Treasures of a Windstorm

On Monday, I drove up to Rocky Mountain National Park (an hour from my house), with the intention of hiking up at timberline. However, the wind was so strong (50 mph, with 80 mph gusts) that the road was drifted over and impassible for my little Honda Civic. So I settled on a lower hike, in the Lumpy Ridge area, where the snow wasn't as deep.


I don't believe I've ever experienced such an intense wind - at least not while hiking! It was ripping off tree branches right and left, and knocking over a multitude of dead snags, blocking the trail in sections. An hour into the hike, I found a little sunlit cave where I gained temporary shelter and which served as a wonderful place from which to watch the show.

Many people don't like wind (and it certainly has its devastating effects), but I find it incredibly energizing. Here I was reminded of John Muir climbing to the top of a Douglas-fir during a fierce gale in the mountains of California, with trees crashing down all around him. From his treetop perch, he reveled in the intense rocking and swaying of the tree, and left the forest ecstatic.

On the way back to the trailhead, the wind intensified. Blowing at my back, it literally pushed me along the trail! At length, I came upon a snowbank decorated by a sprig of bright blue juniper berries - and several Ponderosa Pine needles - that the wind had ripped off the nearby trees and deposited there. It was as though the wind had laid its treasure in the snow for me to see!

Photo: A sprig of Juniper berries, with The Twin Owls looming in the background, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO, January 5, 2014