 |
| Sprague Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park |
The
Rocky Mountains of North America are the second longest mountain range in the
world, running in a ragged line for 3,000 miles from British Columbia in Canada
all the way southeast to the north of Mexico.
So
if you’re going to have the nerve to give just a small section of this long
range the grand name of “Rocky Mountain
National Park,” well, that better be one special section.
 |
| On the trail to Mills Lake |
And
it is. The 412 square miles of Rocky
Mountain National Park have preserved some of America’s most pristine natural
beauty. America’s fifth most popular
national park has 147 lakes, 50 miles of streams, 360 miles of trails and more
than 100 peaks that soar 11,000 feet or higher into the Colorado blue sky –
many of them with snow year-round.
There
are a thousand elk, as well as moose, bears, beavers and big\horn sheep. There are waterfalls and wildflowers, and
more than a third of the park is tundra – that strange and harsh land above the
trees where it is almost always winter.
But
as beautiful and tranquil as Rocky Mountain National Park can be, it can also be
one of the most congested spots in Colorado.
With limited roads and parking, the popular park has to accommodate more
than a million people in just six summer weeks.
That’s more than the population of nearby Denver. Over the course of a year, 3.2 million people
visit the park, sometimes “loving” it a little too much. On a recent Saturday in August, a mile-long
traffic jam was caused by one sleeping bear, who chose to take his afternoon
nap within sight of the road.
 |
| Elk along Trail Ridge Road |
Some
35 invasive plants have moved into the park.
Global warming is causing the glaciers to melt, and although the lakes
and streams are crystal clear, the water is not safe to drink because of Giardia.
And
yet, arrive early in the day or in off-season, or get out of the car and hike
for a bit, and you can have the place to yourself. Even if you stay in the car, a drive through
the park can take you over the highest continuous highway in the world,
cruising over the tops of mountains with hundred-mile views in every
direction. Just don’t concentrate on the
views too much – there are sheer cliffs with no guardrails on every turn.
In
2015, the park is celebrating its 100th anniversary of being protected
forever. As you picnic by an idyllic
stream or hike through a firework display of wildflowers and you want to know
who to thank for preserving all this, start with an eccentric Englishwoman
named Isabella Bird.
Preserving the Park
There
weren’t many globetrotting women explorers in the 1870s, but that didn’t stop
Isabella Bird, who became the first woman accepted into the Royal Geographic
Society of Great Britain. From early childhood, she suffered from insomnia and
nervous headaches. Her doctor recommended
an “outdoor life,” so she set off on a series of adventures that ultimately
took her to China, Japan, Vietnam, and India.
Colorado’s dry weather was said to be healthy, so she moved there in
1873.
Isabella
roamed 803 miles across Colorado, climbing mountains and riding a horse like a
man (though she threatened to sue a newspaper that said she dressed like
one). Her descriptive letters home about
her explorations in Colorado were eventually published into a book that became
one of the classics of travel literature: “A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains.”
 |
| Dream Lake with Hallet's Peak |
One
of her favorite areas was northwest of Denver near a valley that had come to be
called Estes Park, after local cattle rancher Joel Estes. “Park” came from the French “parc,” meaning
“open space.”
Isabella
explored the area around Estes Park with the aid of a colorful local guide, Jim
Nugent, also known as “Mountain Man Jim.”
He was a one-eyed desperado who would be shot dead a year later, but he
was a good-looking character, and there were rumors that he was more than a
guide to Isabella. She wrote that Jim was the type of man “any woman might
love but no sane woman would marry."
Isabella’s
descriptions of climbing Longs Peak, the highest mountain looming above Estes
Park, and the beauty of the area
captivated the world. Even in Colorado,
which had a mountainous area five times the size of Switzerland, the splendor
of Estes Park became world famous.
Another
visitor who settled here was Enos Mills, who became a local guide, climbing
Longs Peak more than 300 times. Enos lobbied
that the mountains, lakes and streams here should be preserved for future
generations. He got his wish in 1915,
when Rocky Mountain became America’s 10th national park.
Touring the Park Today
With
so many experiences (and so many people loving the park) here are some tips on
how to enjoy its beauty.
 |
| Trail Ridge Road |
Drive
over the 48-mile-long Trail Ridge Road (the highest continuous highway in the
world) and stop at the visitor center two miles above sea level. Bring a jacket because it can be 30 degrees
colder up here than down in Estes Park.
Hike to the top of the ridge to take in a 360-degree view of this
moon-like landscape above the trees.
Because of heavy snow, Trail Ridge Road is usually open only from late
May until mid-September. Snow plows
start cutting through the 30-foot high piles of snow in April and it can take
six weeks to clear the road.
Hike
around Sprague Lake. This is a short,
level path around one of the most beautiful lakes in the park.
 |
| Sprague Lake |
As
you get used to the altitude (at 10,000 feet elevation, there’s about 30
percent less oxygen absorbed in your body with each breath) hike to one of the
more remote lakes. The farther you go
from the parking lot, the less people you will encounter. The most popular hike is to climb from Bear
Lake to Nymph, Emerald and Dream lakes.
It’s about 4 miles roundtrip, with spectacular views. This a very popular section of the park, and
relatively crowded. To get away even more,
hike a little farther. Two of the most
beautiful lakes are Mills Lake (named after Enos Mills) and the Loch – both
about six mile hikes. Bluebird Lake is
known for its wildflowers and is about a 12 mile hike.
The
ultimate park experience is to be like Isabella Bird and climb Longs Peak.
Climbing a fourteener is serious business and requires being in good shape,
having a lot of determination, a high tolerance for crowds, and lots of luck
with the weather. Every year, some
15,000 people attempt to summit the 14,255-foot Longs Peak; since the 1884, 60
have died in that attempt.
 |
| Bear Lake with Longs Peak in background |
The first
person known to have reached the top was the one-armed explorer John Wesley Powell,
who later became the first man to sail a boat through the Grand Canyon. For the average person, it’s a strenuous,
all-day, 16-mile climb that requires starting at 4 a.m. or earlier. As a
general rule, you always want to be off the summit and coming down by noon to
avoid lightning. Although Longs doesn’t
require any special mountaineering skills or equipment, there’s some bad
exposure on the Narrows and the Homestretch parts of the climb, and a fall here
could be fatal. Many people wear helmets
to protect against rock falls from above.
Bring four quarts of water as there is no water on the trail. It’s a
“long” day, but there’s few better feelings than catching a glimpse of Longs
Peak in the distance and knowing you have summited it.
 |
| The 1909 Stanley Hotel |
Take
the Night Ghost Tour at the Stanley Hotel.
In 1903, F.O. Stanley, inventor of the Stanley Steamer automobile, moved
to Estes Park for his health, and finding the amenities lacking, built a huge
summer home in a magnificent setting overlooking the mountains. In 1909, it became the Stanley Hotel. Horror writer Stephen King spent one night in
the hotel in 1974, staying in room 217.
Because the hotel was closing for the winter (it didn’t have heat until
1979), King was the only guest. He
wandered the halls alone, and that night had a horrible nightmare about a
haunted hotel that quickly turned into the classic horror novel, The Shining. The Stanley makes a lot of this, continuously
looping Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 film The
Shining in every room on closed circuit TV.
On the Night Ghost Tour you will learn that many of the rooms are
haunted and the hotel has long been known for ghosts and paranormal
activity. Perhaps. One thing is for certain, grab a drink and
sit on the wicker work rocking chairs on the front porch. The view over the resort village of Estes
Park and the surrounding Rocky Mountain National Park is one of the grandest in
the world.
 |
| Estes Park from the ruins of an old hotel overlooking the town |
If
you go: Estes Park has an assortment of
riverside cabins and motels, a delightful downtown with riverside cafes, and is
located just a few miles from the entrance to the national park. Of course, the
top place to stay is the Stanley, but even if you don’t sleep here, stop by the
gift shop to pick up a brass key ring for room 217.
