The Ute Trail

Our trip to Colorado filled me with memories to replay over and over in my head - to pull out as needed for years to come. However, if I am asked to name the highlight of the trip, I would have to say it was my hike on the Ute Trail. In my mind, it was more beautiful than the grandest cathedral and as closer to God than you will ever get kneeling at an alter.

As the name implies it is an old Native American trail used by the Utes and Arapahos to get over the Continental Divide. We started at the Alpine Visitors Center (which we will visit in the next Colorado post) at about 11,700' in elevation. Being this high is quite a feat for someone who has spent the better portion of his life at sea level. The altitude will tax you if you are not acclimated to it, but fortunately I did much better on this trip than I did 5 years ago. Back then I thought I was having a heart attack while we were visiting Mt. Evans, which is over 14,000'. People are not the only ones who struggle in this environment. It amazes me that any plant or animal can survive here. There can be strong winds, harsh light and eight months of winter, with falling snow recorded in every month of the year. In several of the following pictures you can see there is still snow lingering around even on a late July day.

The first picture is the view from the trail head. If you click to enlarge (which can be done on any picture) you can make out the trail itself in the lower left hand corner. The foreground at first appears fairly barren and full of rocks as we are in alpine tundra where no trees will survive. At this point it really did not matter to me what the ground looked like, I just ate up that distant view of the mountains and the high drama skies. I could be satisfied with that for a lifetime. However, on closer inspection you realize that the ground is not just covered in rocks, but also in little treasures living their lives, trying to attract attention and reproduce in the few short weeks of summer. The wildflowers were everywhere and July is their peak month. This left me with a dilemma - should I look up, out and beyond or look down and between the rocks - oh, and also make sure you don't take a misstep off of the path. I managed to compromise and do a little of each.

Sherpa Girl B. helped me with the identification of the wildflowers, and I have also checked out the only two reference books in the Norfolk Public Library system on Rocky Mountain flora. I hope I have gotten the names correct, but if anyone knows different, please let me know. The first one is Lidia obtusiloba - Alpine Sandwort.

I was glad to see one of my favorite group of plants represented by this Sedum lanceolatum.

Castilleja occidentalis - Western Paintbursh Yellow Form

Pedicularis groenlandica - Elephanthead

The portion of the trail we took is just over 4.5 miles, and about a third of the way through we began dropping in elevation and struggling trees and small ponds began to appear as we entered Forest Canyon Pass.

Here at slightly lower elevations the environment becomes less inhospitable and the plants take advantage of that.

Elk were easily seen at higher elevations in groups made up mainly of cows and juveniles. We spent about 15 minutes watching a herd on a very distant (they looked like ants) and nearly vertical snowbank, in what could only be some sort of frolic, chasing each other in ever expanding and contracting formations. The only bull elk we saw was this one, and as we turned a corner on the trail, here he was in all his glory, totally unconcerned with our presence.

The lower we descended the taller the trees got, and at first we were looking down on their crowns, but eventually came closer to their roots.

For us the trail ended near this rock formation above Poudre Lake at Milner Pass.

If you are ever in the Park, this is a great hike, and since we started at the top and worked downward, it was not as strenuous as you might think, plus it is easy access from the main park road, Trail Ridge Rd. If you would like to see the remainder of my pictures, including more of the wildflowers, please visit my flickr page.

Next Colorado Post: The Alpine Visitors Center