A Real Mountain Wilderness Rescue

After our conference was over yesterday, a colleague of mine, Glen Gray, from Los Angeles, and I drove up to the park and took a nice 3-hour hike up to the postcard lakes.  The rangers advised us that the trail was open to Nymph Lake, but getting to Dream Lake would be more difficult, since there was still a lot of snow covering the trail higher up..  They then warned us NOT to go past Dream Lake, since the trail up to Emerald Lake was still under slippery slushy snow and ice.

We made it to Nymph without problem (considering it's uphill!).  We pushed on, across occasional snow banks and berms, slipping and sliding, using my hiking staff, holding on to the rock walls on the ledges, etc. 

About 90% of the way to Dream Lake, we were surprised to encounter the search-and-rescue team coming down, carrying a stretcher-type of contraption, with a person strapped inside.  Obviously, someone had not heeded the warning, and had slipped and fallen and gotten hurt.  The person was apparently not in danger of dying, but was being carried down inside the rescue contraption.  The device had a single wheel to support the weight of the victim, while the team held it level. 

Since the lower 1/2 mile of trail consists of a lot of wood and rock stair-type steps, I imagine the poor victim was bounced around a whole lot on that single wheel before they got  back to the trailhead.

Anyway, the encounter provided a little excitement.  It's also good to know that there's a large cadre of well-trained, well-equipped, well-conditioned fit young people available to stabilize your condition, secure you, and carry you out by hand if you become completely debilitated out in the wilderness.

More Rockies WIldlife

If you're very careful, wildlife will ignore you, and walk right by you.  Yes, these are real coyotes, up close and personal, near the Moraine Park meadow in the Rocky Mountain National Park yesterday.

 Here are two hummingbirds.  Hummers are hyperactive, and they don't alight very often, and when they do, they don't sit still for very long, so it's kinda hard to take their picture.  But this one stayed put quite a while for me.

Here's a speckled trout in Dream Lake.  The wind was making ripples on the water. 

Here is a ptarmigan, walking on the snow.  They are about the size of a small chicken.

I finally got a photo of a Rocky Mountains moose!  Actually, two different moose in different locations.  The first one was near the headwaters of the Cache la Poudre River...

And the second one was just outside of Granby, over near Grand Lake.  The second one was in the shade, just about sunset, so the color didn't come out as well.  Both of these moose were on the western slope of the continental divide.  I've never seen a moose on the eastern side of the park. 

Here are some very colorful wildflowers up on the tundra, up near the Alpine visitor's center.  The tundra looks like bare rock from far off, but up close, it is soft mosses and lichens and dozens of different kinds of teeny-tiny miniature wildflowers like these. 

RMNP Lumpy Ridge Wildlife

Since I'm so slow hiking uphill (inching uphill is more like it), I have plenty of opportunity to stop and take pictures of wildlife.  There isn't much up on the rocks of Lumpy Ridge, but I got a few shots.

Below is something small that yipped.  I'm guessing it was a coyote pup.  The white spot on its tail is where the sunshine peeked through the trees... his tail was actually dark and bushy, but here you're seeing it edge on.  The little thing was about the size of a large cat, but this was no cat.  Knowing that where a coyote pup is walking around, there is likely to be a fully-grown coyote mama around somewhere nearby, I decided not to linger too much longer.

 This woodpecker was really busy.  You can see the holes he's made in the tree.

 This little chipmunk didn't have the eye stripes that many of them have.  Female, maybe?

 Here's a bunny that obviously was nearsighted.  I stood still and he wandered right up to me.  The sound of the camera shutter startled him and he jumped about 3 feet in the air and took off like a shot.

Lumpy Ridge and Gem Lake

Yesterday, I added four  more companies to my research project, completed a quickie audit, and still got the park by 1 pm.  This time, I tried a completely new (to me) section of the park called "Lumpy Ridge".  I parked at the bottom of the Gem Lake Trail, which is in the Estes Park Valley, and started up the trail.  And by up, I mean "UP".  This trail climbs, climbs, and climbs.  When you think you've reached the summit of Mt. Everest, you meet hikers coming down, who tell you, "buck up, you're almost halfway there..."

 This trail is not forested, but climbs up open rocks interspersed with occasional trees.  The name "lumpy ridge" comes from the rounded boulders, which make the whole area look like lumpy gravy.  I finally arrived at a lookout point, and was amazed at how far up I had climbed.

 Then I turned around and saw how far I had yet to climb.  The really bad news:  The photo below does not show the top!  It shows an intermediate ridge between me and the top! 

 Along the entire 2.4 miles of the Gem Lake Trail, there probably isn't more than 20 feet total that isn't climbing UP.  I go really slow when I'm climbing.  Asthma and Arthritis combine to make going uphill a lot more unpleasant that it used to be.  It took me almost four hours to walk (or mosey) the entire 2.4 miles and 1000 feet of elevation increase.

The picture below is fairly close to the top.  You can see the ridge in the upper center of the photo below, immediately behind the tall pine tree in the exact center of the piture... that is the intermediate ridge spoken about above, seen from the other side!  So you can see just how far I climbed.

 At the top of the trail (and still several hundred feet below the summit), I finally reached Gem Lake.

Gem Lake, while one of the "post card" lakes of the National Park, is a real disappointment, compared to the other postcard lakes.  Gem Lake is probably less than an eighth of an acre... about the size of our front yard.  Yes, it is picturesque, but it is so tiny, only frogs live in it.

 I'm sure if the day had been clearer, this would be a great shot.  But thunderstorms were brewing.
The trail does not go to the actual summit, but continues on into the wilderness.  I decided that Gem Lake was far enough.  Coming down took me only 45 minutes.  So now I can say that I've been to all eight of the Rocky Mountains National Park Postcard Lakes.

Slowing Down in my old age...

I finished my audit this morning, and headed for the Rockies, arriving about noon. 

The trails were in great shape, the weather was perfect, not too many people... 

To my amazement, however, I suffered from altitude sickness.  First time in many, many years this has happened!  I had it once before, the very first time I presented a paper at a conference in Copper Mountain west of Denver (elevation 10,400 feet), back around 2001 or so.  So I know exactly what it feels like:  dizziness, malaise, severe headache, ache in chest, out-of-breath, -- a very funny feeling.  

My arthritis is really crimping my style, too.   I'm not letting it stop me, but it has sure turned my "hiking" in "slow moseying".

Rocky Mountains - 2011

Reports indicated this past winter's snowfall was above average, and the cool spring temperatures were making the melting go slower than normal.   Sure enough, while the snow is mostly gone already, there is evidence that the meltwater was greater than in recent years. 

For example, the trail to Mills Lake (one of my top five favorite lakes to hike to) features two footbridges across a fairly-heavy-flowing stream.  Rangers reported that both bridges have been washed out completely, and that trail won't be open until August.

Another trail that is still snowed in, is the trail to Emerald Lake.  The trail is open to Nymph Lake and Dream Lake, but past Dream Lake, they said the trail is still slushy.  In past years, there has always been a few ice fields to cross, covering about 10% of the trail, but this year's reports say about 30% of the trail is still under snowbank. 

Surprisingly, the trail to the Loch is open.  In most years past, this trail was still iced over when I've been in the park in June, although last year for the very first time, I was able to make it up past the Loch up as far as Timberline Falls.  This year, surprisingly, the trail is supposed to be open again like last year.  My altitude sickness kept me from going this far, but I met plenty of people coming back from the Lock and their shoes weren't even muddy.

All of my other favorite trails are open, with about 5% intermittent snowbanks, water puddles, etc., just like normal.     You can see by comparing the pictures I took today (below)  with those from past years that the park is still as beautiful as it always is.

The weather today was gorgeous.  High was around 69, clear blue sky, lots of sunshine.  Glad I was wearing a short sleeve shirt.  And I'm ding-dang glad I was wearing SPF 90, too.

Click on the pics for the larger version.

Rocky Mountain Wildlife 2011

Yes, I know these look like the same animals from last year, but every one of the pictures was taken this afternoon, June 22, 2011.

 The elk flatly refused to look up at me.  I waited almost 10 solid minutes, and he never showed his head.

 The hummer below has been cropped... the full photograph is of a huge bush, and the hummingbird is so tiny, if I'd posted the full photo, no one would be able to see him.  My camera's speed setting was the fastest it would go, 1/1600th of a second, and still the little birdy's wings are blurred.

Five things I learned in Colorado today...

Number 1.  Apparently, Tuesday June 21, has been declared "Take-your-cows-riding-on-Interstate-70" Day.
Number 2.  Cows apparently become incontinent when riding on I-70.
Number 3.  The average 1500-pound cow apparently contains approximately 234,000 gallons of semi-liquid substances.
Number 4.  You know how fire trucks have those signs on the back that say "Stay back 50 feet"?  Well, cattle trucks in Colorado should have signs that say, "Stay back 50 miles".
Number 5.  If the interstate grass seems greener in Colorado, it is.  And there's a good reason for it.  See above.
Sorry, no pictures.  Suffice it to say that my car needs a bath.  Bad.  It, along with about 240,000 other cars that rode on I-70 today.  I wonder when "take your horses and llamas and sheep riding on I-70" Day is?

Six Things I Learned In Kansas Today

1.  The pictures of Kansas grainfields don't show the wind.
2.  The wind is certainly worth noting.  Constant.  Heavy.  Massive.  Irritating.
3.  If the amber waves of grain were liquid, Missouri would be awash in a 200-foot storm surge.
4.  These things are all over the place.  Relatively quiet.

 5.  I've heard of Texas Longhorns, but Kansas Longhorns?  Yep.

 6.  Just about every little town in Kansas has its huge, gorgeous church.  Kinda like Belgium.

 This one has a Franciscan Monastery beside it to the right.

Guess Where I Found This?

Hint:  It is right beside Interstate 64.   Which right away eliminates Kansas and Colorado.