Trail Ridge Road
Longs Peak & the Continental Divide
Longs Peak, 14,259 ft.Longs Peak is the highest of the 72 named peaks that are above 12,000 feet elevation in the National Park.
From Rainbow Curve overlook:Horseshoe Park toward Estes Park
One of the grandest views on the Trail Ridge Road is from Rainbow Curve looking over the road of “many curves,” the Beaver Ponds, Sheep Lake, and the Fall River in West Horseshoe Park.
Mr. Marmot surveys his kingdomThe Yellow-bellied Marmot enjoys basking in the sun on rocky outcroppings.
On top of the world at 11,875 ft,eleven satellites are visible to Millie
at the Tundra Trailhead
Millie is our GPS navigator; besides finding addresses in city jungles, she tells us the elevations in the mountain wilds. Usually, she “sees” only 6 or 7 satellites.
Jean explores the Tundra CommunitiesAt this late date, October 23, most of the plants have succumbed to the freezing winds and rain. But as usual, Jean did not come back empty-handed.
“Belly flowers,” Arctic Sandwort, Arenaria obtusiloba
Alpine avens, Acomastylis rossii
From 12,183 ft at the highest point
on the highest major road in the U.S.
near Iceberg Pass
on the highest major road in the U.S.
near Iceberg Pass
Comfort stations at 11,800 ft.
Dandelion, Taraxacum officinaleat the Visitor Center
Dandelions are found from below sea level to above tree-line (Alpine).
Grass in the snowAt this elevation snow is present for most of the year.
View West from Visitor Centertoward the Never Summer Mountains
Penny-cress, Thalaspi arvensisAppendix
This is an edited excerpt from my mother’s biography of her father, Henry Field of Shenandoah, Iowa, about two trips he took from Iowa to Estes Park in 1911 and 1912 on the old transcontinental Lincoln Highway (approx. US 40, today).
“The trip home was without incident until we were near Holbrook, Nebraska. We came upon a bad mud hole where a heavy rain had washed across the road leaving it a muddy lake. Henry raced the engine of our EMF Touring Car, trying to make a fast run through the spot. The car plunged in and began to sink in the soft, soupy mire, rocking from side to side, straining for traction. Suddenly the car tipped toward the right and came to a stop. When Henry stepped gingerly out into the knee-deep mud, he found the right rear wheel lying flat on the ground, broken off at the axle.
“Everyone piled out onto the high and dry roadside bank and set up camp in a conveniently near tree-shaded farmyard. Henry got a ride to town, telegraphed Omaha for parts and arranged for a man to pull him out of the mud hole. Within two days the new axle was shipped from Omaha and installed by the local mechanic. The axle cost $6.00 and the mechanic charged $6.00 more. There had been only two days delay and Henry proceeded homeward without further trouble. The trip took us seventeen days in all.
“The next year, he bought a new 1912 Everett car—quite similar to the EMF, but larger. When he first got the Everett he put it up to fifty miles an hour, but half a mile of that was enough. Fifteen or twenty miles an hour and one hundred miles a day were enough for anyone, he decided. He took all six of us children for the trip to Colorado this time. We camped longer at Estes Park and took a different route home.”
What’s coming up? I am so glad you asked:
1. 153.09/27 Some of the trails and lakes of Rocky Mountain National Park
2. 161.10/06 Struggling through the snow to get home (with complete stats of the trip)
3. 3.02/19 /08 Fancy flowers of Death Valley National Park
4. 5.02/21/08 The poster peaks of Death Valley
Bill & Jean.
