Crossing the Divide

I have often wondered where the middle of nowhere is and now I know. It is somewhere in the vicinity of northwestern Colorado and southwestern Wyoming, but I am ahead of myself. Tuesday began early as we broke camp in Estes Park and headed back into Rocky Mountain National Park for our journey over the continental divide and on to the Grand Teton/Yellowstone area. We chose to go the longer, more scenic route which led us over Trail Ridge Road in RMNP and up to an altitude of 12,300 feet. At the summit we hiked a half a mile (though in the thin air it felt more like 2 miles) to a survey marker that marked the highest point and gave distances to other national parks. We were 1200 miles from the Great Smokey Mountain National Park and only 700 miles from Yosemite. This really gave us a feeling of how far we have traveled. The views of the surrounding mountains and the alpine tundra were beautiful. After this brief interlude we headed down to the western entrance of Rocky Mountain National Park. On the way we saw a female moose with her two calves as well as several elk and deer. The caravan then exited the park and passed by Grand Lake, Colorado and Steam Boat Springs. We ate lunch at a roadside stand called the Dari-Delite in Hot Sulphur Springs, Colorado (good double cheeseburgers!). The group then settled in for the long drive across western Colorado (to Craig, CO where we headed north to Wyoming). The scenery was stunning and made the time pass relatively quickly. The journey was a long one and instead of the Brats on the grill we had planned for supper, we had McDonalds in Rock Springs, Wyoming (not good cheeseburgers...but did the trick). The sun was begining to set as we approached the Rockies again and gave us a spectacular sunset. We came into Jackson, Wyoming at dusk. It is a very pretty town. Unfortunately it was almost completely dark when we came into Grand Teton National Park and saw only the shadows of the mountains. We arrived in Moran Junction at 10:45 P.M. after a 14 hour drive (though we did stop several times). The drive was long, but well worth it given the varied and unique landscapes we were able to enjoy. The drive through southwestern Wyoming, however was the stretch of the trip that did seem to drag as there was little sign of civilization or much sign of life at all for many miles. The serenity of that landscape was enjoyable in its own way. We did have two moments of near heartstopping excitement during our journey Tuesday. The first occurred on a stretch of desolate highway in Wyoming when a tire on a semi immediately in front of us exploded. The sound was similar to a shotgun, then the road was covered with tire debris that we managed to avoid. The second was just as we were arriving in Moran Junction. A female elk walked out of the bushes on the side of the road and right into our path. We were travelling 45 MPH (10 miles under the speed limit), but were able to stop and avoid hitting her. She then calmly walked into the woods on the other side of the road. Katie was in the front passenger seat for both of these events and subsequently told Shannon she preferred to ride in the back. All in all it was a long, but wonderful day that included crossing the continental divide three times and many remarkable sights. We awoke this morning to a beautiful sunny day with views of the Tetons from our campsite. We are eagerly awaiting today's adventures.