Paul & Tara Visit the National Parks: Rocky Mountain National Park Re-visited

the pristine Kawuneeche Valley

Last year we went to Denver for Independence Day. On our way there, we spent a lovely and exciting day in Rocky Mountain National Park.

This was our second visit to this high-alpine park. Our first visit was back in 2015.

Here's the blog post for our first visit:

https://paulnationalparks.blogspot.com/2017/10/rocky-mountain-national-park.html

This time, we entered the park on the west side, at the Grand Lake Entrance Station.

Lake Granby, just outside the park boundaries

Our first stop was at the Bowen/Baker trailhead. This trail leads into the "Never Summer Wilderness" We hiked for about an hour and just enjoyed the scenery. We crossed a wonderfully green and verdant meadow, and then hiked along a creek up into the forest. It was magical.

"In nature, nothing is perfect, and everything is perfect."

-Alice Walker

sign marking the boundary of the national park and the Never Summer Wilderness

Next stop was the Holzwarth Historic Site. In 1917, German immigrants John and Sophia Holzworth homesteaded in the Kawuneeche Valley just outside the boundaries of the newly established park. They ranched and operated a sawmill. As tourism at the nearby national park picked up, they opened a lodge for visitors to stay at while exploring the park. In 1974, the Holzwarth's youngest son, Johnnie, sold the lodge to The Nature Conservancy and the land was eventually transfered to the National Park Service and it became a part of the national park. It's a short walk from the main road to the site.

The humble beginnings of the Colorado River.

The headwaters of this mighty river are only a few miles north of this spot. The Colorado River flows for over 1,400 miles through the southwestern US before emptying into the Gulf of California in Mexico.

As we hiked to the Holzwarth Historic Site, the rain really started to pick up. We got dumped on!

Next, we took the Trail Ridge Road over the Continental Divide to the Alpine Visitor Center. This 48-mile stretch of highway is very impressive and no visit to the park would be complete without driving this scenic road. With a high point of 12,183 ft, the Trail Ridge Road is the highest continuous paved road in North America.