Hi everyone:
Colorado (CO) is, of course, the State of the Rocky Mountains. There are many peaks over 14,000ft (well over 4000m). It takes pride in world famous ski areas, such as Vail, Aspen, Breckenridge and Winter Park.
We visited two Nat. Parks in CO: Black Canyon of the Gunnison in the south-west of the State and Rocky Mountains Nat. Park in the north-east. We also stopped in Denver (the State capital) and did some serious shopping (there are several Costcos!!)
Surprisingly, we also found another town called Nederland. The first one was in south-east Texas. This one was in the Rocky Mountains.
You will see a bunch of pictures with commentary below….
For now greetings from Henk and Betsie from Rocky Mountains NP.
(As I am posting this, we have already left CO; we are – as we speak – in Wyoming, close to Grand Teton and Yellowstone NPs.)
Black Canyon of the Gunnison consists of very old (2 billion years) hard rock that was uplifted zillions of years ago. The Gunnison (river) has cut through it and created a deep canyon where sun light can hardly reach the bottom, hence the name: Black Canyon…..
This picture and the ones that follow give you an idea of the Black Canyon. It is amazingly beautiful. The canyon is about 600m deep.
We did a “scenic drive” along the south rim, interrupted by short hikes to the edge of the rim
Different type of rock layers created these “dragons” as they are called.
In the town of Gunnison, we found a laundromat and a self-service car wash; both highly needed after a month of travel (we did do laundry before, when we visited friends in Texas and New Mexico; we did not bring that many clothes….)
Monarch Pass, CO, some 3500m high, is the highest point of the Continental Divide. Water runs off to the Atlantic on the east side and to the Pacific on the west side of the Continental Divide
To our surprise, we found another “Nederland,” this one on our way to Rocky Mountains Nat. Park, west of Boulder, CO. At some 2500 meters above sea level it shows very little resemblance with the “real thing.”
It got its name from a Dutch mining company which bought a silvermine here in the 1870s. It did operate very long but the name stuck.
Elk by the roadside inside Rocky Mountains NP. They are quite big, larger than a donkey, smaller than a horse.
At the Moraine Visitors Center, we joined a walk with the ranger
On our hike to Emerald Lake (which is at about 3,100m)
Above and below: Emerald Lake, still mostly frozen in June
Views of peaks of the Rockies during our hike…
At many places, the trail was still covered with snow and quite slippery (I chickened out of a hike farther along the path shown above; we have more than 4 months to go on this trip; I want to remain in one piece…..)
This campground, Glacier Basin, looks like a disaster. Many trees had to be cut because of the Mountain Pine Beetle which attacks in particular Lodgepole pines that grow in abundance in RM NP. Eighty or ninety percent of the campground was closed off as a result of the beetle attack.
For this interested in knowing more this infestation, please look at: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jan/15/beetle-infestation-get-much-worse/
By the way, the ranger explained that the name “lodgepole” pine originates from the habit of native americans (Indians) to cut long branches from this tree for their teepees (lodgepole: a pole to build lodging (housing) for those less familiar with English)
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