LANDSCAPES FROM EDEN & BEARS

Left Rocky Mtn N.P. after another clear night and 10 meteors. Drove Trail Ridge Road above the forests into alpine tundra. Elk grazed in the high meadows above treeline. Trees will not grow when the average high temperature of the warmest month is below 49 degrees, in this part of Colorado treeline is about 11,500'. This is not to be confused with the "beeline" which is the temperature at which honey bees become active, which is 60 degrees. I hike the tundra to a point where I can see down the entire length of forest canyon, perhaps 15 miles. It is a deep forested gash in the earth with a range of mountains on either side, the western side defined by the continental divide and Longs Peak looming at the end of the chasm. Pika's and Marmots whistle at me. Pika's look like round fat mouses with rabbit ears, gathering grasses to bring to their burrow for winter sustenance. The Never Summer mountain range is socked in clouds with the slender beginnings of the Colorado river flowing beneath them.

The air at this elevation of 12,000+ feet is crisp. I hike atop a soft snowfield to the base of 800' tall lava cliffs. Landslides reache a third of the way up the cliffs with cool blue Iceberg Lake at the terminus of the landslide rubble, surrounded by snowfields and pink granite cliffs. Beyond this green tundra stretches for miles to the Mummy Range. It has the look of Ireland, green and lush.

I continue to roll down the other side of the divide to the hot dry desert plains between the mountains. Through Grand Lake, Kremmling, and the town that is a store and the store is the town - Toponos. Time may have stopped here where you can get everything from ammo, ice creame, and videos. I roll I70 into Glenwood Springs where it is a toasty 95 degrees. I camp right on the cool Colorado River and watch the traffic; rafters, kayakers, kids on tubes, kids in life jackets, trout fisherman on a big tube, a boat, geese, and oddly - a man on a surf board with a kayak paddle. I chill here for 2 days biking the 30 mile trail along the Colorado through the narrow twist of Glenwood Canyon. Above the raft put in and Xcel hydro plant is a wicked set of rapids known locally as "Death Rapids". The river narrows with steep drops, 3 foot standing waves, powerful chutes and big holes. A raft guide told me they were class VI rapids. Four Denverites apparantly tried to raft it and all 4 were killed. The nights cooled down nicely to mid 50's. Lighting flashed at night with the fire.