For many years the Front Range of the Rockies has been the mecca of the
mountain lovers of this country. The name conjures European ideas of
American mountain grandeur. The selection of this particular section,
with its magnificent and diversified scenic range, for national park
status, met with popular approval.
It is splendidly representative. In nobility, in calm dignity, in the
sheer glory of stalwart beauty, there is no mountain group to excel the
company of snow-capped veterans of all the ages which stands at
everlasting parade behind its grim, helmeted captain, Longs Peak.
There is probably no other scenic neighborhood of the first order which
combines mountain outlines so bold with a quality of beauty so intimate
and refined. Just to live in the valley in the eloquent and
ever-changing presence of these carved and tinted peaks is in itself
satisfaction. But to climb into their embrace, to know them in the
intimacy of their bare summits and their flowered glaciated gorges, is
to turn a new, unforgettable page in human experience.
[Illustration: BEAR LAKE, WITH MASSIVE LONGS PEAK IN THE BACKGROUND]
_Shelk photo._
This national park reaches lofty heights. The summer visitors who live
at the base of the great mountains are 8,000 feet, or more than a mile
and a half, above the level of the sea; while the mountains themselves
rise precipitously nearly a mile, and often even higher. Longs Peak, the
largest of them all, rises 14,255 feet above sea level, and most of the
other mountains in the Snowy Range, as it is sometimes called, are more
than 12,000 feet high; several are nearly as high as Longs Peak.
The valleys on both sides of this range and those which penetrate into
its recesses are dotted with parklike glades clothed in a profusion of
glowing wild flowers and watered with streams from the mountain snows
and glaciers. Forests of evergreens and silver-stemmed aspen separate
them.
This range was once a famous hunting ground for large game. Lord
Dunraven, a famous English sportsman, visited it to shoot its deer,
bear, and bighorn sheep, and acquired large holdings by purchase of
homesteadings and squatters' claims, much of which was reduced in the
contests that followed.
The range lies, roughly speaking, north and south. The gentler slope is
on the west. On the east side the descent from the Continental Divide is
precipitous in the extreme. Sheer drops of two or three thousand feet
into rock-bound gorges carpeted with snow patches and wild flowers are
common. Seen from the east-side valleys this range rises in daring
relief, craggy in outline, snow spattered, awe inspiring.
In the north-east corner lies a spur from the Continental Divide, the
Mummy Range, a tumbled majestic mountain mass which includes some of the
loftiest peaks and one of the finest glaciers.
To the south of Longs Peak the country grows even wilder. The range is a
succession of superb peaks. The southern park boundary unfortunately
cuts arbitrarily through a superlative massing of noble snow-covered
summits.
The west side, gentler in its slopes and less majestic in its mountain
massings, is a region of loveliness and wildness diversified by splendid
mountains, innumerable streams and lakes of great charm. Grand Lake,
which has railroad connections nearby, is one of the largest natural
lakes in Colorado and the deepest lake in this region.
One of the striking features of Rocky Mountain National Park is the easy
accessibility of these mountain tops. One may mount a horse after early
breakfast in the valley, ride up Flattop to enjoy one of the great views
of the world, and be back for late luncheon. The hardy foot traveler may
make better time than the horse on these mountain trails. One may cross
the Continental Divide from the hotels of one side to the hotels of the
other between early breakfast and late dinner or motor between these
points via the Trail Ridge Road in 2 hours.
The Trail Ridge Road, which crosses the Continental Divide, connects
Estes Park on the east side with Grand Lake on the west side. The road
reaches the unusual elevation of 12,183 feet above sea level. Another
road leads from the village of Estes Park up the Thompson River Valley
to the Bear Lake Entrance. It then follows up the valley of Glacier
Creek and ends at Bear Lake at the foot of Hallett Peak and Flattop
Mountain.