Overall, for us, this winter has been crazily mild.  While, we did have one spell in December that was cold enough to brown much of the ground vegetation that normally stays green in this part of the country, it has been much warmer than normal for most of the season.

Still, it’s not normal to have daffodils in January, but we have the first blossom of the year – and the forecast is for temperatures above 60°F (15.5°C) for the week ahead.

So is winter over?  Where is all the cold weather? Is this global warming?

Winter’s probably not over here.  Typically, our snowiest month is February, followed by March, and we’ve even had snow in April, though some years we don’t get any snow at all. Last year, on February 9th, we had nearly a foot, and that was the second snow of the week.

On the other hand, spring-like conditions in early February 2008 led to a tornado outbreak that killed 13 in Arkansas (55 in southern US) with widespread damage and power outages.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see more big storms or winter weather in the next month, this year.

While it’s been unusually warm here,the reverse is true in other places.  Alaska has seen some brutally cold weather, worse than normal, and very heavy snow in places.  Sea ice in the Bering Sea is moving south much earlier than normal – and it’s moving fast, threatening to halt the snow-crap harvesting at the peak of the season.  Very cold temperatures and strong winds are pushing the ice south at 10 to 15 miles a day, 5 times the normal rate, threatening $8 million worth of crap pots and other gear already in the water.

In my view, our warmer weather and the colder weather in Alaska are just regional climate variations, not global warming or cooling, not a direct manifestation of climate change, though change is coming – it always is.

Globally,  temperatures have been relatively stable over the last decade.

While warming alarmists tout the decade as the warmest on record, “relatively stable” for more than 10 years isn’t warming.

As I’ve said in previous posts, my view is that we are on the verge of a significant drop in global temperature.  When it starts, if it starts, is anyone’s guess.  The loss of heat may have already begun in the waters of the world, without yet being felt in the weather.

One ominous prediction, though, says that the coming cold may move the geographical center of the corn producing region of North America from Iowa south into Kansas.

I’d rather have global warming.

What has the weather been like recently for you?

Over the years, we’d been through Grand Junction at least 4 times, but had never stopped there or visited any of the local attractions.  After this trip, Colorado National Monument will certainly be a place we would like to visit again.

Colorado National Monument, established May 24, 1911, is located just to the west of Grand Junction.  Part of the larger Colorado Plateau, the monument features canyons that cut deep into sandstone and even granite formation.  It is high desert country, with elevation in the park ranging from 4000 feet to nearly 7000 feet above sea level.  Summer temperatures are usually very hot, while nighttime winter temperatures can be extremely cold.  Precipitation is limited, with an annual average of just over 10 inches..

The monument has a lot of hiking trails, with varying length and difficulty – we took two moderately long hikes during our visit, managing to wander off of the Devil’s Kitchen trail into and unmarked area.  We also took the Monument Canyon Trail from the upper trailhead to the Coke Ovens overlook and back.  The lower portion of the train from the lower trailhead to Independence Monument and back is highly recommended for visitors looking to do only one hike.  It’s a 2.5 mile hike that follows the base of sandstone cliffs, offering views of towering rock formations and, in the fall, it’s the best trail to see desert bighorn sheep.

Photos from Colorado National Monument have been published on the Exit78 facebook page in the “Colorado National Monument” album.

Selected Information Resources:

• National Park Service
• Wikipedia
• Wikitravel
• The American Southwest
• USA Today Travel Tips

Karen’s Post  – Colorado National Monument

As we had a few days before our next reservation – Arches National Park, – we decided to stop in an area we had only passed through before, Grand Junction, Colorado.  While we were there, we took a stroll down Main Street and discovered Grand Junction’s “Art on the Corner.”

While at Grand Junction, we also visited Colorado National Monument and The Museum of Western Colorado.

The name “Grand” is derived from the Grand River, the name for the upper Colorado River before it was renamed in 1921.  “Junction” is from the joining of the Colorado and Gunnison rivers, just southwest of the downtown area.

Selected Information Resources:

Grand Junction.

• Wikipedia
• Wikitravel
• Grand Junction Visitor & Convention Bureau
• City of Grand Junction
• The Daily Sentinel
• Grand Junction Downtown Partnership
  • Art on the Corner
• Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce

Museum of Western Colorado

We visited Rocky Mountain National Park in September, largely because it’s the prime period for viewing North American elk (wapiti) in the park.

In late summer and early autumn, elk descend from the high country to mountain valley meadows for the annual mating season.  Bull elk compete with each other for the right to breed with a herd of females.  Although the competition is high, it’s mostly posturing for the females as actual fighting results in injury and depletes energy.

One of the best – and most popular –  areas for viewing the elk is Moraine Park.  The word “park” used in place names in the Colorado Rockies often refers to a valley or meadow.  In this instance, Moraine Park is a long, glacier formed valley, with broad meadows at the lower end.

A moraine is a accumulation of boulders, stones and other debris deposited by a glacier.  Aptly named Moraine Park is bounded by moraines on three sides.  On the north and south, the valley is enclosed by lateral moraines, formed when the glacier deposited debris along its side.  Debris at the east end of the valley formed a terminal moraine against a small mountain.

A two lane paved road to the Fern Lake trailhead runs along the south side of the Moraine Park meadow.  In the cool evenings of the elk mating season, portions of the road are often jammed with cars and pedestrians watching the elk – what we like to call a “critter jam.”

While we were down along Fern Lake Road several evenings to view the elk, we didn’t take our car.  We could have taken the hiker shuttle bus, but didn’t do that either.  Instead, we walked.

Moraine Park campground is situated on the northern lateral moraine and there is a trail that goes down the hill to the meadow.  When we visited in 2009, our campsite was right next to the trail, but, this year, that site was, unfortunately, reserved, so we had to settle for a site a little further away.

Selected Information Resources:

Rocky Mountain National Park

• National Park Service– Rocky Mountain National Park
  • Suggested Hikes
  • Conditions and Closures
• Wikitravel
• Wikipedia

Estes Park

• Convention and Visitors Bureau
• Town of Estes Park
• Wikipedia
• Wikitravel
• Trail Gazette (newspaper)
• Stanley Hotel

Grand Lake

• Grand Lake Chamber of Commerce
• Wikipedia (the lake)
• Wikipedia (the town)
• Town of Grand Lake

This was our second time on this trail segment, which runs from the Bear Lake parking area to Emerald Lake and connects with other Bear Lake area trails.  We had hoped to make it to Emerald Lake if our legs, and the weather, held out.  The weather had been iffy overnight and during the morning.  Trail Ridge Road had been closed closed the night before and remained closed due to snow for the first time in the season. With rain threatening, instead of a hike that morning, we went into Estes Park.  After lunch and walking around Estes Park town center a bit more, we headed back into the park to the Bear Lake area trailhead.

The trail we chose goes to a trio of subalpine lakes – Nymph, Dream, and Emerald – in upper Tyndall Gorge.  The trail is well maintained and rises steadily over most of it’s 1.8 mile  length.  Difficulty is easy to moderate, but can be more difficult for those not acclimatized to the altitude as it climbs to over 10,000 feet.  We had already been in Colorado a week, so the altitude was less of an issue than it might have been otherwise.

From the Bear Lake area trails parking lot (9,475 ft.), the trail climbs steady for 1/2 mile, then levels off at about 9, 700 feet at the south end of  small, lily pad covered Nymph Lake.  The trail begins climbing again in the forest on the north end of Nymph Lake and levels off again at Dream Lake, 1.1 miles from the trail head and at an elevation of 9,912′ ft.  Dream Lake is .35 miles long.  The trail passes along its west shore.

We had hoped to make it all the way to Emerald Lake, 1.8 miles from the trailhead and 10,090 feet above sea level, but we turned back at the north end of Dream Lake due to deteriorating weather conditions.  Weather in the high country can be unpredictable, even in the middle of summer, but this was the middle of September and we’d already had some rain on our hike.  We had rain gear with us. However, it was already 3:30 PM and light rain was falling again, so we decided against pushing on ahead.

Selected Information
Resources:

Rocky Mountain National Park

• National Park Service– Rocky Mountain National Park
  • Suggested Hikes
  • Conditions and Closures
• Wikitravel
• Wikipedia

Estes Park

• Convention and Visitors Bureau
• Town of Estes Park
• Wikipedia
• Wikitravel
• Trail Gazette (newspaper)
• Stanley Hotel

Grand Lake

• Grand Lake Chamber of Commerce
• Wikipedia (the lake)
• Wikipedia (the town)
• Town of Grand Lake

On our four previous visits to Rocky Mountain National Park, we stayed one or more nights in the adjacent town of Estes Park. This time, we didn’t, as we were able to get reservations at Moraine Park Campground in the park for the duration of our planned visit.  As a result, we actually spent less time in Estes Park than any other visit – other than traveling through town and stops for fuel and groceries, just a short visit before and after lunch on September 15th, followed by an afternoon alpine hike back in the park.  It was an nice stroll along the street and into some of the shops – and much less crowded than our last visit on Labor Day weekend, 2009.

Estes Park, a town of just under 6,000 permanent residents, is a popular summer resort in the Front Range of the Colorado Rockies, though there are plenty of recreational opportunities during the rest of the year. Located at 7,522 feet above sea level, the town is at the east entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park. Tourism has been a primary business for the town for most of its history.  Lodging includes The Stanley Hotel, inspiration for the setting of Stephen King’s novel The Shining.  (We stayed in the hotel during our 2001 visit.)

The word “park” used in place names in the Colorado Rockies often refers to a valley or meadow. Estes Park, then, originally referred to the valley and was named after town founder Joel Estes.

The town experienced severe damage in July 1982 from flooding resulting from the failure of Lawn Lake Dam.

Additional information on the Lawn Lake Dam Failure, July 15, 1982:

• KOA TV Channel 4 – YouTube, 1982 footage
• Wikipedia
• Town of Estes Park

Selected Information
Resources:

Rocky Mountain National Park

• National Park Service– Rocky Mountain National Park
  • Suggested Hikes
  • Conditions and Closures
• Wikitravel
• Wikipedia

Estes Park

• Convention and Visitors Bureau
• Town of Estes Park
• Wikipedia
• Wikitravel
• Trail Gazette (newspaper)
• Stanley Hotel

Grand Lake

• Grand Lake Chamber of Commerce
• Wikipedia (the lake)
• Wikipedia (the town)
• Town of Grand Lake

Rocky Mountain National Park’s Trail Ridge Road (Wikipedia) crosses the park from Estes Park on the east to Grand Lake on the west. It is a segment of U.S. Highway 34 and is the highest continuous highway in the United States.  Crossing the Continental Divide at Milner Pass ((elev. 10,758 ft/3,279 m), it reaches its highest point at 12,183 ft (3,713 m), near Fall River Pass.

On this visit, the day we crossed on Trail Ridge Road to Grand Lake and back started out cool, with precipitation predicted.  We ran into a little rain and quite a bit of fog, some of which rolled in when we were on the Tundra Communities Trail, which climbs a couple hundred feet, starting at about 12, 100 ft. elevation.

On the way back to the campground, we stopped at the gift shop next to Alpine Visitor Center – at Fall Creek Pass – at a little after 3 PM to take a break from the fog and get a cup of coffee. However, the gift shop was closed, as was the visitor center.  The temperature had dropped from the mid 50s when we were there earlier in the day to 35°F.

About three hours after we made it back to the camper, the park service closed the road.

Selected Information
Resources:

Rocky Mountain National Park

• National Park Service– Rocky Mountain National Park
  • Suggested Hikes
  • Conditions and Closures
• Wikitravel
• Wikipedia

Estes Park

• Convention and Visitors Bureau
• Town of Estes Park
• Wikipedia
• Wikitravel
• Trail Gazette (newspaper)
• Stanley Hotel

Grand Lake

• Grand Lake Chamber of Commerce
• Wikipedia (the lake)
• Wikipedia (the town)
• Town of Grand Lake

Each time we visit Rocky Mountain National Park, we travel the Old Fall River Road from it’s junction with the modern Fall River Road, U.S. Highway 34.  The road is two-way and paved for the first 1.75 miles, passing Lawn Lake Trailhead, Lawn Lake Alluvial Fan, and the Endovalley Picnic Area.   The remaining 9.4 miles is winding, narrow,  unpaved and one-way from the picnic area  to above treeline at Fall River Pass, following the steep slope of Mount Chapin’s south face to it’s junction with Trail Ridge Road.

Old Fall River Road was built between 1913 and 1920.

The Lawn Lake Alluvial Fan is a particularly interesting recent geologic feature.  It was created when flood water and debris rushing down the steep and narrow Roaring River valley from a failed dam at Lawn Lake slowed down when it reached the broader Fall River valley, leaving behind an alluvial fan of debris.  When we first saw it over 20 years ago, the large Roaring River gully scoured by the flow and the alluvial fan were still a fairly fresh scar on the land, with little new vegetation. In the ensuing years, the scar has weathered some and vegetation has moved in.

Additional information on the Lawn Lake Dam Failure, July 15, 1982

Aerial view of Estes Park, July 15, 1982 (USGS)

• KOA TV Channel 4 – YouTube, 1982 footage
• Wikipedia
• Town of Estes Park

Lawn Lake alluvial fan from Trail Ridge Road

Selected Information
Resources:

Rocky Mountain National Park

• National Park Service– Rocky Mountain National Park
  • Suggested Hikes
  • Conditions and Closures
• Wikitravel
• Wikipedia

Estes Park

• Convention and Visitors Bureau
• Town of Estes Park
• Wikipedia
• Wikitravel
• Trail Gazette (newspaper)
• Stanley Hotel

Grand Lake

• Grand Lake Chamber of Commerce
• Wikipedia (the lake)
• Wikipedia (the town)
• Town of Grand Lake

International Space Station Commander Dan Burbank captured spectacular imagery of Comet Lovejoy as seen from about 240 miles above the Earth’s horizon on Wednesday, Dec. 21.