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Wildlife on the Trail
Just one example of the wildlife we encountered on the trail.
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Lunch Break
Larry enjoying the view after the best ham & cheese sandwich ever.
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Top of the World
The view from the "top of the world" is breathtaking.
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Wildlife on the Trail
Just one example of the wildlife we encountered on the trail.
For Larry & I, hiking is about the vistas and the experiences, not the numbers. We are not too concerned with how fast we can cover 5 miles or how far we have gone or what the elevation change is. We seek out trails with lonnnnng views, high meadows, and surrounded by towering mountains. Rocky Mountain National Park offers an abundance of all that!
I don't want this to read like a hiking guide, but I do want to try to describe one of our favorite hikes: The Ute Trail. What makes this special?
First, there is only space for about 6 cars at the trailhead, meaning we will have the trail virtually to ourselves.
The elevation is 11,500 feet, above the tree line. All around you is tender alpine tundra. Looking down on valleys and eye to eye with other mountains, you feel you are alone at the top of the world!
Hiking around rock outcroppings, we spotted a herd of elk further down the mountainside. Sitting down in an open meadow for lunch, we watched 3 large bucks sporting antlers extending at least 3 feet from their heads come up the mountain and graze nearby. The quiet, the vastness, the 360 degree, top of the world (yes, I know I'm repeating but it's the best description I have) views makes this a Top 10 hike for us.
Memories of RMNP hikes:
- long horn sheep with babies crossing a meadow and climbing a hill
-hearing the wind in far away trees about 30 seconds before you feel it
-hiking to the headwaters of the Colorado River, knowing we'd see it two more times, once at the Grand Canyon and once rafting on it at Page, AZ
-noticing that branch tips of fir trees had put on almost 2 inches of growth this year
-watching black clouds build up and seeing lightening on the ridge as I scramble 3 miles down a mountain, not knowing whether to be more afraid of falling or of lighting striking my metal hiking sticks
-the quiet of climbing at 10,000 feet...except for the sound of my heartbeat and heavy breathing
-parents hiking with their children and young girls hiking in flip flops
- hearing Larry tell me as we hike downhill: "LEAN BACK. SPREAD YOUR FEET. POLES OUT IN FRONT." He has probably told me all this a million times over the years, but although I have the cardio and muscle strength to climb almost anything, I am still hopeless coming downhill. As my granddaughter, Lily, says, "JJ. You are uncoordinated!" She's right.
-the smell of Christmas trees
-different wildflowers at different elevations, and how much Larry liked taking pictures of them
-Larry complimenting me on what he claimed was "the best ham and cheese sandwich he's ever had" which I had made and packed for the trail. This was a special treat since, in GA, he doesn't see ham, cheese, OR a sandwich!!!
