June 24th, 2009
Scientists expect that climate change will raise minimum temperatures, reduce snowpack and snow melt; the region will become drier and experience more intense storms. Alpine-adapted birds like the ptarmigan and mammals like pika and bighorn sheep will lose population, making it more likely that visitors will leave, as I did, without spotting any bighorn. (I did see clusters of grazing elk.) Rodents may proliferate and spread disease. Habitat “generalists” like raccoon, coyote and elk will be better able to survive, though.
Climate change also threatens the lush areas at lower altitudes, like the lakes I hiked to before getting onto Trail Ridge Road. Naturally, the frequency of forest fires increases as such spots dry up. Scientists are monitoring all these changes, and the park service maintains an online research center for concerned or curious visitors.
Grand Lake, a small town at the park’s western exit point, offers boating and fishing but can be underwhelming after venturing across the Rockies. I used the town as a quick refueling spot on my way south, heading through beautiful but hyper-commercialized ski towns like Breckenridge and Vail toward a place I’d never visited before that turned out to be one of the great discoveries of my trip.
Glenwood Springs offers plentiful diversions for kids suffering scenery fatigue or back-seat boredom. Sulphur-scented hot springs may be the town’s reason for existence (the large pool built around them has a great, everyone’s-welcome social vibe after dark), but entrepreneurs have surrounded it with activities to match every taste — from a kooky little theme park, where some pretty impressive caves are paired with both terrifying rides and kitschy displays, to a luxurious spa built recently to let parents unwind after hearing the kids shriek for a few hours.
Drivers approaching Glenwood Springs from the east cut through the bottom of impressive Glenwood Canyon, but that Colorado River-etched path is nothing compared to the nearby, ominously named Black Canyon of the Gunnison. The lower depths of this spectacular hole in the earth are accessible to hardcore hikers, but the site is more easily experienced by taking the winding road along its south rim, where regularly spaced pullouts offer dramatic views.
Drivers can get from Glenwood Springs to Gunnison a number of ways, but going through Aspen toward Salida provides what, for me, is the essence of a Colorado road trip: twisting, sometimes treacherous drives through dense forests whose beauty will awe those who can bring themselves to keep looking out the window — not always an easy feat on mountain roads with shockingly narrow shoulders and practically nothing standing between you and a thousand-foot drop. (Nothing says “I trust you with my life” like letting a loved one get behind the wheel here.)
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