August 9, Estes Park CO to Trailridge Road, to Aspen to Green River Utah

We woke up to a beautiful day, wishing we could stay a little longer, but today would be a great drive through some amazing mountain areas.

We drove up the Trail Ridge Road which crosses the continental divide, the highest continuously paved highway in the country.  It is within Rocky Mountain National Park with its highest point at 12,183 feet.  It is like having climbed a mountain and then staying on the top ridges with great views down into the valleys.  

The road stayed above 10,000 feet for over an hour.  The drive was splendid with views to photograph at every turn. 

We stopped and watched the marmots and the pikas, both mammals that thrive in these high elevations.  The pikas, related to rabbits, were busily harvesting grasses to feed them over the long winter when they do not hibernate.  We saw many of the scurrying around with a clear sense of urgency.   We have always liked them since they are so cute.  They are in danger from more than predators, they are very sensitive to heat.  Because of global warming, they are having to retreat higher and higher on the mountains.  They are out of luck when they run out of mountain. 

The yellow-bellied marmots, a close relative of the eastern groundhogs, were busy getting fat to get them through their hibernation.  They had obviously been successful since they were moving very slowly and looked quite round.

From the Trailridege Highway, we drove south to interstate 70 passing by Winter Park, the largest ski resort in CO.  Once on 70, we passed other major ski areas, such as Copper Mountain and Vail.  We turned south climbing unto a high plateau, as we traveled to Leadville. This has been the center of mining in CO.  To the south of Leadville, we turned west again passing along the shoulder of Mount Elbert, the highest mountain in CO.  Our immediate destination was Independence Pass which provided switch back climb and detent which gave us spectacular Alpine views.  More photos, more mountains.  WOW!!

We made a brief stop at a mining ghost town, called Independence.  During the 1880s they had nearly 2000 residents.  This was a harsh town to live in. During the winter, they tunneled through the deep snow to avoid the deep snow and brutal wind and cold.  Although gold was found (over $190,000 worth was removed in two years), the town was quickly abandoned when the gold played out, and an easier life was available in Aspen.

Now the town is left more to the wildlife, both big and small.

Aspen was our next destination, but not the town of Aspen itself which we drove quickly through.  We were headed to The Maroon Bells, another of Dick’s all time favorite mountain areas.  We arrived in the late afternoon when the light was really interesting especially through the aspen trees. 

We were told by the ranger, that a helicopter rescue was in progress and we observed the helicopter hovering high on the mountain peak, landing at a temporary base not far from where we were and taking off again.  Later, we saw an ambulance driving into the park.  We hope that the rescue was successful. We were reminded that these mountains are also called the Deadly Belles do to the dangerous rock climbing conditions. 

Meanwhile, we had the chance to do some walking around Maroon Lake at the base of the mountains.  These mountains and the surrounding ones are indeed a deep red color which is fabulous to see.  We saw a couple beaver lodges and even caught glimpse of one beaver swimming.  We could see why they named the nearby town, Aspen.  The lower mountains were covered with them.  They looked even more lovely than usual in the late afternoon, showery light.   

Our walk was caught a bit short as ominous dark clouds moved in and a thunderstorm began.  We hurried and missed getting soaking wet, but then got to enjoy the multiple rainbows and amazing clouds and light on the mountains.

Again, it would be great to stay longer, but we were now on our way home and decided to drive another 4 hours to get into Utah yet today.   We were struck by how quickly the land changed from alpine mountains to arid plateau.  The drive went fine, except for a great deal of road construction made trickier after dark.  We were happy to stop for the night, knowing we were now only about 13 hours from home.