Escape From the City :: Rocky Mountain National Park Wildlife Essays

Escape From the City On any given weekend, thousands of Americans flock to the mountains to escape the rigors of city life. An escape from their bustling, smog coated, deadline driven lives, is a necessary part of 21st century life in an American city. Mans desire to commune with nature can be traced back to the earliest civilizations, and while that desire may have lessened somewhat in the past couple hundred years, the enjoyment of nature still remains. In Colorado, a mixture of big city life surrounded by wondrous miracles of nature can be found. Thus, every Friday in summer time one can observe long lines of vehicles traveling the vast highways leading out of the city and up into the Rocky Mountains. An often sought destination is Rocky Mountain National Park. The U.S. government originally purchased the 358 square miles that compose the park in 1803 as part of the Louisiana Purchase. In 1915 it was officially declared a national park, and later became an enormously popular tourist attraction for the nearby town Estes Park. Today this national park is comprised of some 150 lakes, 450 miles of river, and over 265,000 acres of land. Nearly three million people visit the park annually. Surrounded by massive purple and blue peaks, the tallest which rises over 14,000 feet, one is truly awestruck at the power and beauty of Mother Nature. The winding roads which encircle these mountains mark mans ascent and discovery of the surrounding lands, but also provide the opportunity to reach higher into the heavens then most dreamed possible a mere century ago. The breathtaking view over the surrounding lands, which was once only available to the adventurous mountain climber, is now readily available for all to see. One of the most popular of these roads is aptly named Trail Ridge Road. Construction began on this mountain pass in 1929 and was completed three years later in 1932. Workers were only able to work on the road four months out of the year due to the harsh mountain weather, and even today with all of mans wondrous technology, Mother Nature still reigns supreme allowing the road to be open only a handful of months. In mid April of each year, plowing beings to remove the snow covering the icy landscape allowing people to labor up the sometimes 7% sloping highway. Escape From the City :: Rocky Mountain National Park Wildlife Essays Escape From the City On any given weekend, thousands of Americans flock to the mountains to escape the rigors of city life. An escape from their bustling, smog coated, deadline driven lives, is a necessary part of 21st century life in an American city. Mans desire to commune with nature can be traced back to the earliest civilizations, and while that desire may have lessened somewhat in the past couple hundred years, the enjoyment of nature still remains. In Colorado, a mixture of big city life surrounded by wondrous miracles of nature can be found. Thus, every Friday in summer time one can observe long lines of vehicles traveling the vast highways leading out of the city and up into the Rocky Mountains. An often sought destination is Rocky Mountain National Park. The U.S. government originally purchased the 358 square miles that compose the park in 1803 as part of the Louisiana Purchase. In 1915 it was officially declared a national park, and later became an enormously popular tourist attraction for the nearby town Estes Park. Today this national park is comprised of some 150 lakes, 450 miles of river, and over 265,000 acres of land. Nearly three million people visit the park annually. Surrounded by massive purple and blue peaks, the tallest which rises over 14,000 feet, one is truly awestruck at the power and beauty of Mother Nature. The winding roads which encircle these mountains mark mans ascent and discovery of the surrounding lands, but also provide the opportunity to reach higher into the heavens then most dreamed possible a mere century ago. The breathtaking view over the surrounding lands, which was once only available to the adventurous mountain climber, is now readily available for all to see. One of the most popular of these roads is aptly named Trail Ridge Road. Construction began on this mountain pass in 1929 and was completed three years later in 1932. Workers were only able to work on the road four months out of the year due to the harsh mountain weather, and even today with all of mans wondrous technology, Mother Nature still reigns supreme allowing the road to be open only a handful of months. In mid April of each year, plowing beings to remove the snow covering the icy landscape allowing people to labor up the sometimes 7% sloping highway.