Monday, September 24, 2012
Our last national park on this trip was Rocky Mountain National Park. This was the first park for us to see on a cloudy day. It is amazing how much different seeing nature’s colors shrouded under gray clouds affects the vivid contrasts of rock shades. We did see fall coloring on the aspen trees which were amazing, especially the bright yellow of the aspen trees contrast to spruce and douglas fir green shades.
We drove to nearly 12,000 feet above sea level which equals two miles. At that height in the Rockies vegetation doesn’t grow (forget reason). The road we were on at times had you looking down into valleys on each side of the pavement, a bit unnerving.
By late afternoon the sun began to shine sporadically through the clouds giving us a beautiful drive down the mountain and trip back to Denver where we continue to enjoy fall colors.