the estes park region became famous for its scenery during the height of the rocky mountain gold-fever half a century ago. while colorado was still a territory, its scenes were visited by helen hunt, anna dickinson, and isabella bird, all of whom sang the praises of this great hanging wild garden.
the park is a natural one,—a mingling of meadows, headlands, groves, winding streams deeply set in high mountains whose forested steeps and snowy, broken tops stand high and bold above its romantic loveliness. it is a marvelous grouping of gentleness and grandeur; an eloquent, wordless hymn, that is sung in silent, poetic pictures; a sublime garden miles in extent and all arranged with infinite care.
grace greenwood once declared that the skyline of this region, when seen from out in the great plains, loomed up like the alps from the plains of lombardy.[pg 338]
long's peak and estes park long's peak and estes park
long's peak, "king of the rocky mountains," dominates these scenes. around this peak, within a radius of fifteen miles, is a striking and composite grouping of the best features of the rocky mountain scenery. again and again i have explored every nook and height of this scenic mountain wilderness, enjoying its forests, lakes, and ca?ons during every month of the year.
frost and fire have had much to do with its lines and landscapes. ice has wrought bold sculptures, while fire made the graceful open gardens, forest-framed and flower-filled in the sun. the region was occupied by the ice king during the last glacial period. many rounded peaks, u-shaped, polished gorges, enormous morainal embankments, upwards of fifty lakes and tarns—almost the entire present striking landscape—were shaped through the ages by the slow sculpturing of the ice. forest fires have made marked changes, and many of the wide poetic places—the grassy parks—in the woods are largely due to severe and repeated burnings.
[pg 339]
this locality has been swept by fire again and again. most of the forest is less than two hundred years of age. during the past two hundred years, beginning with 1707, there have been no less than seven forest fires, two of which appear to have swept over most of the region. there probably were other fires, the records of which have vanished. the dates of these scourges and in many cases the extent of their ravages were burned into the annual rings of a number of trees which escaped with their lives and lived on, carrying these fire-records down to us. these fires, together with the erosion which followed, had something to do with the topography and the scenery of this section. there are a few ugly scars from recent fires, but most of the burned areas were reforested with reasonable promptness. some crags, however, may have lost for centuries their trees and vegetation. other areas, though losing trees, gained in meadows. i am strongly inclined to ascribe much of the openness—the existence even—of estes, allen's, and middle parks to repeated fires, some of which probably were severe. thus we[pg 340] may look down from the heights and enjoy the mingling beauty and grandeur of forest and meadow and still realize that fire, with all its destructiveness, may help to make the gardens of the earth.
a dozen species of trees form the forests of this section. these forests, delightfully inviting, cover the mountains below the altitude of eleven thousand feet. this rich robe, draping from the shoulders to the feet of the mountains, appears a dark purple from a distance. a great robe it hangs over every steep and slope, smooth, wrinkled, and torn; pierced with pinnacles and spires, gathered on terraces and headlands, uplifted on the swells, and torn by ca?ons. here and there this forest is beautified with a ragged-edged grass-plot, a lake, or a stream that flows, ever singing, on.
the trees which brave the heights and maintain the forest frontier among the storms, are the engelmann spruce, sub-alpine fir, arctic willow, black birch, quaking aspen, and limber pine. for the most part, timber-line is a trifle above eleven thousand feet, but in a few places[pg 341] the trees climb up almost to twelve thousand. most of the trees at timber-line are distorted and stunted by the hard conditions. snow covers and crushes them; cold chains their activity through the greater part of the year; the high winds drain their sap, persecute them with relentless sand-blasts, and break their limbs and roots.
among glacier-records in the rocky mountains those on the slopes of long's peak are pre-eminent for magnitude and interest. on the western slope of this peak the ice stream descended into the upper end of glacier gorge, where it united with streams from mt. barrat and mchenry peak. here it flowed northward for two miles through the now wonderfully ice-carved glacier gorge. beyond the gorge heavy ice rivers flooded down to this ice stream from thatch-top, taylor, otis, and hallett peaks. a mile beyond the gorge it was deflected to the east by the solid slopes of flat-top and mt. hallett. it descended to about the altitude of eight thousand feet. along its lower course, the lateral moraine on the south side dammed up a[pg 342] number of small water channels that drained the northern slope of battle mountain.
on the northern slope of the peak a boulder field begins at the altitude of thirteen thousand feet and descends over a wide field, then over a terraced slope. though probably not of great depth, it will average a mile wide and extends four miles down the slope. it contains an immense amount of material, enough to form a great mountain-peak. probably the greatest array of glacial débris is the mills moraine on the east side of the peak. this covers several thousand acres, consists of boulders, rock-fragments, and rock-flour, and in places is several hundred feet deep.
where has all this wreckage come from? some geologists have expressed the opinion that ages ago long's peak was two thousand or so feet higher. at the time of its great height, long's peak was united with the near surrounding peaks,—meeker, washington, and storm,—and all stood together as one peak. the present shattered condition of these peaks, their crumbling nature, the mountain masses of dé[pg 343]bris on the slopes below, all of which must have come from heights above, suggest this explanation. but to take it as it now is, to stand on this crumbling peak to-day and look down upon the lakes, moraines, polished gorges,—all the vast and varied glacial works and ruins,—is for the geological student startling and profoundly eloquent.
above the altitude of thirteen thousand feet are many fields of "eternal snow," and a dozen miles to the south of long's peak is the arapahoe glacier; while northward are the andrews, sprague, and hallett glaciers within ten miles. though all these are small, each exhibits in a striking manner the ice age in a nutshell. on the east side of long's peak, too, is a moving ice-field that might well be classed as a glacier. by this ice begins the upper extent of the mills moraine, and in the gorge just below—one of the most utterly wild places on the earth—is chasm lake.
most of the glacier lakes are in gorges or on terraces between the altitudes of eleven thousand and twelve thousand feet. almost all have[pg 344] a slope or steep rising above them, down which the ice descended while gouging out their basins.
grand lake, one of the largest reservoirs constructed by the ice king in the rocky mountains, is three miles in length and one in width, cut into bed-rock. this lake is less than nine thousand feet above the sea. it is in the eastern extremity of middle park, a few miles to the west of long's peak. great peaks rising from it, a great moraine sweeping along its northerly and westerly shores, it peacefully shows the titanic beautifying landscape labors of the ice.
the glacial winter is over. the present snowfall over this section is about one half that of the alps. here snow-line is thirteen thousand feet above the sea, while in the alps it is four thousand feet lower. down from the heights of all the high peaks pour many white streams ever singing the song of the sea.
in these mountains there are many deep gorges and ca?ons. most of these are short and ice-polished. the thompson ca?on is one of the longest and finest. its twenty miles of walled length is full of scenic contrasts and pict[pg 345]uresque varieties. the lovely mingles with the wild. in places its walls stand two thousand feet above the river and the daisies. the walls are many-formed, rugged, polished, perpendicular, terraced, and statuesque, and are adorned with panels of rusty veneer, with decorative lichen tracery or with vertical meadows of velvet moss. blossoms fill many niches with poetry, while shrubbery, concealing in its clinging the cracks in the wall, forms many a charming festoon.
in some stretches the parallel walls go straight away, well separated; then they curve, or crowd so closely that there is barely room for the river and the road. at intervals the walls sweep outward in short, grand semicircles and inclose ideal wild gardens of pines, grass, flowers, and the winding river. the river is ever varying its speed, its surface, and its song. here it is a boulder-framed mirror reflecting the aspens and the sky, there a stretch of foam-flow; now it rests in a wild pool pierced with sharp rocks, now it hurries on to plunge and roar over a terrace of rocks, then on, always on, toward the sea.[pg 346]
speckled and rainbow trout dart in the streams. mountain sheep climb and pose on the crags; bear, deer, and mountain lions are still occasionally seen prowling the woods or hurrying across the meadows. the wise coyote is also occasionally seen darting under cover, and he is frequently heard during the night. here among the evergreens is found that wee and audacious bit of intensely interesting and animated life, the frémont squirrel, and also, one of the dearest of all small animals, the merry chipmunk. within this territory are a number of beaver colonies, whose ways i have described in earlier chapters.
the entire region is a wild-flower garden. bloom-time lasts all summer long. the scores of streams which splash down from the snows are fringed with ferns and blossoms. there are many areas petalled with red, blue, purple, and gold. difference of altitude, topography, and moisture-distribution induce nearly a thousand varieties to bloom in and to color this glad wild garden. july is white with mariposa lilies. wild roses, sweet peas, daisies, tiger lilies, violets, orchids, primroses, fringed blue gentians give[pg 347] their color and their perfume to the friendly air. here flourishes the rocky mountain columbine.
the region is gladdened with many kinds of birds. on the heights lives the serene, self-contained ptarmigan; the "camp-bird" resides in the upland forests; hummingbirds flit here and there; the robin sings and re-sings its song over the lowlands; blackbirds swing on the willows by the brooks; the wise magpie spreads his spotted wings and explores every corner. along the cascading streams is the darling bird of the rockies, the cheerful water-ouzel. here, too, the hermit thrush charms the air with a wonderful wealth of melody, and here the solitaire, perhaps the most inspiring of all songsters, pours his divine melody amid pines, crags, and the sounds of winds and falling waters.
numerous trails wind through this region, and over these one may visit specimen mountain, an old volcano, fern and odessa lakes,—splendid tree-bordered alpine tarns,—wild basin, locke vale, wind river, glacier gorge, and the summit of long's peak. the flat-top trail is the greatest one; this touches a variety of scenes, crosses the continental divide at twelve thousand feet, and connects grand lake and estes park.
this splendid natural recreation-ground might well "be held for the use of the people." it is close to the geographical centre of the country, is easily accessible, has an excellent climate, and as a national park it would become a scenic resource of enormous and exhaustless richness.