In the early 1970’s, Eleanor and I and the 4 children vacationed in Colorado. We made the trip by car from our home in Lincoln, Nebraska – stopping occasionally for rest and food. As we crossed into Colorado, we played our favorite game. Whoever first sees the mountains, will get a half dollar. This kept the children occupied for a while. One of them did win after a few miles into Colorado. We arrived at our destination – the Rocky Mountain National Park – late afternoon. After a brief stop at the Visitors’ Center we proceeded to the neighboring YMCA Camp where we were going to spend a week in “Klenkataki”, a cabin reserved for us. The cabin was special since it was donated by our office to the YMCA. It had three bedrooms plus a living area, kitchen, bath and loft. It was situated in an ideal location where we could view the mountains in the Rocky Mountain National Park. During the day we spent most of our time hiking and fishing in the Park. Hiking to the top of Flat Top Mountain was a real challenge but worth the effort, the views were tremendous. You begin to realize how vast and majestic this Universe really is. Fishing in clear water streams was a delight for the children. Just sitting on the banks and listening to the water rush by was invigorating and peaceful. The children expressed genuine happiness at catching a fish that they could see in the stream. The weather in the Park was very pleasant but chilly at higher elevations. So during the hikes it felt good to have a jacket. At 4:00p.m. it rained almost every day. It was no problem if you planned of it – in fact we looked forward to it. In the evening, when we returned to the cabin, the children took great pleasure in feeding the chipmunks that were all around and seemed very friendly. The week went by quickly and everyone expressed their feelings about the great feeling they had experiencing nature and the natural world outside of Lincoln, Nebraska.
Sincerely,
Rocky Mountain National Park
This dramatic landscape of towering mountains and alpine lakes encompasses more than 265,000 acres - 95% of which are designated wilderness. With this intentional focus on protecting this unique landscape, there are few developed infrastructure areas in the park, which leads to traffic problems in areas including the Bear Lake Road Corridor and right off Trail Ridge Road. Alpine tundra also encompasses approximately 1/3 of the park. Alpine tundra is a fundamental and fragile resource, which requires park managers to give this ecosystem increased attention for protection.
State(s): Colorado
Established: 1915
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