As you know I took a trip to the Rocky Mountains, and what would such an adventure as that be without some pictures?
I took over 600 of them, but I'm obviously not going to post all of them, nor am I going to post at least one shot of everyting I saw. Instead these are tid bits of different areas.
Truth be told pictures cannot fully capture the scope and beauty of what I experienced, but here's a go of it nonetheless...
THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS
This water is actually from snow melting in the middle of July
The first half of this trip was by car, which at times put me much closer to the edge of a cliff than I would have liked. Fortunately, there are sporadic spots along the way to pull over and it was those areas where I got out of the car to walk along the road to take some pictures.
You can see these people parked as close as they could to the side of the mountain (there's a small ditch next to their right wheels). Truth be told you had to drive about two more feet away from that point, putting you that much closer to the edge.
This is what they were looking at and where someone would fall into if they got too close to the edge.
This little fella right here is a Marmot.
Believe it or not it's actually a squirrel that's adapted to living in high altitudes, and it hibernates about 8 months out of the year.
I actually decided to take a little walk off the beaten path (actually there seemed to be a slightly worn foot path), and then when I decided to leave the path entirely for about a half hour I checked my compass so I knew which direction the road was in just in case I got lost...
And while running into a Mountain Lion or a Bear wasn't very likely I still had to keep looking out for both, especially since I wasn't around any other humans.
This was what I saw when I looked to my right...
And this is what I saw after I hiked away from any path...
Not the most comforting sign I saw along the way...
It was interesting to find myself among those same snowfields just a little later.
If you look at the upper right hand corner of this picture where the snow forms an over hang you'll see how much closer I am to it in the next picture
Standing in the same spot I swung the camera around to take a picture of my rental car in order to give you an idea of how large those small looking snowfields are when you're closer to their edge.
An avalanche at this moment would have probably gotten on my nerves.
I think this is amazing. You can see where a small section of the mountain broke away into a rock slide. Look at the size of the trees compared to the rubble pile left behind... Anyone walking there when it happened wouldn't have survived.
The top of the mountain to the left was actually sheared away by glaciers thousands of years ago.
You know that white line to the right of the road to let you know if you're leaving your lane..? This one is right at the very edge of a cliff...
The tops of those trees are only about 15 feet from the edge of the road so you can imagine the drop you'll have if you screw up even a little...
This is the next day when the real hiking began. The car was parked in a lot and it was just me and my back pack...
It was at this point that portions of the path became rather,.. interesting...
That's a picture of Allison above, a woman I met along the hike. I thought it was Hysterical that she was from Long Island. That's right, while hiking the Rocky Mountains I somehow meet up with a fellow New Yorker. I don't think I thanked her enough for making the trip an even more enjoyable experience. Her insights and conversation enhanced the experience.
Thank you, Allison
This is Dream Lake.. The next lake is a hike beyond that tree line up ahead...
... Where I reached Emerald Lake, which is about 1100 feet above sea level.
I now completely understand the song, Rocky Mountain High. It is an unbelievable feeling when you're walking through these great valleys and among the snow covered mountains and beautiful lakes.
The ride from the Rockies back to Denver...
This is the stair case to the Red Rocks Amphitheater. The climb alone makes you long for the days when Oxygen was readily available.
Standing on the stage...
This Rock is bigger than Niagra Falls
From the last row... It must be amazing to see a concert in this place.
If you look along the edge of the skyline to the left you'll see little bumps... That's the city of Denver...
The 16th Street Mall in downtown Denver. I had a Penne Pasta with sausage dish at an outdoor cafe here.. Great food, great atmosphere...
The ride home...
