Rocky Mountain High

Labor Day Weekend

Four national parks lie within the state boundaries of Colorado and the flagship of those is Rocky Mountain National Park. Established by an act of congress in 1915, Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) preserves the glacier-carved valleys, sprawling tundra, unique wildlife, and cultural remnants of the Southern Rockies that have inspired Americans for generations. On this Labor Day weekend many of those Americans made time to visit and filled the parking lots and roads in the area to capacity. After not finding parking at our planned trailhead, my friend Ray and I went to the secret weapon. On the southeast side of the park, at an area far from the main entrance in Estes Park and the popular trails that lead into 14,259 -foot Long’s Peak, is a gravel road that sneaks into Wild Basin. It was still busy at the trailhead, but we found a spot to leave the car and take to the trails for a hike. We passed a number of families and couples as we followed the trail along St. Vrain Creek. The water beside us had started its trip from the continental divide not far from where we walked, within the boundaries of the park. By happenstance the rain drops that coalesced here in the creek dropped on the east side of the divide instead of the west where they would have drained to the Pacific Ocean. Instead, they would continue down St. Vrain Creek and out of the Park to  join the South Platte River on the edge of the Great Plains. The journey would be slow across the plains, a contrast to the rushing cascades we saw here as the river plunged out of the mountains. It would cross the expanse of Nebraska where it would converge with the Missouri River and bend south to join the Mississippi, eventually reaching the levees and dikes around New Orleans where it would ultimately pour into the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. Quite a trip if it goes all the way. Certainly much of the water here would be diverted to meet our needs on the fields of our farmers and out of  the faucets of our families.

Ouzel Falls, Rocky Mountain National Park

We continued along the rocky dirt trail, steeping over the blasted rock steps and hewn timber bridges to a view of Calypso Cascade, one of the main attractions for hikers in this area of the Park. We stopped to enjoy the tumbling waters but paused only for a moment as we still had another mile to ascend to our turnaround point: Ouzel Falls. Far fewer hikers made the trip beyond Calypso and it was nice to have some of the trail to ourselves. Up at this elevation we could see the earliest glimpses of autumn coming to the mountains; some of the aspens were showing splashes of golden leaves among the blanket of evergreens that typically cloaks these valleys. At Ouzel Falls, we cooled off on a large rock that stood at the edge of the fall’s misty spray. “Ouzel” is another name for the American Dipper, a small gray bird that feeds in rocky streams and earned its title on account of a whole-body bobbing behavior it displays between feeding. Staying long enough to enjoy the reward of our efforts, we conversed in the crisp air and over the sound of the descending water crashing into the rocks before us. Not a bad way to spend a day of leisure. Here’s to “the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations” that Labor Day was established to recognize.