Ypsilon Mountain, Handiwork of a Master Sculptor

Ypsilon Mountain above blue hat, part of the Mummy Range in northern Colorado.

Abbott and Cook say “Ice is Earth’s master sculptor, and in Colorado, Rocky Mountain National Park is its magnum opus.”  I think they’re right.  When we recently joined hundreds of other week-end pilgrims to drive Trail Ridge Road, we passed glacial feature after glacial feature:  u-shaped drainages, moraines, cirques, arêtes, horns and roches moutennées galore.  We didn’t have much time and parking was limited, but I managed to get a few shots.  Ypsilon Mountain, where the Master Sculptor’s medium was banded Precambrian rocks, especially caught my fancy.

Below is the east side of Ypsilon Mountain, with a beautiful cirque carved into biotite schist and gneiss.  The alternating layers contain more or less biotite (Geological Resource Evaluation Report for RMNP).

Geology Underfoot along Colorado’s Front Range (Abbot and Cook 2012) was our guide.

The labeled photos and illustrations were helpful.

At the Alpine Visitor Center, we walked to the top of the hill where we caught a glimpse of  the “backside” of Ypsilon, frosted with snow.

We then hiked a short distance along Tombstone Ridge via the Ute Trail.  It wanders above tree line and provides views of Ypsilon from the south, was well as patterned ground and other frost features.

Frost-heave with hiker on top for scale.  The Ypsilon cirque is on the far right (note banded rocks).

Where on Google Earth (click on image to view):

Tree-following: Pilgrims from the East

Being a dedicated Tree-follower, each month I report on my tree, a lance-leaf cottonwood along the Laramie River in southeast Wyoming, USA.  However this month there wasn’t much tree action, and I’ve been really busy with other things.  I was worried.  I wasn't sure I'd get a post up by the deadline.  But then three pilgrims arrived from the East -- Mary and Dave from the east side of town, and Sandy all the way from Nebraska!  They’d been reading about the cottonwood online, and wanted to see it in person (in tree?).

Sandy contemplates the cottonwood she's been reading about since February, while Mary heads downstream to identify a twittering bird.

Tree-Followers Three.

I told the visitors about Tree-following, and I hope they’ll join in the fun next year ... if Lucy is kind enough to host another round.  Sandy already “is keeping an eye on an American elm."

Left to right:  lanceleaf cottonwood, sisters Sandy and Mary, blogger Hollis.

Birder's eyes are different than mine!  Mary spotted this nest, not even six feet off the ground but well-hidden.  She and Sandy concluded it's a robin’s nest.

It’s made mainly of grass stems, last year’s kochia weed (note dried white seed heads), and lots of mud.  The birders assured me that robins like mud when it’s available ... and there’s plenty along the river.

All and all the cottonwood tree was looking good, still a healthy green.  But then we saw a branch sporting yellow leaves ... sigh.

Autumn already?!

Dave is one of Wyoming’s great fiddlers, and also composes fiddle tunes.  So it’s only fitting to end this post with Under the Cottonwoods, written and played by Dave Brinkman (Mary B on guitar).  Judging by the ending, I'd say autumn’s not far off.