All of my life, I had heard about the Rocky Mountains, and how spectacular they are.
Yet, in over 40 years, I still had not managed to visit them.
Oh, sure, there were the views from up high in planes as we flew over them. I remember two occasions specifically where we actually got fairly spectacular views. The first was in 1997, on our trip back from Seattle, when we flew over Montana and Wyoming, and the pilot (who said that he was a month away from retiring) was in the mood to tell us where we were, and what we were flying over. Not everyone on board was thrilled, although I enjoyed it! I remember the small thrill when he pointed out that those jagged peaks below us (a few miles off) were the Grand Tetons! And he told us as we were flying over the Rockies, and once we were past them. So, technically, that was my first real glimpse of the Rocky Mountains.
Then last year, on our way to Arizona, the pilot told us to brace for turbulence, as we were about to fly over the Rockies. Everyone tried to catch a glimpse, although we were actually surprisingly close, getting a very clear view of some of the peaks, which had some snow on them (although they were not exactly covered in snow).
Still, you cannot rightly claim to have visited the Rockies if you have not even been to one of the states or provinces that they run through, and that was the case with my son and I - until this trip.
This time, I made a point of trying to take at least a day in the Rockies, and ultimately, this proved surprisingly successful!
Yes, I would have liked to spend more time - much more time, frankly - in the Rockies. But on a trip where I was trying to give my son at least a small glimpse and taste of everything that the West offers, the Rockies were certainly something not to be missed. And I realized this could be done, having done some research and looked into the southern portion of Colorado, a state that had pretty much always fascinated me.
Last year, I wanted to make a point of visiting Mesa Verde, but time was just too short. Knowing what I have come to find out now, however, it was probably for the best that those plans last year had to be scrapped, because indeed, all of this takes much more time than it might at first seem. And when I say that we spent the day in Colorado, visiting the Rocky Mountains and then Mesa Verde, I do mean that we spent pretty much the entire day, from predawn hours to dark.
The day prior, we had visited the Grand Canyon's North Rim, which we found to be far smaller and more isolated than the more popular South Rim, which we had visited last year. By far smaller, I mean the amount of places that you can access by road on the North Rim are far fewer, although you can do it in a day. We got some spectacular views of the Grand Canyon nonetheless, and I am pleased to have made a point of visiting the North Rim, although if given the choice with another visit of the Grand Canyon, I would surely choose the South Rim, because it is far larger and offers more views.
In any case, we spent more time visiting there than expected. This was not entirely unexpected (after all, we are talking about the Grand Canyon here), but nonetheless set the schedule back a bit. Then, we happened to run into the Horseshoe Bend, which I had seen pictures of since last year, and really wanted to visit. We happened upon it almost accidentally, as I do not recall so much as seeing a sign for it, or anything. But as we were fast approaching Page, Arizona, there was suddenly a parking lot filled with cars, and tons of people climbing up and down one particular hill near the lot. Knowing that there had to be a good reason for this, and suspecting (really, hoping) that it was this famous Horseshoe Bend, we were blessed with the visit. I passed it initially, and turned around, pulled into the lot, and squeezed into the only parking spot that I saw available.
We climbed the hill ourselves, and then went down another quarter to half mile to the edge of the cliff that gave out on the truly spectacular view of the Horseshoe Bend! Again, this felt like a surprise blessing!
However, if we were running late by that point, this little excursion set us back perhaps by as much as an hour. Then, being in Page, the only town within a fifty mile radius of any significant size, and thus with options for food and gas, we decided to eat, which set us back still that much later.
And so it was that most of the driving was done in the dark, and it was fairly traumatic, in terms of being scared badly when we almost hit a couple of presumably wild horses. From that point onward, I drove much slower, and this likely set us back even more still.
So by the time we arrived on the outskirts of Durango, Colorado, the town that I had felt gave us the best chance of actually achieving a visit to the Rockies, it really was the wee hours of the morning, and there were hardly any cars in either direction that we saw on the roads at such an ungodly hour (it was past two in the morning).
The reservations were for the local KOA of Durango, and although I had called in advance (after finally getting reception about half an hour outside of the Grand Canyon), we were arriving at a ridiculous hour. The thought of pulling up in what surely would be (and was) a gravel lot, and then looking for our spot, was off-putting. Plus, we were not going to set up the tent at such an hour, completely in the dark, which meant that we would have to sleep in the car. And since we were sleeping in the car, why not just pull off to some quiet part on the side of the road, and sleep right there, not interrupting anyone else's night?
So, that is what we did.
Not surprisingly, my son had long since fallen asleep, so it was just for me to recline the seat and close my eyes. It took a while to fall asleep, but eventually, I did.
When my eyes reopened, there was the faintest light. It was still dark, and initially, the temptation to close my eyes and go back to sleep was strong. Yet, I could tell that it was actually just before dawn, as I could make out shapes more than just a few hours before. The excitement grew, as thoughts of capturing the Rocky Mountains at dawn danced through my head. Before long, I was fully awake!
The mountains were still vague shapes at this point, although I know that the camera seems to pick up the light more than the human eye, which would mean that it might pick up the landscape far better than I could see it.
So, I went outside (and boy was it chilly!), and snapped a few pictures, taking in the cool, refreshing mountain air. Between my excitement and the rather surprisingly cold morning, I was now not only awake, but filled with a new energy! Finally, this was the chance for my son and I to see the Rocky Mountains! How cool was that?
For some reason, my thoughts went to two women that I basically used to know who moved to Colorado. One was a classmate of mine from junior high school on, and she was extremely beautiful. Could not tell you how she looks now, although I do remember seeing a picture of her in her backyard, with the San Juan Mountains of Colorado in the background. As it turns out, the part of the Rockies that we were visiting were the San Juan Mountains, which immediately rang a bell, so it came to me that these must be the mountains that she saw in those pictures. The other woman was someone I knew in college, although I have not heard from her now in going on two decades, and she lives in Denver, which was still quite far from where we were.
When it was fully light (well, at least light enough for safer driving), I woke up my son enough to make sure that he was buckled, and then allowed him to go back to sleep, before pulling the car back on the road and heading toward Durango.
It was still mostly quiet, although by now, there was some morning commuters on the road. Life was beginning to stir in Durango, although there was something strange about it. The town was much smaller than I had previously thought, and the mountains, such as they were, also looked remarkably small, as well. Frankly, they hardly looked much bigger than the foothills back home in New Jersey! It was more than a little disappointing, but I was sure that there had to be more to this, and that someone could probably clear it up quickly.
Indeed, once we finally got to the KOA campground to shower and have breakfast and swim, it was cleared up. The campground was great, and also offered miniature golf, as well as a video about Colorado while we enjoyed breakfast (S'mores pancakes for both of us!). Everyone there was so friendly, it was amazing! Total strangers would smile and say hello, and trust me, coming from New Jersey, that was not something that I failed to notice! Not for the first time (or second or third or fourth, for that matter), I really began to question just how strong my commitment was to remain in Jersey, and if it was not having an adverse affecting on me, if I was not becoming part of the problem myself.
In any case, one of the women that we got to talking to told us all about the surrounding mountains. She said that the one actually in town were nothing, and that we should drive up someplace called "The Million Dollar Highway" to see some really tall peaks!
So, this we did. And boy, was she ever right!
That was when we started to see exactly the soaring type of alpine peaks that come to mind when you think about the Rocky Mountains!
However, she had warned us that the road was extremely curvy and steep, with no real space between you and a sheer cliff of hundreds of feet or meters. She was used to it and felt comfortable, and so it did not bother her. She did not give it a second thought.
Not sure how nervous I would have been or not, although we had plans to visit Mesa Verde while here, which meant that our exploring and admiring of these higher peaks of the Rockies would have to be done at a distance. For now, it would have to be enough to snap some pictures of these wonderful mountains, before we headed off towards Mesa Verde for a visit to yet another site which surely would be simply unbelievable!
The following pictures are some of the better ones that I was able to take during our day in the Rockies:
Engineer Mountain:
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