Impression Evergreen

"Rocky Mountain Goat" Colored Pencil A Rocky Mountain goat is backlit by the early, morning sun. His white wool contrasts sharply against the dark, blue sky. It's springtime in the Rockies and the solitary goat has returned to his familiar position high above timberline. These hearty animals are built to live in the harsh environment at the top of the world. Warm temperatures and high winds have cleared the rocky summits of most of the snow so the goats move easily across perilous ledges. The resilient creatures somehow manage to survive through the winter enduring bitter temperatures below 50 degrees and wind gusts up to 100 miles per hour. Mountain goats are found only in North America but the herd that inhabits Mount Evans is not native to Colorado. Their natural range extends from Northern Wyoming to Central Alaska. In the late 1950's about 14 goats were released on Mount Evans. In the perfect alpine setting, the population has thrived and multiplied. There

Summit Lake After a delicious Father's Day breakfast served in bed by my two boys, we decided to drive to the summit of Mount Evans. To get to the top is a 30 mile drive from our front door. As we ascended the highest paved road in North America, our first wildlife sighting was a herd of elk, grazing high above timberline. In the summer the elk move up to higher elevations and cooler temperatures. Rocky Mountain Elk are built for the cold and don't tolerate heat very well. Our first stop was Summit Lake nestled high in a glacial basin just below the summit. This cold, clear lake is the headwater for Bear Creek and flows down into Evergreen Lake and then all the way to Denver. We really got our blood pumping by ascending to the top of Mount Spalding and looked down into the beautiful Chicago Basin. After getting some pictures of the lake, we drove the treacherous, winding road up to the summit parking lot. At the top, we explored a rocky structure know as the castle in