Happy Sunday! This week, for Lens-Artists Challenge #402, Sofia is revisiting the topic of Wonder, which was posed by Patti on the first-ever Lens-Artists Challenge back in 2018. I wish I was a participant of that, unfortunately, I was not. Anyway, I hope you enjoy my photos and stories for this week’s challenge.

I was in Rocky Mountain National Park last week. It was only for one day but I saw a lot and did plenty. Heading in beforehand, I did my research but no research prepared me as to what I would see in the park and to be honest, I thought I would just be seeing mountains. After all, it’s in the name – Rocky Mountain. What I wasn’t expected to see was water, lots of it.

While I was there, I learned there are many lakes and waterfalls in the park, especially on the east side of the park.

I did a couple of the easy hikes to popular tourist spots. The first one was to Alluvial Fan, which turned out wasn’t a natural waterfall. It was caused by a breakage of a nearby dam in 1982, resulting in water rushing downstream from a nearby reservoir. I don’t think it can be classified totally as a man-made waterfall either but it’s definitely caused by something made by man, which is why I find this a wonder.

The other waterfall – Alberta Falls – on the other hand, is a natural waterfall caused by geological uplift and eroson. I find all waterfalls to be a wonder of nature.

If you’ve followed me long enough, you will know I love plants. These were some plants I found surviving at an elevation of over 12,000 feet above sea level, where the weather is often unpredictable and the growing period is short. This place is the tundra. There are no trees in this part of the park and you may think the greenery is just grass, take a look again. Isn’t it amazing to see colors popping in these conditions?

Finally, this is the shot from the highest point of the highest paved road in North America. Standing at 12,183 feet above sea level, the wind was howling fiercely. I had to use strength to push open the driver side door just to get out of the car because the wind was threatening to not let me get my shot. Standing there, feeling like I was being lifted up by the wind, I looked out at the landscape. I felt like like I was on top of the world, staring at the peaks of nearby mountains was as though I was staring at someone intimidating in the eyes. I don’t think many can say they’ve stood at the same level as other mountains and to me, this felt like an amazing thing to experience.