Highest Paved Road in the US – Weekly Travel Photo

In the midst of Rocky Mountain National Park is a lone winding paved road.  It slowly crawls between imposing peaks, and makes its way through gorgeous meadows and along pristine streams.  The road is lined by grazing elk, deer, bighorn sheep and the occasional moose as it starts a gradual climb towards the heavens. Our route took us past aspen as they just started to begin their transition from rich greens to golden reds and yellows, and then wound up and along Trail Ridge Road.  The road, which is daunting by today’s standards but which must have been a borderline rollercoaster ride when it first opened to car traffic in the 1920s, is (I believe) the highest paved road in the continental US at 12,183 feet.

As we reached the top and paused regularly at the many overlooks we were greeted by dramatic skies with lots of blue, and massive white puffy but windblown clouds that had just dumped a light dusting of snow on the mountain tops.  At one of the overlooks we set aside some time to relax and for a quick snack. As we did, and tiny snowflakes blew past us under sunny skies, David went through a series of exercises.  I snapped this shot as he stood on the edge of a rather large cliff and made the most of the majestic vista that stretched out before us.

It’s one of the more gorgeous drives in the US and a definite must-see if you get the chance.  Both for the natural beauty as well as the incredible up close encounters with wild animals which often accompany the drive through the park.

Stay tuned for more photos from the Colorado Rockies and San Juan Mountains.  I’m currently working my way through the 2,200 photos I shot.

Would you like to see previous Weekly Photos? View past travel pictures here. This photo was taken on a Canon T3i (600D) Camera.