Colorado 2004

	Chipmunk beggar	Clark's Nutcracker
Colorado Cumulus Clouds seem to go forever	Young Male Elk (Note)	Young Male Elk
Young Male Elk	2 Young Male Elk	Lava Cliffs (Note)
Long Peak	Mountain stream	Mt. Chuita
One sided pine trees (Note)	Snow fed lake	Snow still in August 12,000 ft. elevation
Terra Tomah Mt (Note)	Young Big Horn Sheep	Fall River Valley from high view
Fall River Valley from low view	Lawn Lake area, where the river flooded (Note)	Alluvial Fan
Motel from 1982

About 5pm we noticed a young elk buck that had come down out of the mountain. He was on the grassy level just above where our trailer was parked. Several people came out of their trailers to watch and take pictures and even though there were several people out and at least one barking dog, the elk just stood there and watche us. Finally he just sat down in the high grass and all you could see was his antlers above the grass. We went back inside and later came out to walk down to the office; the elk was gone. As we got farther down the hill, right behind the house where the park managers live, the elk was standing there eating some bushes. We went on down the hill and came up from the other side of the house and then we could see two young elk bucks. Before I could take my picture, one of them started back up the hill. Bill and Wanda said that when they got here in April, you could hardly drive through the park for all the elk walking around. During the summer they go farther up into the mountain forest and are just beginning to come down lower for the mating season. Last night, on our way to dinner, we saw several herds, including one huge male and his doe's, but we did not have the camera. (Back to picture)

These lava cliffs are at about 11,500 ft. elevation and were left here when volcanoes erupted. (Back to picture)

As you get higher in elevation, around 11,000 ft., you reach an altitude where the trees can barely survive because of the extreme conditions. These trees are in such high winds all year round that the leaves only grow on one side; the wind is coming from the left in this picture. (Back to picture)

This picture is of Mt. Terra Tomah, elevation 12,718 ft. This area was covered by glaciers during the ice age and the glacier has been estimated to have been 1,500 ft thick in this area. The left side of this mountain was scraped away as the glacier slid down this side, gradually moving down the valley area between the mountain and where we were viewing the mountain. (Back to picture)

If could see behind the mountain where the river turns to the left, just as the shadow turns to sunlight, you could see where Lawn lake used to be. On the morning of July 15th, 1982, the dam of Lawn Lake failed and all the water came rushing down the river, down through the valley and on into the town of Estes Park. This dam failure created the 'alluvial fan' still seen today where much of the dirt and silt from the lake settled as the rushing water spread out as it came into the flat valley floor. The failure of the dam and the resulting destruction in the valley and Estes Park would have been just another river flood except for the fact that Lois, Scott, Ryan, sister Linda, brother Herb, Jan, Denise and Julie were staying in the 'Trails West Motel' right in Estes Park. Lois was training for a long bicycle ride and had left the motel early that morning riding up the valley road. She stopped along the river to look and listen to the beautiful river when a patrol officer stopped and told her that a dam had broken up river and that she needed to get back her motel and tell everyone to evacuate the area. She hurried back, but Herb just thought that she was kidding and would not leave. When the officer finally got to their motel, they only had time to take some of their stuff with them and they were directed to an area of much higher ground. The flood waters swept through that area and damaged and destroyed many homes and motels, but their motel was not harmed. They were finally allowed back into their rooms later that same day. The motel just downstream from their motel was built closer to the river and was actually moved off its foundation. The town of Estes Park received a lot of destruction as the river bed runs right through the downtown area. Today, the Fall River is a quiet, peaceful river fed from melting snows from the upper reaches of Rocky Mountain National Park. (Back to pictures)