Trail Ridge-September 3, 2013

What a trip to the mountains. We went to the highest point on Trail Ridge in Rocky Mountain National Park. It is where you choose to go forward and end up at Grand Lake or turn back via a different route and go back home through Estes Park. We turned back. It was a long drive because it poured rain this afternoon and two of our party were on a Harley. Jerry, Hannah and I were in Derrick's truck. Cute Red Vehicle was sick this morning and the doors didn't even want to open. It would not start either. Guess it goes to the doctor tomorrow. Anyway, we were gone for almost all day. Hannah did well but she does not especially love her car seat so she was bored for the most part. I only took 106 pictures. I have gone through all of them and picked out a mere 30 that I want to share. Since that is not possible in one posting on this blog I may spread it out over a couple of days. So many pictures do not need explanation except to say we were on a two lane road at about 11-12,000 feet. That's above timberline. The air gets thin that far up, but the scenery is striking. I hope some of these pictures make up for the lack of pictures this summer. Hope you enjoy them.

This is just as you enter the park, not very high up.

They have really pretty meadows where the elk gather to bugle in the fall.

Timberline just ahead. Very few if any trees grow above timberline.

Timberline runs between 10,000 and 11,000 feet in altitude.

 

The prettiest scenery is higher up.

 

The road ahead.

 

Just so you would believe what I said about the altitude!

 

I believe this would be considered a high altitude lake.

This is wrong in so many ways. On a small two lane road with few retaining walls and no guard rails at 11,000+ feet in altitude one does not expect to stop for a traffic light, but we did. On this hairpin turn they were repairing a rock retaining wall that stands only about 3 feet high. So, did a car go off the road? Who knows? This was not a comfortable place for me. But we made it.

 

 

This is enough for today, is it not? I'll share several more in the upcoming days. It was quite a day for us. We have not been on a local trip like that in a very long time.