Hiking at The Rocky Mountains National Park

Hiking at the Rocky Mountain National park was a lot of fun! The weather was in the mid 70s and sunny, just perfect. The hiking trails are well define and well taken care off. Following are just some of the pictures we took of some of the waterfalls and different lakes we came across in our hike.

Continental Divide

Here we are at Continental Divide at Milner Pass. The elevation here is 10,759.
The Continental Divide is a natural boundary line separating waters that flow into the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico from those that flow into the Pacific Ocean.

The sign reads: The "Great Divide" separates drainage to the Atlantic from drainage to the Pacific. It traverses America from Alaska almost to Cape Horn.
Atlantic Ocean Drainage. Cache La Poudre Creek drains into the Platte River, which flows to the Missiouri, then to the Mississippi, thus reaching the Gulf of Mexico (part of the Atlantic Ocean).
Pacific Ocean Drainage. Beaver Creek drains into the Colorado River which then flows through Grand Canyon National Park and on to the Gulf of California (a part of the Pacific Ocean).

Gordon standing on both sides of the continent. The picture does not show it but there is a line on the ground between Gordon's legs. His left foot is on the Pacific and his right foot on the Atlantic

The water from this lake continues and flows into the Pacific

The water from this lake continue and flow into the Atlantic.

A view from above of the canyon and the valley where Milner Pass is and the Continental Divide.

Happy Wedding Anniversary To Us!!!!

This year we celebrated our wedding anniversary on high! We celebrated at 12+ thousand feet high at the Rocky Mountain National Park:-) It is a BEAUTIFUL place.
We loved it there.

We stayed at a cottage at Estes Park (the town by the main entrances of this national park) and had access to the park easily. With our 7 days entrance pass we came in and out as we pleased. Following are some of the pictures of our first day there, July 15th, our wedding anniversary day:-)

This first day we did scenic drives. The views were spectacular! Very majestic! Somehow the mountains look smaller in the pictures. The pictures do not capture the distance,deepness/contrast of this place. The mountains canyons and valleys are huge when you are there in real life. To me, this was a very spiritual place.

As we drove, we stopped at different view points. We could not help but to do many of the short hikes up to the different view points.

Elevation 12,005 feet above see level

We are on top of the world!

Look at the beautiful Rockies behind me. They go further than the eye can see.

There are no trees at this area. Tress don't grow at this high altitude

Ran into some friends from northern California we had not seen in a few years. It was fun to catch up and visit with them. Above is a picture with them at the near by visitor center. Their children are not in the picture.
Can't believe we found Patsy, Joanna and family at 12,000 feet!

Here is when we are at lower elevation. Trees do grow in this area.

For part of the day we took the old scenic road. It took us to canyons and valleys, creeks, rivers, waterfalls, forest, and there were lots of wildflowers in this area. The mountains were always all around us everywhere we went.

This park is very clean and organize. The paths are very define and very well take care off.

Us and one of the many waterfall we found at viewing points

Gordon relaxing and enjoying the sounds of the water and nature by this creek/river

Rocky Mountain National Park Wild Flowers

Wild flowers are in bloom this time of the year in the Rocky Mountains National Park. Blooming happens later, July and August on the high mountains. We had a great time finding them as we walked along the different paths. Beautiful! Every flower we noticed was a delight and a treasure. Following are just a few of the many flowers. To see more click HERE

Our Cottage at Estes Park

At Estes Park, we stayed at a Bed and Breakfast Inn. It was really a few cottages that you can rent for 4 or more days. They are really nice and modern inside even with extra things like Jacuzzi tub, fire place, cable tv, some have kitchens (ours did not), and wireless. So we were able to use our computer and stay connected while we were there. Gordon loved sitting at the porch every morning to read for a while.

Gordon making friends with this Inn's dog. The dog was very tame and friendly.

This Inn is named after this nice dog. See the black dog welcome statute at the entrance of their main office.

Some of the other cottages at the Inn

Every morning we had breakfast with the other guest staying at the other cottages. Everyone talked about the places they visited and give each other tips on fun things to do in this area. Every breakfast was a small celebration of everyone's adventures of their visit at the Rocky Mountains National Park. The other guest were from Texas, and the Oklahoma, and Illinous, we were the only ones from California. They served big fancy breakfasts. We were so full each morning and were not hungy until about 4 P.M. each day.

Pikes Peak

We visited Pikes Peak. Pikes Peak is the most visited mountain in North America and the second most visited mountain in the world after Japan's Mount Fuji. Pikes Peak is 14,110 feet above sea level, and is the 31st highest peak out of 54 Colorado peaks. It is the farthest east of the big peaks of the Rocky Mountains chain.

It was a very full train station. Trains are going up and down to the summit all they long.

Waiting for our train time

Finally, our time came to board the train!

Close up of the train tracks that take the train up and down. Notice the middle rail has teeth that the train grabs to go up and and down.

At first there were lots of trees. It does not look like in the picture, but this train tracks are incline going up and up.

Getting higher and higher!

We went so high that now we were traveling above the tree line. It is so high, trees don't grow here.

Animals up this high. Look at them, they are beautiful!

The train that brought us up here

Pikes Peak was the inspiration for the author of the patriotic song America the Beautiful. This majestic song was written by Katharine Lee Bates, an English professor at Wellesley College, Massachusetts. In 1893, Bates came to Colorado Springs, Colorado, to teach a summer school session at Colorado College. She visited Pikes Peak several times during that summer and here is were she was inspired to write the words for such a beautiful song that later became to be a patriotic song.
The picture above is Gordon standing next to the words of America the Beautiful. The immediate reaction is to want to start singing it when you come to this place. Such a majestic feeling!


Too bad is was overcast and raining down below and the view was not clear to see out into the farthest distance. I can imagine how fantastic the view is in a clear blue sky day. But it is an experience to be here so high on top of the world! The world seems so huge!

Yes, here we are at the summit of Pikes Peak, 14,110 feet above see level! It was cold and even that it was windy, we found ourselves breathing more frequently using the nose and mouth.


Here we are back in the warm train ready for the trip back down the mountains. The altitude and cold weather was getting to us. They recommended to drink a lot of water to aid the body cope. At this high altitude the body has to very quickly produce double, maybe triple red blood cells to compensate for the change in oxygen level. So the body is very busy, working hard. After about 25 minutes of walking around, trying to see the different view points here is the summit, people want to sit down, have low energy, and some complained of feeling dizzy. But it's great to come here and be this high. Someone has to experience it to know what I'm talking about.