First-time visitors to Colorado are often awed by the looming wall of the Rocky Mountains, which come into sight from a good 100 miles away, soon after drivers cross the line from Kansas. East of the Rockies, a 5,000-foot peak is considered high -- yet Colorado has 1,143 mountains above 10,000 feet, including 54 over 14,000 feet! Highest of all is Mount Elbert at 14,433 feet, southwest of Leadville.
The Rockies were formed some 65 million years ago by pressures that forced hard Precambrian rock to the earth's surface, breaking through and pushing layers of earlier rock up on end. Then millions of years of erosion eliminated the soft surface material, producing the magnificent Rockies of calendar fame.
An almost-perfect rectangle, Colorado measures some 385 miles east to west, and 275 miles north to south. The ridge of the Continental Divide zigzags more or less through the center of the 104,247-square-mile state, eighth largest in the nation.
A Wimpy State Fish -- Mistakenly believed to be extinct in 1937 and listed as an endangered species in the early 1970s, the greenback cutthroat trout has made a comeback, and in 1994 was named the official Colorado State Fish by the state legislature. It replaced the rainbow trout, a California transplant that had been listed on maps and other documents as the state fish, although state Division of Wildlife officials couldn't say why.
Part of the greenback's problem is that it fails to live up to its cutthroat name, letting other trout invade its waters and practically jumping on any hook dropped into the water. But rumors of its demise were premature, and two native populations were discovered just outside Rocky Mountain National Park in 1973. Efforts were begun to reintroduce the fish to its native waters, as government agencies and Trout Unlimited provided it with places to live that are free from more aggressive newcomers. By 1978 its status had improved from "endangered" to "threatened." State wildlife officials hope that if the greenback continues to prosper it can eventually be removed from the "threatened" list.
Today, the greenback cutthroat can be found in some four dozen bodies of water around the state, including several lakes in Rocky Mountain National Park. A good place in the national park to see the greenback cutthroat close-up is from the boardwalks through the Beaver Ponds on Trail Ridge Road.
Although the greenback's designation as official state fish does not provide any additional protection, Division of Wildlife officials say it strengthens the public's willingness to protect the fish, and encourages anglers to throw it back if they catch it, as should be the rule with any threatened species.
