Trail Ridge Road/Beaver Meadow Road
Rainbow Curve, CO

At 10,829 feet, this overlook is more than two vertical miles above sea level. At this elevation, every exposed tree is blasted by wind, ice, and grit into distinctive flag shapes. Tree branches here survive only on the downwind side of tree trunks. Higher still, trees survive only where the severely-pruned 'shrubs' are covered and protected by winter snowdrifts.