Signal Hill Musings, Feb. 2018 ed., by Tom Shafer and Richard Seifried
This is the last edition of the exploits of two L&Cers (Lewis and Clarkers) from their nationally recognized (?) 2009 trip from St. Louis to one of our more peaceable oceans, the Pacific (“Violence is never the answer; I’m a Pacifist”). Journaling from the road for family, Richard and son-in-law Tom have now made their way to Colorado. Spoiler alert: someone gets high in Colorado. Wait, that doesn’t sound right. Spoiler alert again: because he was so high in the Rockies, someone really loves Colorado. Nope, that’s not it. Last spoiler alert: it is really easy to get high in Colorado — because of the mountains and altitude! Anyway, enjoy!
Sent: Monday, July 06, 2009 12:20 AM
Subject: Mooooooooose!!!
Hello all! Today’s focus was the moose in Rocky Mountain National Park. We saw a big bull in Yellowstone but were unable to get a picture because we were driving through a construction zone. We also wanted to see more elk, so after a very nice breakfast at our next door restaurant, we took off for the top of the world, Trail Ridge Road. Eleven miles of this road travel above 11,000 feet, placing it firmly in the alpine tundra zone. Here you can see two-foot tall evergreen trees that are over 200 years old! We took several little hikes along the drive, and of course took lots of pictures. We saw elk all over the road — and the trails we walked! Both of us loved
Thoughts of a Rocky Mountain NP elk: “What a delicious breakfast salad! A midmorning salad might be nice, and I sure hope salad is a lunch special. An afternoon salad might be a nice snack but a sumptuous dinner salad is what I’ve been thinking about all day.”
watching them. We stopped to take a break at one of the highest visitor centers in the world (the aptly named Alpine Visitor Center) for information and a snack.
Yellow cinquefoil in Rocky Mountain NP
Then, we continued our drive, watching elk and deer, and finally approached the other side of the park, the cute town of Grand Lake. Just as we were exiting the park, we saw a moose and child (a meese?) munching on willows near a little creek called the Colorado River (you can step across here as it leaves the Rocky Mountains where it is born)! We watched the meese for about ten minutes — and of course I snapped off a few pictures. The little one was so cute that we wanted to lasso it and bring it home with us. But, being the rational one, I convinced Richard that the little meese would eventually grow into a bigger moose, “. . . and then what would you do with it?” He was disappointed, but a quick, tasty lunch in Grand Lake healed the hurt nicely.
A meese perhaps a little too close to the southern end of her northbound mother
This is the moment where Richard is beckoning the little meese with Cheetos
and a peanut butter sandwich: “Here’s a nice Cheeto, little meesy!”
After lunch, we returned the same way we had come — and saw many of the elk still in their same places! We visited another section of the park, saw many more elk, and toured another visitor center (Falls River). After another delicious dinner, we went back into the park to look for animals and view the sunset. We saw more elk and deer and marmots, and watched
It’s a marmot race up on Alpine Ridge!
the nearly full moon rise over the mountains. Now back in the room, Richard is sleeping and I am getting ready to curl up with a book about the Scopes Monkey Trial (The Scopes Trial: A Brief History with Documents). Being a fellow teacher, I sure hope John Scopes wins this time. Goodnight from the Rocky Mountains; I have a big hike in front of me tomorrow, the last real day of our long but joyous expedition. L&Cers out
Sent: Monday, July 06, 2009 11:56 PM
Subject: Last day in Rocky Mountain National Park 🙁
Hello all! Well, this is it, perhaps my last report. We have had a glorious time here in the West following the trail of Lewis & Clark — and visiting with Steve and Nicholas and seeing our wondrous national parks. We started the day with another fine breakfast at our next door restaurant. Then, it was time to hit the park for the last time. Today’s plan was for me to take a big hike (Blue Lake) while Richard took some pictures (I found some .35mm film for his camera in Estes Park), did a little reading, and took a few little hikes. The hike I chose was twelve miles round trip and took me past two lakes, two big waterfalls, and up onto a saddle between two 14,000 foot mountains. I had a blast! There was quite a bit of elevation change, but it really didn’t seem that bad. The scenery, of course, was gorgeous! The first waterfall is a Rocky Mountain classic, Alberta Falls. I didn’t stop (no pictures) when I went by because I knew I would see it later on the return trip. The first lake (Mills Lake) sits at the near end of a hanging valley and is quite beautiful.
Say hello to my little friend!
Again, I didn’t really pause here because I would see it again, and I had business to attend to. The next falls, Ribbon Falls, lived up to its name — and was actually hard to follow because it dropped and dropped and dropped as I trudged up and up and up. Then I reached Black Lake, which also lived up to its name. It is very dark and deep, and looks a murky black because of its depth and the fact that it is tucked into the corner of this hanging
Approaching Black Lake, my saddle is in view —
white snow line upper middle of picture
valley. Then, I started the steep, unmarked climb to Blue Lake and the saddle. It was a little daunting because I hadn’t seen anyone for quite some time; the last hikers stopped at Ribbon Falls and I had been alone on the trail for over an hour. However, the climb wasn’t that bad until near the top where the trail turned to scree. Just as I reached the saddle, the weather that had been threatening cut loose. It poured rain, then sleet, then small hail — then I think it started doing all three at the same time! Five minutes before, I was pouring sweat in fifty-five degree weather; now I was shivering in a forty degree sleerainail storm! Fortunately, this lasted only ten minutes, and fifteen minutes after that it was sunny again. What fun! The view from the saddle was fabulous and short-lived because of the continuing threatening weather. Just down below the saddle, it started raining at Blue Lake, but again this lasted only fifteen minutes. I took many more pictures on the way down because the sun finally came out for good and provided great light. I stopped for lunch at the head of Mills Lake (cheese, elk jerky — sorry Aunt Diane! — an apple, and some orange taffy). I finished the hike, taking more pictures, and finally got back to the car at 2:30 (I had started at 7 a.m.).
Colorado columbine in Rocky Mountain NP
Richard and I decided that we wanted to see more elk, so we went back up on Trail Ridge Road — and we were so happy with our decision. We saw lots of elk (so Richard could get some pictures now that he had film), and the threatening weather created a great backdrop for any pictures that we took! We slowly made our way back to Estes Park where we freshened up before our dinner at a great little Italian restaurant in town, Momma Rose’s. We toasted our trip with a nice bottle of merlot — and another excellent dinner, and now Richard is sleeping and I am getting ready to get back to the Scopes Trial. I may or may not report tomorrow night from Hays, Kansas, so if not, I have enjoyed reporting our daily doings. This is a trip I would recommend for anyone looking to experience the beginning of our history of western expansion. With that said, we say Lewis and Clark rule — and so do our national parks!! L&Cers, over and out!
Threatening sky up on Trail Ridge Road
Elk feeding against the backdrop of Rocky Mountain NP and a threatening sky
An aster just below Black Lake
Interesting rock formations along Trail Ridge Road
A lovely hoary marmot keeping watch, not wearing one
Some sort of wild geranium along the trail
Sent: Tuesday, July 07, 2009 10:13 PM
Subject: One last report.
Hello all! We are here bedding down in Hays, Kansas, and I thought I might make one more report because of what happened this morning. The drive today was pretty (Route 50 through southern Kansas and the beautiful Flint Hills) and hot (94-95 degrees); Subway lunch (which was fine) and leftover dinner (from last evening’s meal at Momma Rose’s — yum, yum!). This morning, though, as we walked to our next door restaurant for our last breakfast in Estes Park, we saw a coyote playing in the large field across from the restaurant — the same field that fed twenty elk two days ago. He was jumping at magpies, lunging for ground squirrels, and generally having a good time. He must have played in the field for fifteen minutes! For me, this has been a trip of coyotes — I have seen them almost everywhere I’ve been. And since they are perhaps my favorite animal, I thought it was a truly fitting and wonderful way to finish our vacation. Okay, so I think this is our last report — unless something noteworthy happens tomorrow as we make our way to Richard’s lovely home in Eureka Springs! L&Cers, over and out
A cute, delicious deer eying my Jeep just outside Richard’s home in Arkansas
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