Blessed Not Lucky: The Hills Are Alive

Last August 4th, we spent an amazing day exploring the alpine tundra ecosystem in Rocky Mountain National Park near Estes Park, Colorado. Trail Ridge Road, a relentlessly winding and climbing road, led us to this netherland. The long drive was harrowing, with one crossover I will never forget for its petrifying nature. Usually on mountainous drives, I only feel as though I could fall down one side of the mountain (I mean I could at least try to cling to the other side), but at this one spot, I felt as though my precious family could tumble down on either side of the mountain instantly, depending on which way a huge gust of wind happened to blow! Yikes and double yikes!

Once we safely made it up there, it did feel like a scene out of The Sound of Music with acres of grasslands and the treeline miles below us. Sadly for me, it did not seem socially (or rangerly) acceptable to run and spin in wide circles with my arms spread out singing "The Hills Are Alive." Also, I was not wearing one of my Gretl costumes, so it probably wouldn't have felt as authentic as I would have liked. (Or at least that's what I'll forever tell myself!) Wow, it was breathtaking!

The wide expanse is cool, but just as cool are all the tiny flowers and creatures that live on the alpine tundra. We all got down close to see if we could spot the elusive flower that blooms just once after 20 years of growing.

We were given the rare treat of actually walking off the trail and on the tundra itself so that we could better explore its wonders.

The park ranger told us fascinating facts about how some very adaptable plants and animals survive in this harsh environment. Not much can live there, but anything that can has to be tough, tough, tough! I was hoping to spy a pika after we passed around photos of the animals to look for. We were fortunate to see elk resting near the top. Click on any of the photos to see them in more detail.

She also shared a bizarre story of two women whose scholarly dream was to live there for an entire winter season to study the alpine tundra's ecosystem and report on it for an advanced degree program. I was a little sad to learn that they could not make it and had to be rescued before completing their lofty and lonely goal. A memorable part of the story (legend?) was that the women had been great friends, but after living and working together through such harsh conditions and in such tight quarters (I think she called it a "shack"), they never spoke to each other again!

After the ranger's program, we trekked up to the very most tippy tippy top. It was windy and outrageously beautiful up there! This is the one place where I will admit that Mike's decision to purchase us ugly but protective hats really came in handy!

About an hour before we arrived at the alpine tundra, the twins had a spat, so we had to split them across the Continental Divide, and Pops joined in the fun! We also took a short hike and found one of the many pretty lakes in Colorado.

Then later we all settled in for a nice evening watching the kids play in the river outside our friends' cabin. And here they spent hours happily entertained solely by rocks and water and friends!