Bald eagles competed for the trout (catch and release for us) and we saw evidence of moose, elk and other big game, but they were our only companions.

In three days of fishing, horseback riding and hiking, we saw virtually no one.

While people are familiar with Yellowstone, Yosemite and Glacier National Parks, leading to traffic jams, overflowing parking lots and other annoyances, there are terrific destinations waiting to be explored, such as Sheep Creek Canyon (see previous post Rocky Mountain Road Trip) and the Flat Tops Wilderness Area in northwest Colorado. One of the 110 lakes in the Flat Tops Wilderness Fortunately, the National Parks and National Forests along with many state and local agencies have preserved enough open spaces for visitors to enjoy.

As Joni Mitchell observed in her classic Big Yellow Taxi, “Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.” The vast wilderness encountered in the United States west even through the early 20th century has been eroded by development.

Flat tops wilderness