I think it might be a crime against nature to come to the Boulder/Denver area and not go to Rocky Mountain National Park.  We Americans don’t take advantage of our national parks nearly enough, and this one is rather breathtaking.  Plus it’s less than an hour drive from Boulder!  This is what I told my friends Becky and Hilari when they came to visit recently…although I believe I was met with some anxiety.  I think the exact words were “just so you know, I don’t climb shit.”  What’s so funny about this is that it implies that I do!

While there are many amazingly hard (and easy) trails that you can follow through the park, Trail Ridge Road, the highest road in any national park, takes you up the mountains and to all the great look-outs.  And what do you know…look! They did, after all, start climbing things…

The road takes you all the way up to over 12,000 feet above sea level, where the alpine tundra ecosystem is above where trees can grow.  It’s a remarkably sensitive and quiet environment…and when you’re there you can’t help but be in awe of what you’re witnessing.

Apparently you also can’t help taking “glamour shots.”

The experience of seeing the majestic peaks of the Rocky Mountains is something that no one forgets once they’ve done it, and I feel lucky to be so close to that kind of magic.