Touching the Sky on the Rocky Mountain Tundra!

Pure elation!  That is how I felt when I climbed up to the top of one of the tundra trails in Rocky Mountain National Park in early October. I really did feel as if I was touching the sky!

We left the green and verdant valleys of the park (you can read about them on this link and this one, and see the vibrant autumn colors in the park at the time) and drove up Trail Ridge Road past the two-mile mark into the elevation above the tree line at 11,500 feet. Snowplows were at the ready on the side of the road, as there had already been snowfall in the park at the high elevations the week before and the upper portion of Trail Ridge Road was closed for a few days due to three feet snowdrifts.

The photo above, and the photo below...

...that I took at Forest Canyon Overlook, elevation 11,716 feet, shows the dense forest below the bald, tundra-covered mountain tops.

We drive further in elevation and park our car in a pullover parking area, and begin the climb up the Tundra Nature or Communities Trail.  This alpine world at 12,180 feet is windswept and colder by 30 degrees from the lower elevations. The conditions resemble those found in the Canadian or Alaskan Arctic. It has a short growing season of around forty days in summer, and 200 species of tiny alpine plants and flowers will bloom then.  

We continue upwards on the trail, towards the top.  The trail is steep at the beginning, and since the oxygen level at this elevation is 35% less than at sea level, it can make one short of breath if you are not acclimated to the altitude, and in good shape.

Many metal placards line the way to read, which helps you stop and catch your breath. This is one of my favorites. You can see all the placards on a prior post I wrote about this trail at this link.  We saw many long-horned rams and marmots and wildflowers on that climb we took in early September of last year, but this time the colder weather made the tundra look bare.

Soon after passing unusual mushroom rocks, or "tors" formations, we finally arrive at the top of the trail.  My husband climbed up to the top of the rock overhang to read a plaque attached to one of the rocks in memory of Roger Wolcott Toll, a civil engineer, and naturalist who was superintendent of Rocky Mountain National Park from 1921 to 1929.  The plaque says "Civil engineer, naturalist, mountaineer, whose love of the high country was manifested by helping to make it more accessible for you and your friends."  I think you can see by my photo how excited I am to visit this area again. Although the trail is only a one-mile round trip I always feel a sense of accomplishment when I complete it.!

The vistas from the highest elevations of Rocky Mountain National Park referred to as the "Roof of the Rockies" are exhilarating! On a clear day you can see north to Wyoming, east across the Front Range cities and the Great Plains, and south and west into the heart of the Rocky Mountains!  It really is a photographers' paradise.

I could not help but think about the first people who marveled over the same sights I was seeing --the Native American tribes who made the first trails through these mountains and who felt a reverence for them.

Another Tundra Trail plaque that spoke to me--click on to enlarge for easier viewing

We continued to drive west on the Trail Ridge Road...

...until we reached the park's Alpine Visitor Center. The elevation here is 11,798  feet.  This building's roof is reinforced to withstand the heavy snowfall in the winter.

This is a picture inside the Alpine Visitor Center which shows how snow will cover the entire building!  Trail Ridge Road is closed at high elevations in winter, usually beginning at the end of October until late May for this reason.

The view from inside the Alpine Visitor Center's windows.

A view of the Old Fall River Road from the back veranda of the Alpine Center.  Old Fall River Road, as well as a few other areas, had to be closed after being heavily damaged by the severe flooding that took place in Rocky Mountain National Park during the 21 days of continuous rain that occurred in September 2013.  There is hope that it will re-open in 2015.  I hope to show our drive that we took last year on this rustic dirt road on a future post.

There is another tundra summit trail that I have yet to climb.  It is located almost directly opposite the Alpine Visitor Center and is called the Alpine Ridge Trail.  It begins with many steps--225 steps in fact!  Because of its steepness--it ascends 697 feet-- it is nicknamed "Huffers Hill"!  I hope to be able to climb this trail the next time I visit the park. It is something to look forward to doing it at least once!

We drove as far west as the Continental Divide area at Milner's Pass and then we turned around and went back outside the park to the town of Estes Park...

...where we stayed for our last night in the historic Stanley Hotel. If you did not read about our "haunted" experience there, you can click on this link...

Before leaving Estes Park the next morning to return home to Littleton, Colorado, we took a quick drive around town for one last look.

Could there be any place more beautiful than this?