Wolf Creek Pass is a high-mountain route that’s notoriously difficult to navigate in winter, with steep drops in elevation as the road descends from the peak. While these trees were damaged by wildfire—always a threat here in the Rockies—trees in the surrounding forest have been ravaged by a different menace—the spruce beetle. The tiny but deadly beetles have infested up to 90 percent of the Englemann spruce trees in Colorado’s high elevations, including around Wolf Creek Pass, laying waste to large swaths of the forest.
Fire-damaged forest near Wolf Creek Pass, Colorado
Today in History
More Desktop Wallpapers:
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Indigo bunting
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A wonder in winter
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White Sands National Park turns 90
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Papa was a flightless bird
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Sands of time
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Talk like a pirate—or walk the plank
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Raise your hand for Teacher Appreciation Day
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Atop the Needle of Chamonix
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Seville celebrates first world tour
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Red-leaf hunting in Japan
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Taughannock Falls State Park
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Surfer s paradise
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National Hammock Day
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Antarctica Day
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A cutting-edge art gallery opens in Paris
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Presidents Day
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Big sky at Big Bend
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Can you see the family resemblance?
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Prague, Czech Republic
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Hiding in plain sight
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World Honey Bee Day
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Mercury in retrograde
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National Public Lands Day
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World Teachers Day
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A bison preserve
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World Environment Day
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World Wildlife Conservation Day
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European hedgehog in Sussex, England
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Ready. Set. Snow.
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Aprils full moon