24 Degrees and SNOW!

August 19th arrived with the thermometer plummeting to twenty-four degrees and a dusting of snow on Trail Ridge Road in RMNP!  I do love snow and the mountains, so this was a gorgeous drive up the mountains!  The vegetation is beginning to brown on the tundra, the bull elk are rubbing their velvet off their antlers, wildflower abundancy is waning, and school bells are ringing in Colorado.  Fall is right around the corner.

Most of my Wisconsin co-workers have left, to school @ UW-Madison, Oshkosh and Lacrosse.  Veronica departed for the University of Nebraska, and yesterday, Ali returned to South Dakota where she attends Augustana. Lars flew home to Florida. Our crew is dwindling as summer comes to a close.  After Labor Day, our hours at the store will be shortened.

I have missed a couple of family friends' daughter's/son's weddings due to my adventures here, but I look forward to a beloved visitor arriving on Tuesday next week, so am working extra hours in anticipation of time off.

Here's what I have been up to in the last week:

• drove friends up the mountain after midnight for a spectacular view of the Persiad meteor shower and an awesome view of the Milky Way,
  
• frolicked with friends/my former educators in the park, stopped at Trail Ridge Store, looked for moose (with no luck), but enjoyed elk, yellow-bellied marmots, pikas, chipmunks and ground squirrels, viewed Grand Lake and Shadow Mountain Lake from Grand Lake Lodge, and nourished ourselves with burgers and brew @ Estes Park Brewery,
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  alpine sunflower

  

  king's crown

  
  
  
  
  
• arose early, and being escorted to Bear Lake by elk, we hiked to Nymph Lake, Dream Lake and Emerald Lake at around 11,000 feet before returning to Bear Lake with Hallett Peak looming over us all the way.  Venturing farther, Alluvial Fan was cold!  Then indulged in a 1:00 p.m. breakfast @ The Egg and I; then bid Brenda and Laura goodbye!

  

  Alluvial Fan with the Roaring River cascading down

  

  COLD!

  
  

  

  how heavy is one side of the elk's antlers?

  

  Bear Lake with Hallett Peak in background

  
  

  

  posing dragonfly

  

  trail beauty

  
  

  

  Emerald Lake

  

  high altitude hikers

  
  

  

  Emerald Lake

  

  trail beauty

  
  

  

  Dream Lake

  

  Stellar Jay

  
  

  

  elk escorting us to Bear Lake

  

  Nymph Lake reflection

• overheard a little boy say while on a trail, "This is the most beautiful place I've ever gone to the bathroom!",
• saw my first bear sleeping on a log,
  
• experienced an outdoor theater performance of "Paradise Protected" with Pat Parker at the historic Baldpate Inn, raising my umbrella several times.  The drama featured the fight of Enos Mills to establish this area as a national park with the help of John Muir, but constantly being opposed by local ranchers and lodge owners, 
  
• drove the shuttle van for the first time up the mountain to work, carrying my co-workers,
• learned about the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) history (1933-1942) and the legacies it left behind.  The CCC was established by Teddy Roosevelt to employ young men during the Depression and the Dust Bowl, resulting in the establishment of many trails/structures in national parks, as well as state and local parks.  The presenter spoke of "Nature Deficit Disorder" that our youth are suffering from due to their sedentary lifestyle.  PROMOTE YOUR FRIENDS, CHILDREN, GRANDCHILDREN, and RELATIVES TO GET OUT AND EXPERIENCE THE GRANDNESS OF NATURE, NO MATTER WHERE YOU LIVE,
  
    
  
• reveled in the new snow-laden landscape on the Rockies as I drove up the mountains, and later watched the Taiwanese play in the snow dusting, making a miniature snowman,

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• caught a bull elk with bloody antlers resulting from his velvety covering being rubbed off in preparation for the hunt for his mate,
  
• hiked down the Ute Trail from the Alpine Visitor Center to Milner Pass @ the Continental Divide with three of my hiking friends:  Alison, Sean and Teresa after working all day.  Lots of talking, reminiscing, and laughing occurred along the trail, as we descending about 1800 feet.  We witnessed a layered sunset of yellow, orange, blue and pink on the way down Trail Ridge Road.  We ended our evening with Chinese food, sampling each other's entrees,
  
  
               
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• and shed some tears as one of my friends drove away and had left a touching note.
  
• toured MacGregor Historic Ranch, homesteaded in the 1870s, where ranching still operates.  The ranch was donated to Estes Park in the 1970s with two stipulations:  it had to continue to function as a ranch, and educational programs had to be offered, as the recluse MacGregor relative didn't want today's youth to think meat came from cellophane.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• went on a scavenger hunt into RMNP in search of a bull moose.  Unsuccessful finding the male moose, but spotted elephantheads, a coyote, several herds of cow elk, two cow moose, a pair of sparing bull elk whose velvet was gone, marmots and pikas.  Quite a success!

  

  elephanthead flower

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

I close with fond thoughts of my family and friends that I miss often, but will be reconnecting with before I know it.

Love you all,
Amy