Colorado

I have been to the edges of Colorado, but never the center.  So when Doug had to go to Albuquerque we decided to drive down and then up through the Rocky Mountains.  In spite of the fact that mines and drilling rigs are everywhere, the drive was amazing. I had no idea that there were 58 peaks over 14,000 feet in Colorado.  They are spectacular!  We started in Alamosa which is a tiny college town, and headed to the East and Great Sand Dunes National Park which I did not even know existed.  It was rather odd:  A huge expanse of sand with a river running through it, sort of a beach scene for the locals. The river was captured downstream by a dam, as were so many rivers coming out of the Sangre de Cristo  Mts.  The drought that the west has suffered over the last few years was very apparent here and everywhere: dried up lakes, boat docks to nowhere, dead plants. As we drove up route 285 towards Vail,  the mountains loomed large on either side of us. They are named after Ivy leage colleges and types of clouds among other things.  When we turned off to Leadville, we climbed up and crossed a couple of 10,000 foot passes before we reached Vail, and boy did I feel it as I had a headache induced, I am sure, from lack of oxygen.  We stayed in Vail, and the next day drove north to go through Rocky Mt Nat Park from west to east.  A storm was coming in and we could see the first big snowfall of the year following us up to the ll,000 foot pass in the park.  The park is beautiful, but so was the drive up from Alamosa.  The whole Rocky Mountain Range should be a National Park! However, it is suffering from too much love, and from pine bark beetles, and an uncontrolled elk population which caused the powers that be to allow hunting (!)  instead of introducing their natural predators (wolves) like they did in Yellowstone.  The whole situation is just terrible, as is the state of the country when it comes to the National Parks.  The GDFRs are winning, and our air and water quality are declining, and ability to enjoy the great outdoors without intrusion by mining and drilling is disappearing.  Drilling rigs and mines were everywhere, and the sound of pumping permeated the wilderness.  Say goodbye to pristine vistas and hello to smoke, dust, noise and destruction.