The Continental Divide and West Side of Rocky Mountain National Park

I hope everyone is having an enjoyable summer and are staying cool during this record-breaking heatwave! I am continuing my story about our early June visit to Rocky Mountain National Park (see prior posts #1,  #2,  #3,  and  #4) and perhaps the snowy scenes will be welcome. After visiting the Alpine Center--the highest-elevation visitor center in the US national park system, my husband and I continued to drive west on Trail Ridge Road.

 

Again, we saw the giant poles that guide the snowplows alongside the road. Here is an interesting video about a snowplow operator in the park who has been plowing for 41 years!

There was still lots of snow in this high-elevation part of the park during June, which made the view enjoyable.

We were sad to see some of the beautiful forests become burned-out ruins that were the result of the October 2020 Cameron Peak and Troublesome Wildfires.  They were the two largest wildfires in Colorado state history. While the bulk of these fires were on lands surrounding Rocky Mountain National Park, nearly 30,000 acres burned within the park’s boundary.

Nine percent of the park was affected. The fire affected park housing, offices, the park entrance station, trails, campsites, privies, bridges, wayfinding signs, the boundary, historic structures and landscapes, archeological resources, fisheries, wildlife, and vegetation.

The process of restoration is in progress in this part of the park and will likely continue for this century. Nature is also beginning to heal slowly and it was comforting to see these wildflowers growing among the burned tree logs on a trail.

We stopped at the Holzwarth Historic Site to take a trail walk to see the Colorado River.

The headwaters of the Colorado River begin in the Never Summer Mountains in the Kawuneeche Valley.   In the Arapaho Indian language, Kawuneeche means "valley of the coyote."

The 1,450-mile-long (2,330 km) river drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. states and two Mexican states.  40 Million people depend on it as a water source.

We enjoyed hiking along the river and watching its meandering flow.

The Kawuneeche Valley offers prime habitat for moose, especially near the river and surrounding wetlands where sightings are fairly common and sure enough, I saw a moose in the distance!

It was very hungry!   I used my zoom lens to take these photos as moose can be very aggressive if they feel in danger and it is best not to get too close to them.  

A long view of the Kawuneeche Valley with the beautiful Never Summer Mountains above. 

We had turned around to head back east in the park at this point as we were staying in the historic Stanley Hotel in Estes Park--click here--to read that post. We stopped to read this placard about the Never Summer Mountains. Seventeen summits rise above 12,000 feet (3,657 Meters), with Howard Mountain topping out at 12,810 feet and four of the area’s peaks representing their cloud-friendly locale with names that include Cirrus, Cumulus, Stratus and Nimbus.

The Never Summer Mountains have the only volcanic rock in Rocky Mountain National Park, deposited there millions of years ago. Today it’s home to 20 miles of hiking trails and the mountains have some of the oldest trees in Colorado – some up to 600 years old! 

As we were driving toward the east, we spotted a group of bicycle riders. We decided to make a stop at Milner Pass, where a sign marked the point of the Continental Divide. This divide runs through the length of the Americas, from Alaska to Cape Horn in Chile. It is interesting to note that a drop of water that falls on either side of the divide will flow in a different direction. Water on the east side will flow towards the Atlantic Ocean, while water on the west side will flow towards the Pacific Ocean.

The bicyclists were also nice enough to take our photo by the Continental Divide sign. We talked with them for a while and found out that they were training for a charity bicycle event to help Samaritan House, which was founded by Catholic Charities in Denver, Colorado in 1927. 

The Samaritan House Charity website states: "We serve tens of thousands of people in crisis annually. We offer shelter, affordable housing, early childhood education, counseling, emergency services, rent and utilities, employment, food and clothing, case management, family and senior services, and much more."  

As we continued to climb up in elevations we encountered fog and snow!

We passed by the Alpine Visitor Center again, where we stopped briefly to take a few photos.

I noticed these beautiful snowflakes on my jacket when we returned to our car!

As we headed toward the eastern exit of Rocky Mountain National Park we passed the Big Thompson River.  The Big Thompson River begins in the Forest Canyon, inside the Rocky Mountains. It flows east towards Moraine Park inside the park, then Estes Park, continuing along the path of Highway 34 all the way to Loveland. It keeps going west until it merges with the South Platte River south of Greeley, Colorado.

The early June sun was setting as we said goodbye to another lovely visit to Rocky Mountain National Park and all the new memories we made.  Every season has its unique beauty in the park and we look forward to our next adventure there!

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