127/365 Rocky Mountain National Park

I've visited the western U.S. before -- Yellowstone, Montana, Wyoming -- but never Colorado. My mom's brothers and their families constantly rave about how Colorado is The Place To Be, so my curiosity was thoroughly piqued before the trip.

And to be honest, the mountain scenery idea I had in my head, jagged, rocky peaks capped with snow... wasn't there. Until we drove through Rocky Mountain National Park on our way to Boulder.

Granted, the mountains didn't exactly have jagged peaks, but they rose above the tree line and still retained white snow in mid-July.

Acres and acres of lodgepole pines greeted us, but unfortunately much of it has shared the same demise of pines across the rest of the Routt National Forest: infestation of the Mountain pine beetle.

See this beautiful scene near the west entrance to the Park? Notice all the brown trees? It's not an early fall -- they've all become victims of the beetle.

As you drive across this section of Colorado, west of Denver, entire mountainsides of pines have been devastated by these beetles. At the ranch where Chase is working, and in many other areas, they are logging the dead trees, not as a way to combat it, but to remove the trees near the buildings because of the fire hazard they pose.

And what is ironic is that fire is one of the only ways the beetle can be stopped. They can weather water, winter, you name it. What many people don't realize is that fires are beneficial for landscapes like this, because they wipe out beetles, allow sunlight to reach the undergrowth, and let new life flourish. But with increasing populations of people who want a log cabin in the middle of nowhere, far from their neighbors, fires can't be allowed to happen. And yet that's what they need.

I couldn't believe how widespread the damage has become throughout the state.

Nevertheless, I was still captivated by the natural beauty of Rocky Mountain National Park.
The only wildlife we stumbled across were herds of elk -- large and small. These bulls -- velvet still on their antlers -- rested only about 40 feet from the road.
All other wildlife had wisely retreated away from curious eyes and sweltering temperatures.

Only one more day left of vacation, and I was not ready to go back to work!

Camera: Canon 40D, all around 2:00 p.m. under clear skies.
1st photo: 1/125s, f/8 at ISO 100
2nd and 3rd photos: 1/125s, f/11 at ISO 100