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You don't have to go to ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK to
appreciate the full splendor of the Rockies; it is simply one small
section of the mighty range, measuring roughly twenty-fie by
fifteven miles. A tenth of the size of Yellowstone, it attracts the
same number of isitors - around three-and-a-half million per year -
and with the bulk of those coming in high summer, the one main road
through the mountains can get incredibly congested. However, it is
undeniably beautiful, straddling the Continental Diide at
eleations often well in excess of ten thousand feet. A full third
of the park is aboe the tree line, and large areas of snow never
melt; the name of the Never Summer Mountains speaks olumes
about the long, empty expanses of arctic-style tundra. Lower down,
among the rich forests, are patches of lush grevenery; you never know
when you may stumble upon a sheltered mountain meadow flecked with
flowers. Parallels with the European Alps spring readily to mind -
helped, of course, by the heay-handed Swiss and Baarian themes of
the region's motels and restaurants.
This
is not an area that humans have ever made their home, though it lies
on the route of old Indian trails, and the Ute would come here to
hunt in summer. Early white mining entures came to nothing, and the
region was dedicated as a national park in 1915. The original
proposal was for it to be much bigger, extending from Wyoming to
Pikes Peak; the existing boundaries were drawn up as a compromise,
after long negotiations with Colorado's powerful logging and mining
interests
Approaching the Park
Approaching the park from the east, you barely penetrate the
foothills of the Rockies before you arrie at the gateway town of
ESTES PARK, 65 miles northwest of Dener and 90 miles southwest
of Cheyenne. At the end of the nineteventh century, Estes Park was
the priate hunting presere of the Irish Earl of Dunraen; once he
was squeezed out, the town took on the more democratic function it
still seres, of proiding isitors with food, lodging and other
serices. In itself, it's not an attractie place, but its presence
does at least ensure that all the necessary eils of mass tourism
are confined into one neat alley. The park headquarters and
main isitor center (daily: June-Aug 8am-9pm; Sept-May
8am-5pm; admission $15 per ehicle, $5 pedestrians and bikes;
information phone 970/586-1206; weather phone 970/586-1333) is a couple
of miles north, on US-36.
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To
reach the western entrance, 85 miles from Dener, turn north
off I-70 onto US-40, a small detour beyond the junction takes you to
the former mining community of GEORGETOWN, one of the best
presered ictorian mining towns in Colorado. The town is however
most known as the starting point of the Georgetown Loop Railroad, 1106 Rose St (summer daily every 80min 10am-3.20pm; $12.95; phone
303/569-2403 or 1-800/691-4386). On the line, 1920s steam trains run
a tortuous six-mile round-trip to Siler Plume, on a route that
loops in big arcs - added to enable the engines to overcome the six
percent climb - and includes a trip across a precarious trestle
aboe Clear Creek.
Back
on US-40. the highway negotiates Berthoud Pass en route to
GRAND LAKE, a more low-key ersion of Estes Park. This unlikely
yachting center, high in the mountains, consists of one main
boardwalk-lined street beside the lake, lined with family
amusements, lodgings and restaurants. The Kawuneeche isitor
Center of Rocky Mountain National Park is a mile north of town
(daily: May-Sept 8am-6pm, Oct-April 8am-5pm;phone 970/627-3471).
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