Beaver on Longs Peak

Previously titled “Because it’s there”

I posted this picture because I couldn’t go through another day being greeted by Ugly Bat Boy (previous post), although I’m sure he’s a very sweet kitty.

Above is Longs Peak, my favorite mountain and sort of a personal mecca. At 14,255* feet, it is the highest peak in Rocky Mountain National Park and has towered gloriously over most of my vacation adventures since I was a kid. I climbed it once, back in the ’70s (approximately 16 miles round trip, taking 12 hours for this then-flatlander, followed by three days of virtual immobility due to sore muscles).

Colorado has 54 peaks over 14,000 feet, known locally as fourteeners, and 14 of them are higher than Longs. Some overachievers, peak baggers like my brother, who have lived in Colorado most of their lives, have climbed them all.

Below is Longs Peak as seen from the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park. It’s the view seen by early trappers and Indians in Estes Valley. James Michener mentioned the “beaver” as an important landmark in his novel Centennial. The “beaver” is visible on the horizon, climbing up the mountain’s left flank.

If you don’t see it, here’s a hint:

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*The official elevation was 14,255 ft. when I climbed in 1979. New surveys in recent years changed that to 14,257 or 14,259, depending on the source.