Sunday, September 6, 2009

September 4, 2009

Rocky Mountain National Park

I was a bit concerned about driving through the park in the carbus.  Map showed very twisty roads and we knew that the road went over 12000 feet in elevation.  We had done nearly 11000 feet with the carbus in May on a pass south of here with no problem but I had a feeling.  We left the carbus in the park and drove the car.   

Road to Estes Park. Town at east edge of park.

01 Big Thompson Canyon to Estes Park

Rocky Mountain National Park is similar to Glacier National Park.  There are back country trails and lakes, campgrounds, wildlife, and lots of visitors.  The main draw is the overwhelming vastness and the road through the park to see the high altitude beauty.

02 Long's Peak 03 Gore Range

  We drove the length of the road and back as we did in Glacier and enjoyed the whole trip.  The road was not bad.  Plenty wide and the many hairpin turns were certainly manageable for a motor home.  The iffy thing was the climb and descent.  Twenty miles pretty steady up at a noticeable grade to over 12100 feet and then twenty miles down at a similar grade.  Carbus could have done it but it would not have been fun and I would not have seen much more than the road.

A short ways from the highest point on the road is a visitor center.  It is at about 11500 feet elevation.

04 visitor Center roof The purpose of the logs is to hold down the roof.  Wind gusts can be over 150 mph in storms.  Something the Scandinavians came up with.

Can you tell which direction the wind comes from?

08 trees affected by wind

Here is center in winter,

05 Visitor center life

Here is view from back side of center.

06 Valley behind visitor center

Wildlife view from roadside.

06 elk alongside the road

Early fall in the Rockies.

09 aspens



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