Alpine Visitor's Center Rocky Mountain National Park

This visitors center at Rocky Mountain National Park deserves a special post all its own along with some important facts about altitude sickness, so here goes....

Our first full day at Rocky Mountain National Park, hereafter referred to as RMNP, was a wonderful day of exploration, culminating at the Alpine Visitors Center, high up in elevation, over 11,500 feet in elevation.

This was a really great center and the "heartbeat" of the park, for the main reason that if you aren't careful, you can really feel the effects of "Acute Mountain Sickness" or high altitude sickness. Going from zero degrees in elevation to over 5,280 feet and higher very suddenly, like taking a flight into a high elevation destination, can cause some people, even very fit ones to have problems, if you overdo it. The owner of our condo told us about his nephew, a VERY fit young man, who came to town for a visit, and thought he was going to jump into the fitness craze of hiking and biking with no problems, and ended up in the hospital emergency room because he got VERY sick. Symptoms are a result of not enough oxygen getting into the lungs at high altitudes and moving from a low altitude to a high one very quickly, usually over 8,000 feet. Symptoms of the condition may range from mild to severe, and do not always occur immediately — in some cases, symptoms may not begin until you have been at a high altitude for more than 24 hours. Here are some common symptoms of altitude sickness and some steps you can take to prevent them: In most people, altitude sickness symptoms are usually mild and include--headaches which begin between 2-12 hours after reaching high altitude, dizziness, breathlessness, nausea and vomiting, disinterest in eating, trouble falling or staying asleep, coughing and persistent fatigue or weakness. Most cases will improve during this time, but it may help if you:

• don't exercise 
• drink plenty of fluids (but not alcohol) 
• don't smoke 
• rest until you feel better
• descend to a lower altitude if possible

Signs at the park say if you can't catch your breath after resting, experience severe pain of any kind that interferes with your enjoyment of your surroundings, or you are concerned about how you are feeling, to notify the park ranger. Before coming to this altitude, we really didn't know anything about the possible effects of the altitudes. Sparky had a headache since getting on the plane, but it took two full days for the headache to go away, even with medication. She now thinks that probably was a result of the quick altitude change. And by the way, the amount of oxygen is the same at no matter what altitude you are, 21%, but the oxygen molecules are spread out a lot more because of the decrease in air pressure, so you are getting 30-40% less oxygen into your lungs than at sea level. AHA! Something you always wanted to know and couldn't wait to ask. :-)

Back to the trail and the center....The Trail Ridge Road to the top of the park is the highest continuous paved road in North America, reaching 12, 183 feet. Every fall, the road closes for SEVEN months of "hibernation". It is totally "green"--no utility lines, no phone lines, no power except for a diesel generator. A dam below the VC collects snow melt and sewage is hauled away daily. The winters are harsh and long here....Snow can fall any time, even in the summer, which sometimes necessitates closing Trail Ridge Road. It takes 6 weeks to reopen the road, plows have to push through drifts sometimes as tall as 35 FEET. This sign stays up and doesn't come down in the summer!

Because the alpine tundra climate is so harsh, the treeline is about 11,400 feet. Above 11,000 feet, there are "banner" trees which are formed from relentless ice winds of up to 150 miles per hour at the mountain tops, so the trees form growth on only one side, making them look like a banner blowing in the wind. The trees cannot grow where the average daily temperature is below 50 degrees at this place in the park. Br-r-r-r-r..... Trees grow so slowly here that a tree trunk which is a few inches in diameter, may be as much as several HUNDRED years old!

courtesy of the internet

Sparky and Eldo learned a LOT from the visitors center...lots of cool exhibits about the flora and fauna of the alpine tundra...Some were on the animals that survive the bitter cold and have adapted--marmots, ptarmigans--birds that change completely in color from brown to white in the winters, and some exhibits were about the identification of tundra plants and flowers. One of the tundra flowers--a species of grandiflora which is one of the largest blooming flowers up here--2-4", grows leaves, stems and roots for up to 20 years or more. When it finally has enough energy to bloom, it blooms once, sets seeds and dies. It's definitely a harsh environment!

 And here is a view near the highest point in the park.....

All these photos were taken with the new iPhone 6S, which has a 12 megapixel camera in it now. Pretty darn good, don't you think? Sparky loves it. She tried taking photos with the little Canon point and shoot as well, but the iPhone photos just blew them away.....

The mountains and their majesty were just breathtaking...literally! We have never seen mountains this high, nor experienced RMNP ever before. We definitely plan to come back next summer. But we will ease ourselves into the altitude change a little more gently next time.

To come---tales from Breckenridge, a wonderful little town...Bye for now....

A Great Getaway to the Rocky Mountains! The First Day

Sparky has been suffering mightily with the heat and humidity this summer and into fall. So Eldo decided it's time for another road trip! We've been thinking about finding a place that's relatively cool during the hottest Florida summer month--August. Heck, they are all hot! (From April to October!) complains Sparky. Enough! says Eldo. We will research a spot and I think I've got one--How about Colorado? says E. Temperatures are chilly right now, he adds. Chilly???? asks Sparky. Let's go!

Eldy researched and researched and researched. Not only does he scour the internet for a place to stay that's reasonable--the price of a motel room for one night, usually, and a better rate than that for longer stays, he researches for HOURS and HOURS on the best flight, the best car rental option, etc. etc. So we found ourselves heading to the Rockies in Colorado, specifically, Breckenridge, CO, after Eldy worked out a heckuva deal. That man should find deals for a living! Most people would give up after a little bit of searching and settle for the cost. NOT Eldy!

Temperatures were averaging in the high fifties to low sixties during the last week of September, so that's when we went. Sparky got all excited--HIKING! BIKING! Whoopeeeeeeee! (Easy girl, says E. this is high altitude hiking country--9,000-12,000 feet) You have to be careful about altitude adjustment and altitude sickness. More about that later....

Provided by the condo owner when we checked in

Here's the condo he found--a mile and a half from downtown Breckenridge. There's free bus shuttle service all over town, but Sparky actually walked one way one day after breakfast, UP the hill all the way, 1.5 miles back to the condo. And that's at about 9,000 feet high. The price for four nights' stay was less than the cost of a motel room stay in the area. Two bedrooms, two baths...updated kitchen and just really really nice...even a gas fireplace! We used every night for our main source of heating, rather than use baseboard heat as the temperatures got down into the 30's at night! Sparky slept with the windows open under a heap of blankets with no baseboard heating on.  (Why, I have no idea! wonders E.) Actually, he understands. We like it cold. (But not THAT cold, counters E.)

The living area.....

And there was a really nice large deck out back, one of the biggest in the condo section, with a pretty view of pines out back and plenty of distance between this condo building and the next one. A beautiful red fox, who is evidently fed by local residents, comes around in the evenings for handouts. Sparky and Eldo were on the patio, when he showed up, not knowing he was on the tame side. When he started coming for the deck, with no sign of retreat, we headed inside. And there he sat at the door for a few minutes. Cool, but not cool in a way....

First day: We went exploring to Rocky Mountain National Park on the west entrance, Grand Lake. It was a little over a two hour trip from Breckenridge to the park on highway 40. We had never been to this national park before, so we took our time exploring. We drove all the way to the Alpine Visitor's Center, which is at the highest point of the park, 11,000-12,000 feet depending on where you stand while you are there. Sparky saw a hill she just HAD to climb. (With her, it's like if she sees steps, she has to climb them, explains E. Like lighthouses...she always has to climb the steps if it's open to the public.) Never mind that this hill, the Alpine Ridge trail gains 200 feet in high elevation in a matter of .3 of a mile. That's why people affectionately call it "Huffer Hill". You can hear everybody wheezing and huffing and puffing on their way up. Sparky, no exception. Remember, this was only her second day at this elevation. She had a mild headache as soon as we got here to Breckenridge. But--off she went! Here's the view from part way up the path, looking down...courtesy of Sparky's new iPhone 6S. AMAZING! The photo below is from the SECOND walk of the hike, two days later from the first one. It's the best shot of the trip, Sparky thinks, after they had had snow at the top of the mountains. A bone chilling 38 degrees at this shot and time of day. Sparky saw a young mother, toting a BABY up this hill, with NO HAT and very little protection against the elements other than a baby sling. Sparky was so angry, she almost called the mother out on this, but kept going, as sometimes she can be overbearing and embarrassing with her opinions. The wind chill alone probably made the temperature in the twenties this day.

On this trail, which was completely redone in 2010 because of extensive damage to the tundra from tourist traffic, you can see lots of beautiful plants in spring and summer: alpine forget-me-not, alpine clover, rock primrose, moss campion, and many other flowers. And even in September, you can see heart pounding, awesome views of the surrounding mountain ranges, appropriately named the Never Summer Mountains, composed of SEVENTEEN peaks!

Here's Sparky at the sign showing she did accomplish the heart pounding -right out of her chest -walk, with MANY stops along the way.

The visitors' center was really nice and very informative. Sparky and Eldo learned a lot about the alpine tundra habitat this high in the mountains. Sparky learned so much she's going to devote a second blog posting about the Alpine Visitors Center.

Tired, we headed back to our home in the sky back in Breckenridge...More to come!