Day 9, Rocky Mountain National Park.

Coyote meadow, looking north.

On TV last night we saw that Rocky Mountain National Park had heavy snow, and was closed. This morning we have a beautiful clear sky. We started south on route 25 and turned west towards Estes Park. We began to rise and negotiated Big Thompson Canyon where we saw the first of several signs advising, ‘In case of flood, climb to safety.’

They must be running out of space. As we approached Estes Park, many new homes had been built with the front attached to the hillside and the rear dangling on stilts. It seems a neat town, but the sign posts for the Park were misleading and we ended up doubling back through a car park.

Coyote meadow, looking south. The den is just below.

In the Park we noticed a number of cars pulled over beside a vast meadow. “What is that animal?” I asked a lady Ranger. “A Coyote, she has a den on the far side of the meadow. I’m here to protect the Big Horn sheep. Coyote’s are their main predator, so I don’t much like them.” It turns out she is a volunteer who has been coming to Rocky Mountain for 12 years. Missus Coyote doubled back and forward across the meadow about a half mile away.

I’m getting used to hair pin bends. We ascend to 12,381 ft. The highest road in the USA. We stop often. The mountains are splashed with yesterdays snow. The sky is an intense blue. The views are awesome. There are no trees here, just tundra.