Pine Bark Beetle infestation in Rocky Mountain NP

Below are two photos I took from the Fairview Overlook looking toward the Never Summer Mountains.  The first is from 2008, the second is from 2013.  Note the drastic increase in dead pine trees.

2008

2013

Home again

It's been a long couple of days driving home from Colorado.  When we passed through Rock Mountain NP the wildlife was really on display.  The first was a young moose in the Kawuneeche Valley not far from the west entrance.

Next were a  couple of herds of elk near the  Alpine Visitors Center.  In the first herd just west of the visitors center was a female with what appears to be a tracking collar.

The second herd had a couple of magnificent bucks.

Finally we saw some bighorns scamper across the road and I was lucky enough to get a distance shot before they disappeared.

Although the day was mostly overcast, I did manage to get a photo of a glacial valley with a horn and surrounding cirques.

This will probably be my last post for a while as I will be getting ready for classes to start in 3 weeks.

Success at Delicate Arch

Yesterday was a long day so I didn't post anything.  We started out with a trip to the Needles section of Canyonlands NP.  Here is a shot of Island in the Sky from Needles.

After getting back to Moab, we took a little break to rest up for the climb to Delicate Arch. While waiting for the sunset a ground squirrel made an appearance for the gathered crowd,  I don't know if he's learned this because people feed him, or what, but he was entertaining.

This was my fourth time up there since 2008 and I finally managed to get photos of Delicate Arch at a non-cloudy sunset!

While making the climb up to the arch, I blew out my favorite pair of sneakers :-(

 Today we went into the San Rafael Swell on the way to Goblin Valley State Park.

Hoodoos at Goblin Valley.  These may look familiar if you've seen the movie GalaxyQuest.

After leaving Goblin Valley we went to the Island in the Sky section of Canyonlands.

Tomorrow we will be leaving Moab and heading back east, passing through Rocky Mountain NP.

Today was a long road trip around Utah, Colorado and Arizona.  First stop was Mesa Verde NP.  This is a shot of Cliff Palace.

After Mesa Verde, the next stop was Four Corners, where Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah all meet.

After Four Corners, we drove to the Goosenecks of the San Juan River.

On the way back towards Bluff, there was a nice view of a classic monocline.

Returning to Moab, there was a thunderstorm in the distance and Amy was obsessed with getting some photos of the lightning.

Been off the grid for a couple of days.  On Friday traveled from Colorado Springs to Crawford CO to visit a friend.  Along the way we passed by Royal Gorge, but the bridge was closed because of the recent wildfires.

Just west of Poncha Springs, we passed the southern end of the Sawatch Mountains.

At Gunnison, we left Rt. 50 for CO 92 and began to climb up towards Fruitland Mesa. Along the way we got some glimpses of the Black Canyon.

After arriving at Rita's, we went to the Black Canyon Park proper for some more photos near sunset.

We also saw some wildlife on the way back.  The first were some elk in the park -

the second was Rita's Leopard tortoise Biko.

Today we made on more stop by the Black Canyon in the early morning before leaving for Moab.

We took SR 128 from I-70 into Moab, and it was a spectacular drive through the Triassic and Jurassic formations of the Colorado Plateau.

Will report back more from our travels around Moab tomorrow.

Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak

Went to Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak today.  The view of Pikes Peak from Garden of the Gods this morning was spectacular.

The monoliths of pebbly Lyons Sandstone in Garden of the Gods have been tilted to near-vertical by the Laramide Uplift of the Rocky Mountains.

There was some wildlife visible at Garden of the Gods - a mule deer.

Later we climbed Pikes Peak (by car).  The summit was wrapped in clouds, but I got some photos a little lower down.

And a close-up of the coarsely crystalline Pikes Peak Granite.

Tomorrow we leave for the Black Canyon area.

The Great American Desert

Left St. Louis and crossed what used to be called The Great American Desert (more commonly called the  Great Plains today). Below is a photo from the Kansas plains

We stopped in Hays KS to see the Sternberg Museum of Natural History.  There were some very good animatronic displays of Early Tertiary mammals and birds.  Here's a photo of one of the mammoths.

The trip across Kansas was long as usual and ran into another thunderstorm in eastern Colorado, just like last year, but the storm cleared as we reached Genoa and we were able to see Pikes Peak in the distance.

Reached Colorado Springs at sunset.  Will explore around Colorado Springs tomorrow before heading to Gunnison on Friday.

Rockin' Down the Road Again

Left NoVA for parts West again today (7/22).  Arrived in St. Louie after almost 14 hours of driving.  Road conditions were pretty good except for western MD (cloudy and rainy) and Indiana and Illinois (lots of road construction).

Will reach Colorado Springs tomorrow - will be good to see the Rockies again :-)