Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
WALDEN
POP 734 / ELEV 8099FT
Little Walden lies under the shadow of the rough Medicine Bow, Summer, Rabbit Ears and
Park Ranges, at the center of an expansive valley in a region locals refer to as North Park.
There isn't much to the self-proclaimed 'moose-watching capital of Colorado,' but the
north-south Main St is scattered with motels, restaurants and a creaky old movie theater.
The only incorporated town in Jackson County, Walden is a modest supply point for out-
door enthusiasts and hunters looking to grab a burger and get out of the elements for the
night. And, by the way, we did see moose.
TIMBER! BLACK BEETLES, BLUE FUNGI & DEAD BROWN HILLS
Sure, the family of nine camped next door with the barking Labrador is a nuisance, but nothing compared to
Dendroctonus ponderosae,
the seemingly unstoppable mountain pine beetle. About the size of a grain of rice, these
little cooties have changed great swaths of the Rocky Mountain's verdant hills into a lifeless expanse of dead tim-
ber.
The females lay eggs under the bark of ponderosa, limber and lodgepole pines, which the trees resist with in-
creased resin production. No problem, unless the beetles are dusted with blue stain fungi - a kind of pine tree
Kryptonite - which halts the flow of resin and eventually suffocates the tree.
Climate change has only hastened the problem, as beetle larvae thrive during warm wintering conditions. The
outlook isn't rosy: without a massive dose of chemicals or a wicked winter cold snap, some experts predict all of
Colorado's mature lodgepole pine could eventually die off. In 2013, it was estimated that roughly 4.3 million acres
of forest have been decimated by beetle kill. A nasty cousin, the spruce beetle, has attacked some 924,000 acres of
spruce.
Interestingly, some good is being made from the dead trees. New green start-ups are making heating pellets from
the trunks, and many mountain homes now sport beautifully weathered beetle-kill walls.
