Read Ebook: Rocky Mountain National Park Colorado by Alberts Edwin C

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The most common deciduous tree in the park is QUAKING ASPEN. It is immediately recognized by its smooth, white bark and small, green leaves that tremble with the slightest breeze, because of the curious flattening of the petiole, or leaf stalk, at right angles to the leaf blade. Aspen grows to considerable size in beautiful groves of tall trees, where the moisture and shelter are sufficient, but is more often seen in scrubby thickets on rocky, drier slopes. In September the leaves turn to a golden color, giving early autumn travelers a matchless visual experience. NARROW-LEAF COTTONWOOD grows along streams in the lower altitudes of the park. Many willows also occupy streambank environments, the most common being SCOULER WILLOW with characteristic willow leaves and large oval catkins, which are quite conspicuous in May and early June.

WATER BIRCH is a thin-leaved, graceful shrub, sometimes growing to tree size, commonly seen along streams in the lower forests. It can be recognized by its graceful, almost delicate appearance. THINLEAF ALDER, also abundant along streams, often grows in great clumps with many stems growing from the same root. Widespread throughout the West, the alder provides habitat for many bird groups. You may also recognize, by its leaf, ROCKY MOUNTAIN MAPLE, which grows here and there in the park up to about 11,000 feet.

The shrubs most commonly observed by the visitor are:

ANTELOPE BITTERBRUSH--a low, tough, much-branched shrub, with many fragrant, pale-yellow blossoms in May and June. Its leaves are less than 1 inch long, wedge-shaped and 3-toothed at the apex. The spindle-shaped seeds are important food for chipmunks and ground squirrels, and mule deer depend on the shrub for browse. BOULDER RASPBERRY--a common bush with showy, 5-petaled white blossoms, up to 3 inches across. During May and June this shrub adds much beauty to the landscape. Birds eat its berries avidly. WAX CURRANT--a common shrub found also in the highest forests--forms rounded clumps, 1 to 3 feet high, with rigid, much-branched stems and rounded leaves. The red berries ripen in summer and are eaten by many birds and small rodents. This plant is alternate host to blister rust , and much of it has been eradicated in areas where limber pine grows. SAGEBRUSH--a familiar plant in much of the West--in this park grows in a dwarf form, and is common in Glacier Basin and on the southwest slopes of Deer Mountain. This woody shrub, about 1 foot high, with 3-toothed, wedge-shaped, silvery leaves, is good forage for mule deer.

Conspicuous wildflowers that grow below 9,000 feet in the park and that will attract attention in their blossoming season are:

Early in the season--as early as March--AMERICAN PASQUEFLOWER exhibits its large lavender blossoms as a sign of spring. As the season advances, its blossoming follows the melting snow up the mountain slopes, where it may be seen into July. This flower looks somewhat like the garden crocus. It is covered with silky hairs--almost "fur-covered." Another early-blooming flower is COMMON STARLILY, often called "sandlily", which displays narrow grasslike leaves and white, stemless flowers in early spring. It is rare in the park, but abundant near the village of Estes Park during May.

STEMLESS TOWNSENDIA, locally called Easter-daisy, is another early bloomer--most abundant in May. The inch-wide flower heads are pale pink or white with yellow centers and are clustered on the crowns of the plant. It is one of the composite family and is easily recognized by the general similarity of the flower heads to those of the larger, taller oxeye-daisy. The arnicas have several representatives in the park region. An early-blooming variety is HEARTLEAF ARNICA which is common in the moist fields and open ponderosa pine forests in May and June. It has large, yellow composite blossoms, from 2 to 3 inches across; the heart-shaped leaves are best developed at the base of the stem. ROCKY MOUNTAIN IRIS is common in meadows of this zone, with its light-blue flower adding color to the "parks" of the region, where moist conditions permit its growth. SPREADING THERMOPSIS, or "golden banner," carpets the open areas with yellow during June and July. This common plant is a pea, as its flowers suggest, and as the long, flat seed pods prove. The flowers appear in clusters along the top of the stem. PLAINS ERYSIMUM, better known locally as "western wallflower," is also yellow, common, and conspicuous during June and early July. Sometimes mistaken for golden banner by visitors who drive rapidly past the meadows, it has quite a different flower pattern, being a mustard with spikes of many small, 4-petaled flowers.

FIREWEED, as its name suggests, commonly blooms on areas devastated by forest fire or other destructive agencies. Its silky seeds are easily carried by the wind to these areas, where it becomes dominant. It blooms from early July into September, and the deep-pink, 4-petaled flowers are borne in long, graceful spikes. It is a common roadside plant. MINER'S CANDLE is a hairy-stemmed plant with innumerable close-set clusters of small, white flowers throughout its stout, straight stem. It also is common along roadsides.

Autumn flowers become increasingly abundant in late summer. Conspicuous are the shrubby composites, including groundsels, sunflowers, and purple asters. While the peak of the flower display comes during July for this lower zone, many attractive wildflowers can be seen until mid-September.

The Middle Belt

Above an altitude of approximately 9,000 feet, the forests show a different aspect. This is another zone, called the Subalpine by some botanists and Canadian by others. It is characterized by forests of stately ENGELMANN SPRUCE and SUBALPINE FIR. You can tell one from the other by touching the needles. Spruce needles are 4-sided, rigid to the touch, and sharp-pointed; fir needles are flattened and softer to the touch. From your car, you can spot the firs by their erect, dark-colored cones, mostly high in the tree. This type of forest is the climax developed in this climatic belt, which receives twice as much snow and rain as the zone below. This relatively abundant moisture supports a luxuriant conifer cover. Wildflower gardens of rare beauty and startling luxuriance are found in natural openings within the forest. The distinctive blue COLORADO COLUMBINE, which ranges from the lowest elevations up to 13,000 feet, seems to reach its best development here.

Other plants of the open forests in this zone include WHITE GLOBE-FLOWER with its cream-colored, cup-shaped flower; COLUMBIA MONKSHOOD, with its helmeted blue or white flowers; ELKSLIP MARSH-MARIGOLD, with numerous oval white sepals often mistaken for petals; and the strikingly beautiful PARRY PRIMROSE, with clusters of brilliant purple flowers, often growing along the edge of a stream. Common shrubs include GREENES MOUNTAIN-ASH, whose large clusters of white flowers are replaced by bright red berries in autumn; BEARBERRY HONEYSUCKLE, better known in the Rockies as twinberry, a honeysuckle with large ovate leaves 3 to 5 inches long and pairs of yellow flowers; and wild AMERICAN RED RASPBERRY, with prickly stems, 5-petaled white flowers, and delicious red fruit, relished by birds and hikers alike.

In the cool, shadowed depths of the forest where light is dim, another community of plants is found, including CALYPSO, or "fairy-slipper," a dainty orchid with rose-colored blossoms formed in a curious slipperlike shape; the PYROLAS, a group of low, hardy perennial herbs with white or pink flowers having 5 thick petals and 10 stamens; SPOTTED CORALROOT, a plant which, getting its nourishment from decaying vegetation, has no green leaves, but bears purple-spotted flowers on its brown stem; and AMERICAN TWINFLOWER, a trailing plant of the honeysuckle family, often forming dense mats with upright, forked flower stems bearing a pair of pink, bell-shaped flowers.

The higher part of the Subalpine zone is often called Hudsonian for its biological similarity to the region around Hudson Bay. It is a sort of frontier zone where the climate is more severe. Not only is it colder, but it is much windier, and loss of water by evaporation is much greater than it is a thousand feet lower. Although spruce and fir remain the dominant species, they are usually shorter and less symmetrical in appearance. Near the upper limits of this zone the trees are twisted and grotesque, often flat and ground-hugging, sprawled behind boulders or fingering into the dwarf willow clumps so characteristic of the alpine mountaintops. Here, also, the only 5-needle pine in the park, LIMBER PINE, a rocky-soil tree of the Subalpine zone, assumes its most picturesque aspect. Limber pine at treeline is readily identified by its grotesque, twisted, ragged appearance. Several splendid specimens can be seen beside Trail Ridge Road about a half mile above Rainbow Curve. The name, limber pine, comes from the ease with which the branches can be bent without breaking. The cones are often 6 inches long, the largest of any conifer in Colorado.

Above Treeline

Above the Subalpine zone, whose upper limit is treeline, lies the Alpine, or Arctic-Alpine, zone. This is the distinctive "Land of Lilliput" of the plant kingdom, the alpine tundra, where nearly all existing plant species are in dwarf form. Some of the zone is barren rock, with only algae and lichen growth. Vast expanses of it, however, are covered with a cold, wet soil mantle which, during the brief summertime, presents a myriad of low, cushionlike flower clumps. Sometimes--usually through July--the effect is that of a vast carpet of flowers. The list of plant species is great. Showiest of the alpine flowers are ALPINE BUTTERCUP, with large, yellow, poppylike flowers, often blooming at the very edges of snowbanks; ALPINE FORGET-ME-NOT, which grows in dense, low clumps and presents thick patches of bright-blue flowers; MOSS SILENE , a mosslike cushion plant with pink flowers ; GRAYLOCKS ACTINEA, sometimes called "Old Man of the Mountain," with bright-yellow flower heads, usually wind-blown and ragged, almost as broad as the plant is tall; TUFTED PHLOX, better known here as "alpine phlox," the cushion of which is sometimes entirely covered with pale-blue or white flowers; AMERICAN BISTORT, with dense spikes of tiny flowers standing like miniature bottle brushes above the tundra grasses; KINGS CROWN, a fleshy plant with dark-red blossoms, the whole plant often turning completely red in late summer; and MT. WASHINGTON DRYAD, with its curious 8-petaled, cream-colored flowers.

Tundra is characteristically composed of grasses, sedges, herbs, and a few dwarfed shrubs. Many lichens and mosses also grow in tundra. The plants are typically small, low-growing, and compact, and often have showy flowers. There seems to be an abundance of blossoms in proportion to the size and amount of foliage of the plants. Their small leaves are protected from excessive water loss by masses of hairs or waxy substances, and they frequently contain high amounts of red pigment. Most of these plants are exceedingly slow-growing; some of those you see may be a hundred to several thousand years old.

The story of the park's trees and flowers is intensely interesting, but can best be understood by more careful study than is possible in this booklet. Several excellent botanical bulletins are available, and we urge you to invest in one of them.

ANIMAL LIFE

A National Park is a spacious natural reserve, and in it those creatures that have survived through the past are protected from harm by humans. They are not protected from each other, there being no attempt to change natural relationships of predator and prey.

Since the animals are in their natural habitats, and not in cages, you may not be able to see at close range the kinds of animals you may want to see at any time you like. Instead, you must expect to see them at their convenience, not yours. This requires careful, patient watching, but the rewards are great for the observant outdoorsman. An occasional glimpse of a bull elk grazing free in his native meadow may be more satisfying than the most detailed inspection of a confined creature in a zoological garden. Our society needs both types of experiences.

Although there are about 35 species of mammals in the park, this booklet can present brief descriptions of only a few of those likely to be of greatest interest.

Hoofed Mammals

The largest mammal of Rocky Mountain National Park is the AMERICAN ELK, or "wapiti." It is really a big deer--distinctly larger than the local mule deer and usually with a more reddish or brownish coat. The true American representative of the Old World elks is the moose, not found in Rocky Mountain National Park.

American elk were almost exterminated here by ruthless hunting in prepark days. Seventy animals introduced here in 1913 and 1914 from Yellowstone National Park made possible the present population of over 600 elk in this park.

During summer, the elk are usually high in the mountains, feeding on the lush grass of the widespread tundra and the forest glades. Their food consists mostly of grass, herbs, and twigs of woody plants. The summer is a short but prosperous time for these animals. Usually by early autumn, fierce storms in the high country put an end to days of ample forage, and most of the elk move down into the small meadows at lower altitudes. In late September, as the mating season begins and the bulls fight for possession of the herds, large groups of elk can be seen in such places as Horseshoe Park and Beaver Meadows. This is when the bugling challenges of the bulls can be heard echoing across the valleys. In November, this period ends and the more prosaic struggle for survival on the limited winter range begins.

Formerly, during winter, the elk could scatter well below the present site of Estes Park village; now they are "bottled up" within the park meadows, because of the encircling human developments. Or perhaps these introduced elk and their descendants never developed a more extensive winter migration pattern, for the more venturesome individuals among them would have been killed or harried by hunters in the lower country east of the park. In any case, most of them do not move out of the park.

Times are hard for the elk until spring permits their return to the high country, where ample feed awaits them. Grave concern is felt by wildlife experts about the winter food shortages confronting this species. Without deliberate control by the park rangers, in order to keep the population at a level that can be supported by the limited and overused vegetation of the park's winter ranges, the herd itself would face mass starvation. The absence or near disappearance from this region of some of the most effective predators of the elk--cougar, wolf, and grizzly--has removed most of the aboriginal population controls.

Whether you visit the park in summer or winter, you should be able to see elk--at least with binoculars. In summer you may see them along Trail Ridge Road, emerging from the forests below Fall River Pass or the Rock Cut area. The cirque below Fall River Pass is a good place to look for them with binoculars. From mid-September until March or April, herds of elk are normally to be seen in Beaver Meadows, Horseshoe Park, Moraine Park, and in the meadows north of Grant Lake; but patience and some keenness of observation are required.

It should be easier to find MULE DEER, a familiar sight in many areas in early morning or evening, even in midsummer. Hikers encounter them on the trails throughout the park. When startled, the mule deer takes flight, characteristically bounding from all four feet at once, making soaring leaps, and landing with such force that its feet make a drumming sound. This bouncing but graceful gait has earned it the nickname "jumping deer" in some areas. It is effective in ascending rocky slopes and traversing brush country.

The males of all deer, including the American elk, grow antlers annually. For a short period in late winter and spring they have no antlers at all, but by June the new growths begin, getting larger and larger until August, when they attain full size. Until then, the antlers are "in velvet"--with a soft, hairy covering--which dries up and peels or is rubbed off. Often the animal helps the removal of the velvet by rubbing its antlers against the trunks and branches of trees. Many "rubbing trees" can be seen along the trails. The deer enter the mating season with polished, full-sized antlers, and these majestic adornments are worn until the season of shedding. One might expect to see discarded antlers everywhere; but because they contain much salt and calcium they are eaten by porcupines and other rodents. Few shed antlers, therefore, are seen by visitors to the park.

In summer, mule deer are seen singly or in small groups, browsing in the higher country; like the elk, they descend into the lower meadows in autumn. They, too, find the winter difficult, because of limited range. Deer are browsing animals, eating such things as willow, aspen, antelope bitterbrush, and even pine needles. Much of their natural food has been overbrowsed, and this condition has helped to make beggars of many of them. It is not unusual to see them in the streets of Estes Park village or near the town garbage dump looking for food. June, however, brings the lush green vegetation on which they regain their strength. That month also is fawning time. The spotted fawns are usually hidden in the woods and are nursed twice a day by the mother, who stays nearby but out of sight. Sometimes well-meaning visitors report an abandoned baby deer. In most instances, the fawn has not been abandoned; the visitors simply failed to see the mother in the background. Fawns, which keep their spots until autumn, run with the mother until the next spring.

The greatest thrill for many park visitors is when a BIGHORN, or mountain sheep, comes close enough to be photographed; however, those occasions are rare. Like most large mammals of the West, the bighorn was on the verge of extinction 40 years ago, but, thanks to various conservation measures, it is now well established. Formerly, bighorn were distributed throughout the park and beyond to the foothills. Today, they are largely restricted, by man's necessary settlement of the land, to portions of the park remote from man's developments. Most visitors--when they get to see them at all--spot bighorn on Trail Ridge Road near Milner Pass or in the Mummy Range. They are seen now and then near Sheep Lake , usually in small family groups of ewes and lambs. Successful pictures of them have been made mostly in this vicinity.

Predatory Mammals

Yellowstone and Yosemite are two National Parks where visitors have ample opportunity to become acquainted with the BLACK BEAR. Many people, by foolishly feeding or petting these wild animals, have become too intimately acquainted, and have been injured in the process. Here in Rocky Mountain National Park, these opportunities seldom occur, for the bear population is low. If you are lucky enough to see one of these bulky, furry creatures lumbering along the road, do not try to fraternize with it.

Although the species present here is called the black bear, there are blonds among them, too. The brown bear and cinnamon bear are merely color phases of the black bear. Bears eat almost everything, including roots, berries, ants, frogs, fish, carrion, and such small mammals or birds as get into their clutches. They seem to be particularly voracious in eating garbage--discarded lunches, bacon, and similar material likely to be present in a campground. The bear is a relatively solitary animal. He has poor eyesight, but good hearing and sense of smell. Bears usually hibernate in fitful sleep, living off stored-up layers of body fat. The surprisingly small, squirrel-sized young are born in February during this semihibernation. The mother gives devoted care to her cubs, and defends them vigorously.

You can't see grizzlies here, for they were extirpated from this region before the park was established.

The COUGAR has many aliases--mountain lion, catamount, painter, panther, puma--depending upon the locality. Almost 9 feet long including the 3-foot tail, the adult cougar may weigh over 200 pounds. Its coat is dull, yellowish brown; immature cougars have blackish spots. It has acute powers of sight, smell, and hearing. A sly, crafty, and tireless hunter, it is not often seen by man even where it is abundant. The cougar is part of the natural wildlife community, and is protected from hunters within park boundaries. The chances of seeing one here are remote, for many who have spent a lifetime in these mountains have never reported seeing one. A few observations of these animals, however, are usually reported in the park each year.

A much smaller cat occasionally seen in the park is the BOBCAT. It roams the forested areas of the park principally hunting small rodents and rabbits. Grouse also are taken, and on forays above treeline the bobcat may feed upon ptarmigan. It lives in dens in the rocks and sometimes in a hollow tree. Like the snowshoe rabbit upon which it preys, the bobcat has natural "snowshoes"--its feet are expanded in winter by long hairs, which help support the animal on the snow.

A close cousin to the domestic dog is the COYOTE. This exceedingly cunning animal is actually extending its range, despite man's attempts to wipe it out, and is very common in the park. Few people fail to thrill upon first hearing its song--a high, staccato yipping often heard by visitors as they leave the evening talks at Moraine Park. You can expect to see coyotes almost anywhere in the park; early morning is a good time to look for them in the grassy meadows.

Another member of the dog family, the RED FOX, is seen occasionally by visitors. It is notoriously wary and cunning, and although less fleet-footed than the jackrabbit, it is faster than the coyote. Its family life meets with our approval, for the male actually feeds the female during the lying-in period, and at the risk of its own life leads hunters away from the den and its helpless occupants. It eats almost anything; small rodents are preferred.

People often bring back tales of an unusual animal on the trail above Bear Lake. Usually, they have seen the MARTEN, the largest of our remaining local weasels and an altogether interesting animal. This creature is at home in the treetops or on the forest floor. Like all weasels, it is a voracious feeder and a peril to its neighbors. It successfully hunts birds and squirrels in the trees, and preys on rats, rabbits, fish, grouse, frogs, insects, and other weasels. Its repertory of sounds includes hisses, squalls, barks, growls, and shrieks. It breeds in summer, but the young are not born until the following spring; its life span is about 18 years. It is closely related to the famous Russian sable, and has been nearly exterminated by trapping through most of its original range.

The MINK is rare in the park, but is occasionally seen on Glacier Creek. This member of the weasel family is an excellent swimmer, and catches fish with ease. Its dense and oily fur keeps it warm in cold water, but it lacks any other apparent adaptations to an aquatic life. So agile an animal has few natural enemies apart from disease; its most important predator is, oddly enough, the great horned owl. The young are born blind and helpless, and only the size of one's finger, but by summer's end they become self-sufficient.

The WEASEL is a small, sharp-eyed creature with an extremely long body, small triangular head, and furtive ways. Weasels are successful hunters, searching through brush piles and rock heaps and in underground burrows for rodents of all kinds. There are two species in the park--the LONGTAIL WEASEL and the SHORTTAIL WEASEL, or ERMINE. The latter is less than half as large as the former. Like that of certain other mountain dwellers, the fur of weasels becomes white as the snows of winter approach, replacing the brown of summer.

Horseback riders crossing Moraine Park and Beaver Meadows are usually wary of the large holes that are the work of the BADGER. Although a creature of the plains rather than of the mountains, the badger lives in some of the lower meadows of the park, and there have been reports of badgers being seen near Fall River Pass. It is a meat eater, and its large front feet have long claws, which enable it speedily to dig out a ground squirrel.

Gnawing Mammals

The YELLOWBELLY MARMOT, with its reddish underparts, grizzled back, and bushy tail, is seen by nearly all park visitors. Although it is more common in medium altitudes in the mountains, it also may be seen high along Trail Ridge Road, and a pair, reportedly, is living atop Longs Peak! These rodents live in dens, usually rockpiles, into which they pack twigs and grass to make a comfortable nest. They store up a heavy layer of fat in the summer and hibernate during the cold winter. Their natural food consists of grasses, berries, and roots. Their short, sharp whistle can be heard a mile away. During the summer, hikers occasionally see rather humanlike scenes, as marmot families sun themselves on the "front porches" of their rockpile homes.

The TASSEL-EARED, or ABERT, SQUIRREL is an excellent example of the zonal specialization of mammals. It is almost entirely restricted to the ponderosa pine forest belt. Its showy ear tufts, although often absent during the summer, set it apart from other local squirrels. It feeds mostly on ponderosa pine seeds, the bark of twigs and young trees of this species, and such wild fruits and succulent vegetation as are available. The Abert squirrel builds nests in the trees and is a familiar sight to hikers in the ponderosa pine forests. It is usually gray-colored, but may be brown or even completely black.

Another small arboreal rodent, the SPRUCE SQUIRREL, chatters and scolds when a stranger enters its patch of forest. It roams both the lodgepole pine and higher spruce-fir forests with their bitter winters, yet it does not hibernate. Even after the most severe storms it will emerge to travel through the treetop world it occupies. Some bird enthusiasts have little regard for it, because of its habit of eating eggs and young birds whenever the opportunity presents itself. However, in a National Park the squirrel's desire to live is considered to be as important as is the bird's. A certain "balance" of population is the result, which is, after all, one of the desirable features in an area dedicated to preserving natural conditions.

CHIPMUNKS are particularly familiar at Trail Ridge Road parking areas. These small squirrels are reddish-brown above, with white underparts and with four white stripes running along the back. A definite stripe across the face distinguishes them from the golden-mantled ground squirrels, with which they are often found.

The GOLDEN-MANTLED GROUND SQUIRREL is often confused with the smaller chipmunks which it joins in begging for visitor handouts at parking areas below treeline on Trail Ridge Road. Its natural food is succulent plant material and seeds, but many of the gregarious little animals are becoming more or less dependent upon food offered them by humans. You can see them most conveniently at Many Parks Curve.

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