higher than i have ever been before

goodbye denver. thank you for the wonderful time, adam and love thank you for having me in your home for a few days and enjoying our time together. after being in homes for the last two weeks or so, i am looking forward to being in my truck again. with homes i get too comfortable, i drink too much, i think i eat less, and in general i use the internet too much.

i drove west on colfax ave (business 70 highway 40) until i met back up with the expressway. for the fourth time, i jumped on the expressway and took it for about a half hour. i was tired of driving on the city streets, there was too much traffic and i didnt think that i would get much out of it because i 40 met up with 70 eventually anyway. so i took it until 40 split off again and started climbing.

up and up i went, through small mountain towns and beautiful forest. i was on my way to the rocky mountain national park. i decided to drive west and hit the park from the south and drive east through it. i think i made the proper decision. there wasnt much happening on the drive up to the park and i only stopped to fill up my gas tank. i was enjoying the wind whipping through my windows and the countryside sliding out the corner of my eye. i think there will be more on the east side and i will want to stop more often.

view from the top

i got to the park, flashed my annual pass and started the long drive to the visitors center. it was 20 miles of switchbacks and winding mountain roads before i got to the rocky mountain tundra, elevation 11, 796'. by far the highest i have been and finally above the tree line, into the tundra and hard pack snow that may not melt at all this season. thats how glaciers are formed. hard pack snow not melting in he summer and then being packed tighter and deeper over the seasons. eventually the mass becomes so heavy and dense that it starts sliding down the mountain at a slow pace, carving canyons as it goes.

right now i am sitting at the visitors center, but it isnt that great. it is packed up here and there is a small gift shop and store, and then the small visitors center. i was hoping for something like the grand canyon, it may be hard for me to find a place to steal away the night. for now, i will explore and maybe drive further east through the park.

well, this day turned out not to be a great day. i had high hopes, as you may have read from my noon time missive.

hey, i was there!

after i got done typing that up, i went and did a short hike up to the peak of whatever mountain i was on to a total height of 12,005' or 2.3 miles above sea level. there were a bunch of elk up there and it was pretty nice, except for all of the people fighting and yelling, running into the protected tundra area, crying, etc. that made it annoying. i was going to sit up there and finish reading my book, but i didnt feel like i could concentrate as well as i needed to. so i went back down and after milling about a bit, i decided to drive further through the park.

i had consulted the map prior and was pretty sure that there wouldnt be another thing until i was out of the park. and really, i was unhappy at the park being not very good. it costs $20 to get in if you dont have the pass but there isnt really anything to do. you can drive to the top of the mountain and then back down, there are trailheads but what fun is it to hike down a mountain? i drove and went very fast. i coasted the 21 miles back down to the east side town. i had driven about 100 miles over 4 or more hours and was about a half hour north of denver.

i was tired and not very happy. i had worked out a plan to be in the mountains for a couple days, thinking it would be like the grand canyon, but here i was just a bit north of denver and still plenty of light. i decided to drive to greeley colorado, which is only about an hour north of denver, but it crosses the highway i want to take north to cheyenne tomorrow. also, i feel like i had more things to say but now i have forgotten them.