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Friday
- 10/06/06
9:00 pm
Rocky Mountain National Park
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"Rocky Mountain High"
Today (or last week sometime) I headed due South on rte 25 toward Denver, with a stop in Rocky Mountain National Park, where a bit more of my soul awaited me. The drive was only about an hour to rte 34, which headed west into the park. As we all know, heading west hasn't turned out well for me in the past, but I ventured to give it a try, much to my ensuing delight. Rte 34 wound around ceaselessly, at the mercy of the hills, toward my destination.
The drive on rte 34 took about an hour, with the road winding back and forth
following the river which may or may not have carved a path through the hilly landscape(there was no sign to tell me the deal)
I entered the park around 10 am, and planned to stay only a few hours, as I wanted to make it clear across Kansas and to the Stack's place by evening, which I have already left. More on that later. The first stop in the park was in a valley under "Elk Mountain" or "Bighorn Mountain", I'm not sure which as I can't find the brochure from the park. The bighorn Elk sat quietly below the mountain, in search of minerals such as salt left in the valley.
(the sign told me so)
As I didn't encounter any tunnels along the way, I will continue
in my lame tradition by saying that these are the Elk sitting down
and these are the Elk standing up
All that aside, there was a multitude of wildlife in RMNP. I came
across this bird in Elk valley which seemed unaffected by my presence.
So I squashed him...and I ate him
No I didn't really, but I was able to get about 3 feet
away from him/her before he/she didn't even fly away.
I took a panoramic image of Elk valley while I was there.
See if you can spot the Elk. (hint: Elk are sitting down)Click on image below to view panoramic
After leaving Elk valley, I headed up the steep road into the rest of the park. I then
made it to a valley named something or other (I really wish I could find that brochure)
I took another in a series of panoramic images of the mystery valley
(Click on image below to view the majestic unnamed valley)
After gawking at the valley for several minutes, I traversed on into the next valley
which was just as majestic. On the way, the trees lined the road in a thick grove.
The rock formations to my left loomed to my left
In the next valley, I was taken aback by the grandiose scale of the mountains
Here is a panoramic image of the next valley, included for your amusement
(Click on image below to view panoramic)
After that valley, I proceeded to the next one. The valley's seemed to get more and more magnificent as I plodded on, reaching a height of nearly 2 miles above sea level
(over 12,000 feet)
Per usual, I included a panoramic image of this awe-inspiring next valley
(Click on image below to view panoramic)
After checking out this valley, I figured it was time to leave as it was nearly 2pm and I still wanted to get to the Stacks before sometime after midnight. I will show you one final panoramic before I headed back toward the park exit. this is as far as I went in the park, but I had my fill. Finding a bit more of my soul here.
(Click on image below to view panoramic)
On the way back I noticed rain falling in the valley
so I took a picture of it as it was so beautiful
Well that's it for my adventure at RMNP. I managed to see 5 National Parks on what turned out to be my 7 month vacation traveling across country. Before I go I'd like to introduce you my new friend:
Meet "Mr. erroneous microsoft front page error message", This friggin' thing keeps popping up all too often, losing all the data I painstakingly type into this crummy program. It's a good thing I was smart enough to realize early on during this travesty that I need to back up pages I am working on in 2 redundant folders or I lose everything completely. If I hadn't figured this out, I would now have no hair, including my goatee, which is becoming more unfashionable with each passing day. Let me just say if I EVER get my filthy hands on Bill Gates he is in for the rudest of rude awakenings due to his faulty and over priced software programs. I am proud to say that I haven't paid for a feeble microsoft product in about 7 years, and download most programs illegally from pirate sites on the web, of which I am most proud. I mean if I did pay for this crap it wouldn't work any better than the bootlegged copies, so why bother paying for them? I know this is harsh, awful, and a bunch of other descriptive words, but you can bite me Mr. Gates. You too Mr. Paul Allen. I suggest we all convert to Apple computers. They are more expensive, but they actually work most of the time. Please visit Apple.com for more details. I am headed there as soon as I can afford to buy a real computer and pitch this piece of junk off some unnamed valley deep in the heart of the Rockies.
ok, I need one more picture of the park to settle down...
ahh, that's better
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John Denver - Country Roads
Almost heaven, west virginia
Blue ridge mountains, shenandoah river
Life is old there, older than the trees
Younger than the mountains, blowing like a breeze
Country roads, take me home
To the place, I be-long
West virginia, mountain momma
Take me home, country roads
All my mem'ries, gather 'round her
Miner's lady, stranger to blue water
Dark and dusty, painted on the sky
Misty taste of moonshine, teardrop in my eye
Country roads, take me home
To the place, I be-long
West virginia, mountain momma
Take me home, country roads
I hear her voice, in the mornin' hours she calls to me
The radio reminds me of my home far a-way
And drivin' down the road I get a feeling'
That I should have been home yesterday, yesterday
Country roads, take me home
To the place, I be-long
West virginia, mountain momma
Take me home, country roads
I chose this song of the day because I think John Denver is from Colorado, and these country roads are taking me home. Oh who am I kidding, I have no idea where "home" is, but it surely ain't LA...that's for surely.
