Last week at the Visitor Center, we picked up a driving guide for Trail Ridge Road. This 40 mile road takes you from the park's east side (where we are camped) across the Continental Divide all the way to the Grand Lake Entrance Station on the west side. Trail Ridge Road is the highest paved mountain road in the United States. It climbs to 12,183 feet where the climate and conditions are similar to those found near the Arctic Circle! We were excited to get above tree line. We got to bed nice and early.
We knew today would be a wonderful day, because we woke to a magnificent rainbow.
After eating breakfast and packing lunch, we jumped into Great White and began our climb - up, up, and more up. Soon we were looking down on Horseshoe Park (as used in this sense, a "park" is a mountain-enclosed meadow). The gray section to the left is an alluvial fan. Floodwaters deposited this debris in a matter of hours when a man-made earthen dam at Lawn Lake gave way in 1982. The raging water scoured the stream valley for five miles and deposited boulders, gravel and sand into the valley below in a rocky layer 44 feet thick!
There were a number of pull-outs which gave us a chance to see lots of peaks and valleys. We took tons of photos. We could only include here the "best of the best." To give you an idea of what it was like when we reached the Alpine Visitor Center, you can click on this link to a video showing a panorama of the view from Alpine Visitor Center.
We stopped inside the Visitor Center to talk to a Ranger about doing a hike on Sunday. The Ute Trail is an historic trail which leaves from the Visitor Center and goes across the alpine tundra down to Milner Pass. Along the way it crosses the Continental Divide! The Ranger suggested we start at Milner Pass, hike up in the morning, have lunch at the Visitor Center and then down in the afternoon. Great idea! We love talking to Park Rangers. Here is the view from his office down into the Fall River Valley:
We went outside on the deck and could look down on a herd of elk grazing near the stream.
We loved the colors of the glacial cirque across from the Visitor's Center. In the winter, this entire bowl fills up with wind blown snow. There is just a little bit left at this time of year, but, not to worry, they are predicting snow in the high elevations on Friday.
We stopped in the snack bar and picked up a mocha latte and hot chocolate. The stairs at the end of the parking lot were calling us. Although a very short hike, Alpine Ridge Trail is fairly steep, gaining more than 200 feet in just three-tenths of a mile. Combine this with being situated at an elevation of 12,000 feet and it's no wonder that this trail earned the nickname of "Huffers Hill." Due to the steepness of the terrain, trail crews had to build almost 225 steps in order for visitors to reach the top of the mountain.
Dave led the way. Kathy was still drinking her hot chocolate. The wind was ripping across the mountain summits. Dave turned to capture Kathy climbing up the Alpine Ridge Trail. Here we are on the summit bundled against the raging wind.
Once we reached the summit, we had an amazing 360 degree view. To take a peek, click on this link for a Panorama from the top of Alpine Ridge Trail. We couldn't stay up there long. The wind was just sucking the warmth right out of us. Kathy's hot chocolate quickly became iced chocolate milk.
After our successful summit, we left the Visitor's Center and descended to Milner Pass. From this point, on the Continental Divide, a raindrop will find its way to either the Atlantic or the Pacific, depending on a matter of feet in where it falls. From the look of it, Kathy is stuck in the middle.
Poudre Lake, just feet from the Continental Divide, releases its water into the Cache la Poudre River, which flows eastward to the Atlantic Ocean.
Just a few miles from Milner Pass is a picnic area near Lake Irene. We parked long enough to take a stroll around this small mountain lake.
As we descended into the Kawuneeche Valley, we got our first look at the Never Summer Mountains. This range is small and tall, covering only 25 square miles with a north-south length of 10 miles while rising to over 12,000 feet at over ten distinct peaks. Here the aspen are really starting to turn.
Kawuneeche Valley is a marshy valley of the Colorado River. The valley runs almost directly north to south. Kawuneeche means "valley of the coyote" in Arapaho Indian language. Coyotes still live here, as do elk, mule deer, moose and mountain lion. We didn't see any mountain lions, but we did see elk and mule deer.
We drove to the end of the valley and had a picnic at the Kawuneeche Visitor's Center. After lunch, we strolled through the displays and made plans to come back some day and camp at the Timber Creek Campground and hike to all the cool places we won't have a chance to visit this time.
Before long, it was time to turn around and go back up and over the mountains. We made a couple more stops on the way back to catch the overlooks we missed. This overlook gave us great views of Forest Canyon, Hayden Gorge and Gorge Lakes. Some sprinkle clouds were coming over the peaks, so we made a quick return to the truck.
We continued our drive down Trail Ridge Road. Looking back up at the mountains, you can really see the fall color starting to pop.

We soon found ourselves driving along the valley floor. We stopped at a little pull-out for the Beaver Pond Trail. This short little boardwalk takes you right out into the middle of the meadow. We didn't see any beaver, but the little babbling brook filled the meadow with its melodious music.
One of the most amazing things happened on our drive. We got to look DOWN on a rainbow! We started the day looking up at a rainbow and finished the day looking down on one. How cool is that!
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