USA National Parks: Colorado

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USA National Parks 05-07-'08 to 18-07-'08

First, let me say that 1 ¼ hours is not enough to get from the international arrival gate to the domestic departure gate at Dallas for the flight to Denver! Perhaps I could also mention to check the hotel name carefully. The Denver Red Lion Hotel is now VQ or something and some other hotel is now the Red Lion. It makes a difference which one you get the airport shuttle to.

The following facts and figures are from our tour guide.

Rocky Mountain National Park

The 13th step of the State Parliament building in Denver is exactly 1 mile above seal level. Most of the buildings are brick because this was required after the disastrous fire in 1863.

On the way to the Frazer Valley we crossed the continental divide at a height of 3446 m. There was still snow on the mountain tops. It is interesting that pilots must not exceed 3,000 m (10,000 ft) without supplementary oxygen, but motorists can.

Many of the pine trees were dead or dying because the drought has caused an infestation of Mountain Pine Beetle.

This was a holiday weekend. We saw many BIG caravans (including the semitrailer type) and BIG mobile homes towing a car (often big) or ute by an A frame). There were few 16 m sized caravans. There were many motorcycles - almost always Harley Davidsons ridden by riders who were too tough to have to wear a helmet.

The trappers came into the Frazer Valley in the 1820s and were followed by settlers in the 1850s. The local Indians objected so they were put in a reservation in 1883.

We had lunch on the shore of Grand Lake and Beth bought a disposable camera because her camera refused to turn on. Consequently there will be few photos for the rest of this tour.

The road went through the Big Thompson River canyon that was steep sided and just wide enough for the road and river. It opened suddenly onto the prairies.

Colorado has 4.3 million people and is flat, high and dry.

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