We got back recently from a week in Colorado.  The state is really pretty dry although toward the end of the week there was some light rain and much cooler temperatures.  Like the upper 50s for a high!  Nice hiking weather.  Even with the increased humidity, so much better than the heat and humidity in south Florida.  But still dry, especially east of the Rockies.  The western side was a little better – lots of green under the tree canopy.    The park reports that temperatures have averages 3.6 degrees F higher over the past century.  That is a lot.  Beetles need really cold weather to die.  That obvious did not happen and the beetles did a number on pine trees form New Mexico into Canada.  West slope snow was average, but the snow seems to come later and the melt earlier.  Sound familiar?  Lots of discussion about impacts on certain wildlife.  But Rocky Mountain National Park is the origin fore many streams, including the Colorado River.  These waters need to be pristine, which is a great reason to have them in a National Park.  It makes you wonder why we do not have more watersheds protected as opposed to developed.