High Into The Clouds - Rocky Mountain National Park

Clouds part as we enter the park from the Fall River Entrance Station. 

It was a beautiful day last week to head to Estes Park
and drive the awe-inspiring Trail Ridge Road to Grand Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park...

With predictions of rain, heavy clouds descended on the mountains, sweeping in and billowing out in vaporous swells.  

It was a constantly changing scene--blue skies one instant and fog the next!  An ideal day for me to bring my camera!!

As we head up the steep incline, we find ourselves entering the clouds!

Last year more than 4.5 million visitors visited this park, making it one of the most popular destinations in the U.S.

Now over 100 years old, the challenge is how to accommodate all of us seeking to enjoy RMNP without destroying the beauty we come to seek.

View from Trail Ridge Road where we stopped for our picnic lunch.

"Trail Ridge Road is narrow, winding and has few guardrails," according to the RMNP publication we received upon entering.  

All true.  It's a heart-pounding drive at times--especially when encountering drivers who have never driven narrow, winding roads with few guardrails.

It's a long way down...

Thank goodness Ken keeps his eyes on the road so I can take photos from the car!

...actually, 12,050 feet from Rock Cut, the highest point on Trail Ridge Road.

Add into the scare factor:
1) High elevation
2) Intense sunlight
3) Quick weather      changes
4) Colder temps than the two park entrances (sometimes 20-30 degrees colder!)
5) First-time visitors who stop unexpectedly and without warning.

Snow still clings to rugged areas behind the Alpine Visitor Center.

My favorite visitor center is the Alpine Visitor Center at 11,796 feet in elevation making it the highest visitor center in the National Park Service.

After a quick bathroom stop and a sashay through the gift shop we continue to Grand Lake, crossing Milner Pass, which straddles the Continental Divide.  

The Never Summer Mountains rise to the west as we pass the Beaver Ponds.

In Grand Lake we explore the gallery we came to see, strolled the shops with the other tourists along Grand Avenue and stopped for refreshing iced tea and coffee at The Hub.

We didn't linger too long as we wanted to make it back to Estes Park while we still had afternoon light.  

The Alpine Tundra is a breathtaking and unique environment.  

Too high for trees to grow, above 11,400 feet, this is a fragile and delicate world in which recovery can take hundreds of years.

As Ken drove, I was able to quickly snap a few photos of elk grazing far below Trail Ridge Road.

Afternoon light shadows Longs Peak, Mount Meeker and Pagoda Mountain as we head down Trails Ridge Road.

This is a wild and wonderful park...
and makes us grateful for the power of nature, for places yet untamed, for the animals who call this home and for the continued conservancy of humans to preserve and protect this park for those who have yet to come.