To Kansas Via Rocky Mountain National Park

Rocky Mountain National Park and Fort Collins are our next destinations.  We left Eagle following a great breakfast at the B & B, said our good-byes, and headed East on I-70.  We ended up taking kind of a back way to the park by getting off of the Interstate and on to Highway 131 at Wolcott.  Taking that highway to a secondary road called Trough Road, we then headed Eastward toward Kremmling and US 40, which will later connect with Highway 34 through the park.

That decision, although at times we kind of wondered, since Trough Road was a gravel road for many miles before changing into asphalt, was one of the more beautiful drives we have taken.  Following the Colorado River valley, we saw sights that not many tourists would see.  We were fairly alone on the road, only occasionally encountering a local, or perhaps a rafter.  This road, if you’re in the area, is a must-travel.

At Kremmling, we took a pit stop and found Highway 40, which in turn took us to Highway 34 at Granby.  That, by the way, is also the beginning of Highway 34.  Through the park, the highway is also known as Trail Ridge Road, the highest continuous highway in the United States, topping out at over 12,100 feet in elevation.  We were looking forward to the drive through the park, as neither of us had ever been there before.

The senior park pass we purchased at Black Canyon National Park (Ten dollars if you are 62 or over and a resident of the USA…gets you into pretty much all national parks and other federally-controlled areas where a fee is charged.) got us entrance to the park.  It’s a lifetime pass, and also buys discounts on camping, boating, and other fees.  It’s a bargain, because the entrance fee for one day to Black Canyon was $15, and the fee for RMNP was $20.  We got both for $10,and still have the pass, good for my lifetime.

If you don’t like mountain driving, don’t do this road.  If you do, and you drive, just watch the road and look at the scenery at the stopping places along the way.  The trip across Trail Ridge was a high point (literally as well as otherwise) for us.  We stopped at a rest area and hiked a trail that took us up another 250 or so feet in a half-mile distance to a rock outcropping that was a high spot in that area.  From there, beautiful vistas opened up to us, and we marveled at not only that, but also the mosses and fragile wild flowers that were growing there.  Far above the tree line, there isn’t much there except those kinds of plants.  And they are very fragile indeed.  Words don’t do justice to this park.

By the way, the tree line is a rather sharp demarcation of trees/no trees.  There is a small area of scrubby brush-like plants, but within just a relatively small change in elevation, the trees disappear.

We descended on the eastern side of the park and after going through a lot of winding roads and some towns, came to the front range…relatively flat and straight compared to where we had been.  I was tired from all of the mountain driving, and was glad to get to the hotel.  The woman who checked us in called next door at a steakhouse to see if we could be seated for dinner immediately.  We could, so we put our things in our room, and walked next door for a meal.  I was too tired to drive around trying to find a place to eat…and this was a good alternative to that.  The stay was uneventful at the motel, and we took off refreshed the next morning for Kansas.

Just before we left, however, we drove north of Fort Collins and found the radio stations operated by the federal government that provide accurate time signals for much of North America and anywhere one could receive the shortwave signals.  WWV is an old station, and is well-known to broadcast engineers, HAM operators, and others who rely on time signals for various purposes.  It also broadcasts an ultra-low frequency signal (60kHz) that is used by clocks and other devices that automatically set themselves to the correct time.

Of course, we couldn’t get entrance to the grounds, but I managed a couple of photos from the road next to the place.  We didn’t stay long as I didn’t want to arouse any suspicions that I might be there for some nefarious purpose.  We rejoined Highway 34 and headed east toward Kansas via Haigler, Nebraska.