After several days of rest, we were finally ready for the next leg of our journey. With both of us being huge fans of nature and mountains in particular, we were very excited about journeying up through the Rockies. Even the approach was picture worthy: little mountain towns that bordered rushing rivers and gorgeous forests. Once we hit the park, we were in paradise. There were incredible vistas at every turn, and steep inclines on narrow roads that hugged the cliff sides. The clouds were dark and ominous during some portions of our trip, which contrasted perfectly with the snow-dusted peaks. We crossed through forest and tundra landscapes, and felt a calm that I have only experienced when I'm in the mountains. Fog, sunshine, and rain swirled together to create beautiful photographic opportunities. We crossed through the continental divide and gazed at several remote mountain lakes and rivers as we slowly began to drop back down from the peaks.

During the final portion of our park tour, we also were witness to one of the tragedies currently facing the Rockies: the infestation of pine beetles that has killed off huge sections of forest. While a native species to the area, they have multiplied to unprecedented numbers in recent years and have decimated forests. Many believe that climate change is the culprit; warmer winters have precluded the prolonged freeze needed to curb the beetle population. There is little the park rangers can do, as the beetles are very difficult to kill. We are very sad, as many areas have been almost completely wiped out. The landscape has been severely altered for the foreseeable future...