Happy Birthday Rocky!

95 years ago today, a magnificent section of the southern Rocky Mountains was successfully set aside, protected in a National Park. Like many of you, I've hiked her trails, watched as the alpine wildflowers bent in the wind, felt the snow falling on my face and basked in the peace and silence that still exists outdoors.

Rocky is still magnificent - altered slightly through time, wind, water and the sometimes careless acts of humans. But you can still see the silhouette of a bighorn ram standing on a tundra slope surveying the world around him. The everyday and minute seems more powerful and amazing in those mountains: alpine plants that grow for decades before flowering for a season, producing the next generation's seeds and fading away. Pikas that harvest grasses all summer, and eat all winter safely hidden away underneath the snowpack.

Here's an article from the National Parks' Traveler, submitted by Rocky Mountain National Park's Superintendent Vaughn Baker: Rocky Mountain National Park Marks 95th Birthday, Superintendent Invites You to The Park

Here's the NPS' official website for Rocky Mountain National Park.

And for those of you who aren't already in the fan club, The Rocky Mountain National Park Forums , hosted by my friend Aaron, will give you your recommended daily fix of all that we call "Rocky".