Sensory Overload 07/11/20

Winding River RV Resort, Grand Lake, Colorado

As charcoal to embers and as wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.  ~ Proverbs 26:21

By the end of our 10-hour day today, we were on sensory overload.  It was our first real look at the Rocky Mountains – – ever – – and it began with a herd of elk crossing the road just as we entered the Park!  What a fantastic welcoming committee!

We saw soooo much throughout the day – – unfathomable scenery that included mountains of greater heights than we’ve ever seen, glimpses of the Colorado River, tons of wildflowers, and critters.  Lots of critters!  Lions and tigers and bears!  Oh, my!  Well, not those. But besides the initial elk herd, we saw (in order of size) pikas, crows (whoo hoo! 😊), a red-tailed hawk, marmots, deer, more elk (a few times), and a moose!  That’s a lot for one day!  And guess what?  That means lots of pictures – despite our efforts to try to cut back.  But there were things that ignited our sense of smell and hearing, too!  Inhaling the exceedingly fresh air, the faint scent of horses, the scent of pine, the sound of the wind blowing through those pines and quaking the aspen leaves, various critter noises, and the singing voices in my head.  There are probably things I’ve left out, but you get the idea.

As we drove and walked around this morning, I consistently heard John Denver’s voice in my head . . . The Colorado Rocky Mountain High.  I’ve seen it raining fire in the sky.  Talk to God and listen to the casual reply.  Rocky Mountain Hi – – iiiigh, Colorado . . . .

And so it was, until Blaine made a comment in the early afternoon about envisioning Maria dancing around on the mountaintop aka the Alpine Tundra, and then Julie Andrews joined John . . . The hills are alive with the sound of music, with songs they have sung for a thousand years.  The hills fill my heart with the sound of music, my heart wants to sing every song it hears . . .

And then my mother’s voice chimed in with one of her favorites . . . Majesty, worship His majesty!  Unto Jesus, be all glory, power and praise! . . . 

Not to be outdone, it wasn’t long before my friend Gail joined the chorus of praising voices with . . . Oh, beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain, for purple mountain majesties above the fruited plain . . .  

So many voices in my head!  Don’t tell anyone.  They may decide to take the key and lock me up.  Yeah.  Another song just popped in while I was typing, if you were paying attention.  Remember the children’s song, “London Bridge”?  Did you catch that?  This is often what’s going on in my mind.  A song for every occasion, and every occasion has a song.  At least most of the time.

Enough of that.  On with our day!

But first.

Don’t you hate it when I tease you into thinking you’re moving on to the main event, but I throw other unimportant information at you instead?  Sorry about that.  Apparently not really, or I wouldn’t do it, right?

Rocky Mountain National Park is currently requiring reservations to get in.  You get on-line and make a reservation to enter the Park within a 2-hour window.  There are only a certain number of reservations for each time slot available, and once all the time slots are full, they put up a sign before you enter that the Park’s full and you don’t get in, but if you have a reservation, you can leave and re-enter the Park throughout the day.  Blaine discovered this new procedure a month or so ago and purchased our $2 reservations for every day of our two-week visit.  Our time slot each day is 6-8am.  But.  We’ve since learned that because of the time we chose, we can enter the Park at any time during the day.  Now that we’re here, we’ve learned that quite a few (many?) people are showing up without a reservation and are unable to enter the Park.  Wouldn’t that be terrible?

Now, I really am moving on.  😊

We entered the Park at 6:41am this morning.  And once the elk had passed by, we drove up to the booth, and discovered that no one was there to check us in.  So apparently, if you get there before the Rangers in the morning, you can get in without a reservation – – and without paying the Park entrance fee.  Lucky ducks!

Our goal today was to take on about half the Park’s scenic Trail Ridge Road.  The entire thing is 48 miles long (one way) and runs from the Kawuneeche Visitor Center (on the east side of the park) over to the Estes Park Visitor Center on the west side.  Since we’ll be staying on the west side next week, we chose a spot to turn around and head back home, taking the Old Fall River Road for part of the way back, rather than the entire scenic road.  (more on that later)

There are quite a few different stops along the way – everything from overlooks where you park, jump out, take a picture and get back on the road, to stops where you can hike.  We skipped a few places, but stopped at many more, and some weren’t even listed on the National Park map.

The Continental Divide Trail was established by Congress in 1978. It spans 3,100 miles between Mexico and Canada, through five states. The highest point is Gray’s Peak, Colorado in the Arapahoe National Forest and is 14,278′.

I decided to break up the drive and include some facts about the Park’s Trail Ridge Road:

• 48 miles long, 11 miles of it above treeline
• Highest elevation, 12,183 feet
• Normally windy and 20 to 30 degrees colder than Estes Park or Grand Lake
• You can see Wyoming to the north, the Great Plains on the east, the Rockies on the south and west
• There are elk, pikas, marmots, ptarmigans and bighorn sheep (as you read, we saw no ptarmigans, which is a bird, and no bighorn sheep.  But who could complain??)
• 200 species of tiny alpine plants with a 40 day growing season
• Crosses the Continental Divide at Milner Pass, elevation 10,120 feet

We’re almost to the Alpine Visitor Center. It sits at 11,796′, but you can hike higher. They call this area the Alpine Tundra. Tundra is defined as a vast flat, treeless Arctic region in which the subsoil is permanently frozen.

Let’s take another break and learn something about these adorable creatures from the National Park Service!

Marmots are one of the largest members of the squirrel family. They can be two feet in length and weigh up to 11 pounds. Yellow-bellied marmots live in colonies of 10-20 individuals. They dig elaborate mazes of burrows underneath high elevation meadows and rocky fields. One male may protect a harem of females in a colony. Mating occurs in spring when they emerge from hibernation, and litter sizes average three to eight pups per female. As yearlings, both males and females leave their birth colony to form a new one and are very susceptible to predation. Roughly half of young marmots will survive their first year.

A marmot’s day consists of morning and evening feedings, while they spend the middle of the day and nights hidden in their burrows.

Marmots are omnivores and eat grasses, flowers, insects and even bird eggs when available. While feeding out in the open, one marmot stands as a sentinel and whistles sharply when danger is near. This gives each colony member a chance to escape into the nearest burrow entrance. When above ground, marmots spend much of their time fattening up and resting in the sunshine during the short growing season.

Before we begin the hike, let’s talk about what was across the street from the parking lot. Several Pikas were running around! Unfortunately, the little darlings were so fast, we weren’t able to snap any usable pictures. : (

Here’s a professional picture though, and some brief information on them provided by the National Park Service.

• Small mammals related to the rabbit family, even though they look more like a hamster or a guinea pig.
• Oval bodies that are only around 6 – 7 inches long and weigh just over six ounces.
• Short tail that is not externally visible on most individuals.
• Sharp curved claws and padded toes allow them to scamper around alpine rocks.
• Excellent hearing and vision to warn them of danger in their surroundings.
• Active year around–they do not hibernate.
• They dart through rocky areas and tunnels under snow.
• Vocal animals that use both calls and songs to communicate and protect their territories.
• A high-pitched “eek” warns other pikas of predators.
• Breeding season is in late May or early June while snow is still on the ground.
• Males sing to female mates.
• Gestation period is 30 days and litters of two to six hairless, blind infants are born.
• Females may have two litters a year and raise their young alone.
• After one month, the babies leave their mothers to establish their own dens, even though they don’t fully mature for another few months.

Pictures and information on elk brought to by someone other than the NPS:

They are among the largest and most abundant wild animals in Rocky Mountain National Park. As many at 3,200 elk are scattered throughout the park during the summer and fall months, with 600-800 elk spending winter in the park (where do the rest go??).  This count covers the entire Park.  According to a Ranger we talked to, the herd we saw is pretty much all there is on the west side.  Although he told us that “the big boys usually hang out in the Alpine area”.

• Their antlers are made of fast-growing bone that can grow as much as one inch in a day! The size of an elk’s antlers depends on how much sunlight they are exposed to. Biologists say that the Rocky Mountain West elk have the largest antlers of all the subspecies.
• Their bugle can reach pitches that are far too high to be made by just the elk’s voice box. Pay close attention and you will see he is moving both his lips and his nostrils. Remarkably, the bull elk is whistling and roaring at the same time.
• It has been found that the elks’ ankle bones make a distinct cracking noise when they walk and is believed to be another way to tell other elk they are approaching from behind.
• While it might seem a bit unorthodox, a bull elk’s mating process consists of wallowing in a mud bath to coat themselves with urine “perfume.” This is all in an attempt to lure and attract his mate.
• A bull elk can weigh up to 700 pounds and can run up to 40 miles per hour! 
• Researches have tested that when a female elk is given a choice between a male elk with 10 points and one with less than 10, the female will pick the make elk with 10 points.

Once we were ready to head home, we opted for the Old Fall River Road mentioned earlier.  It’s a 9-mile, one-way stone and dirt road that according to NPS was constructed in 1921, and was the first auto route in Rocky Mountain National Park offering access to the park’s high country and was the first route over the Continental Divide. It follows a route traveled long ago by Indian hunters who came for the abundant game.

State convicts built the three-mile stretch of road to Chasm Falls with only hand tools!  Today it’s a one-way gravel road that runs between Endovalley and the Alpine Visitor Center at Fall River Pass. It is narrow and has many switchbacks (hence trailers or vehicles over 25 feet are not allowed) but it is a beautiful and safe drive.

Look what we found alongside the road on the way home!

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We can’t move on until I tell you some things about moose, the last of the animals today. Aren’t you glad?

• Moose are the largest members of the deer family. On average, an adult moose stands between five and seven feet high at the shoulder. Large males can weigh as much as 1,500 pounds while females are roughly three-quarters of this size. 
• Bulls grow large antlers which can reach five feet across and weigh up to 77 pounds. Bulls use antlers during the fall mating season to spar or fight with other males as they compete for mates.
• Females, called cows, do not have antlers, but they select a bull based on his antler size.
• After the mating season, bulls begin dropping their antlers in the late fall to conserve energy for the winter. The antlers begin to grow again in early spring. They take three to five months to fully develop and are covered with velvety skin during this time. The size and growth of antlers depends on diet and age. Symmetrical antlers reflect the general health of the bull. Antlers typically grow back larger each year.
• Moose can eat up to 70 pounds of food per day, and live between 15-25 years.

Most of the walking/hiking we did today was high altitude, and we were exceedingly glad that we’ve been in training for the past months!  High altitude walking – especially uphill – is no joke!  Sometimes it’s hard to catch your breath, and your body parts (especially legs) don’t want to move as well as you’re used to.  Thankfully, neither of us experienced too terribly much difficulty, but altitude sickness is a real thing.  We were exhausted when we got home, like we’d hiked 15 miles uphill, but we hadn’t.  Every part ached and didn’t abate until sometime during the night.  And still, we woke up and weren’t able to function particularly well for the first few hours.

But we managed to work together to make the somewhat time-intensive dinner we’d planned – chicken broccoli casserole and blueberry muffins.  This meal was a staple in our home when the boys were growing up (plus applesauce).  Here are the recipes in case you’d like to try one or both.  No pictures though, as we were both too tired to think about it. (There’s more after the recipes this time. 😊)

CHICKEN BROCCOLI CASSEROLE

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed and cooked

2 packages frozen broccoli, thawed and drained, OR 2 bunches fresh, chopped

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/3 C. evaporated milk

2/3 C. Miracle Whip

1 ½ C. Velveeta cheese, sliced and torn up

Potato chips, crushed (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together soup, milk, Miracle Whip and Velveeta.  Layer broccoli, then chicken and top with sauce.  Sprinkle with crushed potato chips if desired.

Bake covered for 30-45 minutes, or till heated thru.

HINT:  I’ve made this in the crock pot before when pressed for time.  Put a small amount of soup mixture on the bottom, then broccoli, then uncooked chicken, then remaining soup.  Cook on low for 4-6 hours.  Personally, I like it better in the oven.  And another hint, if you cook chicken ahead of time and cube or shred it, then put it in individual bags in the freezer, when you’re ready for a pre-cooked chicken recipe, it cuts the prep time waaaay down.

BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

2 C. flour

1 C. sugar

½ t. salt

1 T double-acting baking powder

2 eggs

1 C. milk

¼ C. vegetable oil

1 C. blueberries (fresh or frozen)

3 T. flour (for dusting berries – prevents berries from settling on the bottom)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Grease 12 muffin cups.  In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, salt and baking powder with a fork.  In another bowl, beat eggs slightly then stir in milk and oil.

All at once, add egg mixture to flour mixture and stir just until moistened.  (Over-mixing causes toughness, batter should be lumpy) Coat the berries with the 3 T. flour and gently fold into batter (including any extra flour).  Spoon batter evenly into muffin pan.

Bake 20-25 minutes, until they are well risen and golden and a toothpick placed into the center comes out clean and dry.

Oh.  And just one more thing . . . . I didn’t take very many drive pictures today, because we’ll be driving the Trail Ridge Road to get to Estes Park on Thursday.  It’s either that, or drive an extra 100 miles to get there.  No.  Thank.  You.  Of course, if we sprouted wings and flew with the crows, it would only be 11 miles.  😊 Anyway, I was thinking that I’d save the drive pictures for the view from the motorhome.  I forgot that I was going to be driving the Jeep this time – following the coach, instead of sitting inside it.  Here’s a few I took after I realized that.

I imagine doing it this way saved a ton of picture taking!