We all have pictures that are in some way our favorites though they may not really tell a very interesting story -- to other people. Mine will now be imposed on you -- unless you click off.
One of the delights of living in the mountains was hiking with my son -- yes, sometimes I hiked with my daughter too, but she preferred swimming and tennis. On this occasion, he (then 10 years old) had hiked the 6.2 miles with me up to Lawn Lake and we are spending the night at the Lawn Lake Patrol Cabin. When we got to the cabin we found it occupied, feared there was confusion in schedules and that we might have to sleep on the ground. After a few judicious questions, I found that the men -- Estes Park residents -- regularly broke into the cabin to spend the night. At that point, I pulled my badge out of my pocket and took over; THEY slept on the ground. Those of us in the educational division were not encouraged to get into law enforcement (and can do so now only if commissioned), but the Chief Ranger asked me to file a complaint and I had my only case before the U. S. Magistrate -- which I won, of course. My son, who graduated from the University of Virginia and UVa Law,is now an attorney and head of litigation in a prominent Washington law firm. [I think we are all pleased when our children are interested in our work, so I was delighted when Alden worked as a ranger at Cape Hatteras for two summers while he was at UVa.]
One of the sad facts of life is that people sometimes make mistakes in the Park and rescues are necessary. In the backcountry, many "carry outs" are now carried out by helicopter -- which makes it easier on the rangers and gets the victim to medical care more promptly. In this instance, I just happened to be at the Boulderfield and got a picture of a rescue helicopter in front of The Diamond of Longs Peak.
I think we are all fascinated by waterfalls. One of the questions visitors ask over and over is where they can see waterfalls. We don't have the great waterfalls of Yosemite, so Ouzel Falls in Wild Basin will have to do. Every time I see it I have the urge to put a camera on a tripod, set the exposure at about 1/8 second to get the cotton candy effect -- so I have lots of pictures of this waterfall.
I find storms fascinating. I particularly like to photograph lightning. There's nothing to it at night. You put your camera on a tripod, point it where the lightning is going to strike, open the shutter -- and wait..... Here we have a spectacular strike on Moraine Park which illuminated the meadow like a flashbulb.
I also find rainbows fascinating. When I saw this rainbow through the window, I had just come out of the shower. So before it vanished, I rushed into a raincoat -- for a good picture I wouldn't have bothered, but that year I lived in a compound with several houses and did not want to insult my neighbors -- and ran outside with my camera. (When I lived in Richmond, this picture, titled "Road to the Rainbow", was a winner in the annual photo contest of the Virginia Museum of Fine Art.)
On a conducted ranger trip, one day I looked back to see my party straggling down the Andrews Glacier and got this rather striking picture. Yes, there is another ranger bringing up the rear just to make sure everyone gets off the glacier safely.
Before leaving, I'll show you one more picture of the replica of the ranger uniform of 1920 which the Park had custom- made for me in 1976 with part of their "Bicentennial money". Even the riding boots were custom-made by a famous bootmaker in Omaha and have my name - in gold -- on the inside. The picture on the wall at the left is a picture of me taken 10 years ago by one of the Artists in Residence, and it just happened to be on exibit in the AIR room at Moraine Museum when a visitor took this picture -- and sent it to me a few days later. (Can you still get into the clothes you wore in 1976??)
I of course enjoy visiting other national parks and I particularly like the southwest -- the canyons, the arches and bridges, the Anasazi ruins. I made my first trip to the southwest in 1953 when things were rather primitive. The portion of the road shown here, gouged out of the cliffside only a week before my visit, was the BEST part of the road to Natural Bridges National Monument. On the right is a picture on that same trip of me, snapped by my companion, while taking the measure of Delicate Arch in Arches -- yes, I really am there at the left leg of the arch, though hard to see in this digitized version.
One of the most spectacular national parks I've visited is Gros Morne in Newfoundland, which has a wide variety of attractions: the tuckamore, the barachois, the Tablelands (a moon-like area where 2 tectonic plates grind together), the historic little Broom Point fishing village, and Western Brook Pond (an inland fiord, which has been dammed by its own sediment). Below, we're looking across Rocky Harbour, the "Estes Park" of Gros Morne, and Bonne Bay to the southern section of Gros Morne. The following view is from a boat trip on Western Brook Pond, with waterfalls sliding down from all sides.
But in the end there's nothing quite like Rocky Mountain National Park...
Windows to Wilderness 
... and nothing can quite compare with the view from my National Park Service house on the High Drive, particularly at dawn after a storm.
- This is THE END, Now what?
- Back to Grand Lake Area, Please
- Back to Trail Ridge Road, Please
- Back to Horseshoe Park, Please
- Back to Bear Lake page, Please
- Back to Wild Basin page, Please
- Back to NPS page, Please
- To Estes Park On-Line
- To the official Rocky Mountain National Park Website.