title: Fusion cuisine

text: In July of 2002, the term fuison cuisine was added to Oxford dictionary. They defined it as, "fusion cuisine: originally U.S. a style of cookery which blends ingredients and methods of preparation from different countries, regions, or ethnic groups; food cooked in this style."


title: Fusion cuisine

text: Fusion food is created by combining various cooking techniques for different cultures to produce a new type of food. Although it is commonly invented by chefs, fusion cuisine can occur naturally within the different cuisines of a region or sub-region. These can include larger regions, such as East Asian cuisine, European cuisine, and Southwestern American cuisine, as well as more specific and lauded ethnic cuisines such as Chinese cuisine, Japanese cuisine, Korean cuisine, French cuisine, Italian cuisine, and New Mexican cuisine.


title: Fusion cuisine

text: Chefs within Asian fusion restaurants combine the various cuisines of different Asian countries, have become popular in many parts of the United States and United Kingdom. Often featured are East Asian, Southeast Asian, and South Asian dishes alongside one another and offering dishes that are inspired combinations of such cuisines. California cuisine is considered a fusion culture, taking inspiration particularly from Italy, France, Mexico, the idea of the European delicatessen, and East Asia, and then creating traditional dishes from these cultures with non-traditional ingredients - such as California pizza. One major example is Oceanic cuisine, which combines the different cuisines of the various island nations. In the United Kingdom, fish and chips can be seen as an early fusion dish due to its marrying of ingredients stemming from Jewish, French, and Belgian cuisines. Filipino cuisine is also sometimes characterized as the "original Asian fusion cuisine", combining native culinary traditions and ingredients with the very different cuisines of Spain, Latin America, China, and the United States, among others, due to its unique colonial history.


title: Fusion cuisine

text: In Australia, due to the increasing influx of migrants, fusion cuisine is being reinvented and is becoming increasingly the norm at numerous cafes and restaurants, with Modern Australian Asian-fusion restaurants like Tetsuya's in Sydney ranking highly in The World's 50 Best Restaurants. Another incarnation of fusion cuisine implements a more eclectic approach, which generally features original dishes that combine varieties of ingredients from various cuisines and regions. Such a restaurant might feature a wide variety of dishes inspired by a combination of various regional cuisines with new ideas. Foods in Malaysia (also Indonesia) are another popular example of fusion cuisine between Malay, Javanese, Chinese and Indian and light influences from Thai, Portuguese, Dutch, and British cuisines.


title: Fusion cuisine

text: Another form of fusion food can be created by utilizing ingredients and flavors from one culture to create a unique twist on a dish from the different cultures. For example a Taco Pizza, is created by using cheddar and pepper jack cheese, salsa, refried beans or other common taco ingredients, fusing both Italian and Mexican cuisines. This particular dish is a fusion of Italian and Mexican cuisines.


title: Fusion cuisine

text: An example of Tex-Mex food can be found on chef Jose Barraza, Youtube page called No Way Jose Fusion Cusine page. Barraza was born and raised in Mexico exposing him to flavorful Mexican cuisine from a young age. After moving to Indianapolis, IN, he began experimenting with Mexican cusine, by exchanging spices from other cultures. After discovering his creations he began to spread his new found knowledge by creating cooking instruction videos on YouTube.


title: Fusion cuisine

text: Similar approaches have been used for fusion-sushi, such as rolling maki with different types of rice and ingredients such as curry and basmati rice, cheese and salsa with Spanish rice, or spiced ground lamb and capers rolled with Greek-style rice and grape leaves, which resembles inside-out dolmades. Some fusion cuisines have themselves become accepted as a national cuisine, as with Peruvian Nikkei cuisine, which combines Japanese spices and seasonings and Peruvian ingredients like ají (Peruvian peppers) with seafood. A quintessential Peruvian Nikkei dish is 'Maki Acevichado' or ceviche roll, containing Peruvian-style marinated fish rolled up with rice, avocado, or seaweed."


title: Fusion cuisine

text: Saudia Arabia has been investing in resources to preserve their culture. The Heritage Preservation Society Director, Maha AlSenan, believes that cultures can be brought together through cuisine. She mention how most commonly in their eastern providence, Jeddah, different cultures from Africa and Asia have used the combination of Saudia's spices to create new fusion foods found throughout Saudia Arabia.


title: Fusion cuisine

text: Fusion cuisine has been around since the beginning of time and was only defined in the late 1900s. A mix of different cultures cuisines have been adapted since the 16th century. For example, after Japan won claim to their island-nation from China, they took the Chinese noodle and cooked it in saltier water to create the Shine soba - Chinese Noodle - and over time becoming known as ramen.


title: Fusion cuisine

text: Japanese cooking techniques were combined with French techniques in 1970 France to create nouvelle cuisine.


title: Fusion cuisine

text: Wolfgang Puck is attributed as one of the pioneers of fusion cuisine, with some dispute. However, his restaurant "Chinois on Main" was named after the term attributed to Richard Wing, who in the 1960s combined French and Chinese cooking at the former Imperial Dynasty restaurant in Hanford, California.


title: Fusion cuisine

text: Chef Norman Van Aken was the first person to use the term 'fusion cooking' as he delivered a speech at a symposium in Santa Fe to many celebrated food industry people in 1988. Soon journalist Regina Schrambling wrote about Van Aken's work and the term spread around the globe. Norman Van Aken ends his speech by talking about how fusion food has always existed. For example, he mentions the use of coffee in Italian cuisine. Coffee first arrived in Venice Italy in the 16th century from ships containing coffee beans from the East. At first it was sold in pharmacies, but soon after it became available it was noticed by the upper class due to how expensive it was, coffee then became a specialty drink. Chef Van Aken related this to coffee being used in different desserts such as Calabrian Ricotta with chocolate mouse.


title: Fusion cuisine

text: In 1922, fusion cuisine goes mainstream with the opening of Cheesecake Factory. Cheesecake Factory brought a mix of multiple American fusion cuisines into on place such as the chicken chipotle pasta and the Brent wood sandwich.


title: Aashiq Abu

text: Aashiq Abu (born 12 April 1978) is an Indian film director, producer, actor, and distributor, who works in Malayalam cinema.


title: Aashiq Abu

text: He is best known for his films such as "Daddy Cool" (2009), "Salt N' Pepper" (2011), "22 Female Kottayam" (2012)," Idukki Gold" (2013)", Mayaanadhi" (2017) and "Virus" (2019). Abu is often known for his collaboration with screenwriters Syam Pushkaran and Dileesh Nair.


title: Aashiq Abu

text: Abu produces and distributes under the banner OPM and OPM Dream Mill Cinemas. OPM produced Dileesh Pothan's directional debut "Maheshinte Prathikaaram" (2016), which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Malayalam.


title: Aashiq Abu

text: Aashiq Abu was born in Edappally, Kerala to C. M. Abu, and Jameela Abu. Aashiq Abu completed his school education from SRV High School, Kochi. As a pre-degree student at Maharajas College, he was elected to the Students' Union, and was a union member for four consecutive years.


title: Aashiq Abu

text: He married actress Rima Kallingal on 1 November 2013, in a simple function held in Kakkanad Registration office, Kochi.


title: Aashiq Abu

text: Aashiq Abu has been part of "Anbodu Kochi", a Facebook-based group which works with the local administration, collecting and distributing relief materials in the aftermath of natural disasters. In 2019 November, Kochi Music Foundation of which Aashiq Abu is a part of organised a musical event 'Karuna' in Kochi promising that the proceedings from the event will be donated to the Chief Minister's Disaster Relief Fund (CMDRF) to help flood victims. There was delay in Chief Minister's office receiving the funds, sparking a controversy.


title: Aashiq Abu

text: After working as an assistant director to Malayalam film director Kamal for about five years, Abu made his directorial debut with "Daddy Cool" in 2009 starring Mammootty. "Salt N' Pepper" was his second directorial effort. "Salt N' Pepper"’s Tamil, Telugu and Hindi remake rights was bought by actor-director Prakash Raj. In 2012, he directed "22 Female Kottayam" which was followed by "Da Thadiya", "Gangster" and "Rani Padmini". Aashiq Abu has also done a short film, "Lost in Bangalore" for Mathrubhumi. His 2017 release was "Mayaanadhi". On June 7th 2019, his latest movie "Virus" was released. The movie is based on the true events of the Nipah virus outbreak in Kerala in 2018.


title: Aashiq Abu

text: Aashiq Abu has done ad films for Joyalukkas group, "Mathrubhumi", Panasonic, Lulu Group, Dubai Gold and Jewellery Group, Media One TV and Club 7. OPM (Original Pixels in Motion) Cinemas led by Aashiq Abu is a production house launched in October 2012. In 2015, Aashiq Abu had been hired by UAE Exchange to direct their ad campaign starring Malayalam actors Jayasurya and Fahadh Faasil.


title: Distributed hash table

text: A distributed hash table (DHT) is a distributed system that provides a lookup service similar to a hash table: key–value pairs are stored in a DHT, and any participating node can efficiently retrieve the value associated with a given key. The main advantage of a DHT is that nodes can be added or removed with minimum work around re-distributing keys. "Keys" are unique identifiers which map to particular "values", which in turn can be anything from addresses, to documents, to arbitrary data. Responsibility for maintaining the mapping from keys to values is distributed among the nodes, in such a way that a change in the set of participants causes a minimal amount of disruption. This allows a DHT to scale to extremely large numbers of nodes and to handle continual node arrivals, departures, and failures.


title: Distributed hash table

text: DHTs form an infrastructure that can be used to build more complex services, such as anycast, cooperative web caching, distributed file systems, domain name services, instant messaging, multicast, and also peer-to-peer file sharing and content distribution systems. Notable distributed networks that use DHTs include BitTorrent's distributed tracker, the Kad network, the Storm botnet, the Tox instant messenger, Freenet, the YaCy search engine, and the InterPlanetary File System.


title: Distributed hash table

text: DHT research was originally motivated, in part, by peer-to-peer (P2P) systems such as Freenet, Gnutella, BitTorrent and Napster, which took advantage of resources distributed across the Internet to provide a single useful application. In particular, they took advantage of increased bandwidth and hard disk capacity to provide a file-sharing service.


title: Distributed hash table

text: These systems differed in how they located the data offered by their peers. Napster, the first large-scale P2P content delivery system, required a central index server: each node, upon joining, would send a list of locally held files to the server, which would perform searches and refer the queries to the nodes that held the results. This central component left the system vulnerable to attacks and lawsuits.


title: Distributed hash table

text: Gnutella and similar networks moved to a query flooding model in essence, each search would result in a message being broadcast to every other machine in the network. While avoiding a single point of failure, this method was significantly less efficient than Napster. Later versions of Gnutella clients moved to a dynamic querying model which vastly improved efficiency.


title: Distributed hash table

text: Freenet is fully distributed, but employs a heuristic key-based routing in which each file is associated with a key, and files with similar keys tend to cluster on a similar set of nodes. Queries are likely to be routed through the network to such a cluster without needing to visit many peers. However, Freenet does not guarantee that data will be found.


title: Distributed hash table

text: Distributed hash tables use a more structured key-based routing in order to attain both the decentralization of Freenet and Gnutella, and the efficiency and guaranteed results of Napster. One drawback is that, like Freenet, DHTs only directly support exact-match search, rather than keyword search, although Freenet's routing algorithm can be generalized to any key type where a closeness operation can be defined.


title: Distributed hash table

text: A project called the Infrastructure for Resilient Internet Systems (Iris) was funded by a $12 million grant from the United States National Science Foundation in 2002.


title: Distributed hash table

text: Outside academia, DHT technology has been adopted as a component of BitTorrent and in the Coral Content Distribution Network.


title: Distributed hash table

text: A key technique used to achieve these goals is that any one node needs to coordinate with only a few other nodes in the system – most commonly, O(log "n") of the "n" participants (see below) – so that only a limited amount of work needs to be done for each change in membership.


title: Distributed hash table

text: Some DHT designs seek to be secure against malicious participants and to allow participants to remain anonymous, though this is less common than in many other peer-to-peer (especially file sharing) systems; see anonymous P2P.


title: Distributed hash table

text: The structure of a DHT can be decomposed into several main components. The foundation is an abstract keyspace, such as the set of 160-bit strings. A keyspace partitioning scheme splits ownership of this keyspace among the participating nodes. An overlay network then connects the nodes, allowing them to find the owner of any given key in the keyspace.


title: Distributed hash table

text: Once these components are in place, a typical use of the DHT for storage and retrieval might proceed as follows. Suppose the keyspace is the set of 160-bit strings. To index a file with given and in the DHT, the SHA-1 hash of is generated, producing a 160-bit key , and a message is sent to any node participating in the DHT. The message is forwarded from node to node through the overlay network until it reaches the single node responsible for key as specified by the keyspace partitioning. That node then stores the key and the data. Any other client can then retrieve the contents of the file by again hashing to produce and asking any DHT node to find the data associated with with a message . The message will again be routed through the overlay to the node responsible for , which will reply with the stored .


title: Distributed hash table

text: The keyspace partitioning and overlay network components are described below with the goal of capturing the principal ideas common to most DHTs; many designs differ in the details.


title: Distributed hash table

text: Most DHTs use some variant of consistent hashing or rendezvous hashing to map keys to nodes. The two algorithms appear to have been devised independently and simultaneously to solve the distributed hash table problem.


title: Distributed hash table

text: Both consistent hashing and rendezvous hashing have the essential property that removal or addition of one node changes only the set of keys owned by the nodes with adjacent IDs, and leaves all other nodes unaffected. Contrast this with a traditional hash table in which addition or removal of one bucket causes nearly the entire keyspace to be remapped. Since any change in ownership typically corresponds to bandwidth-intensive movement of objects stored in the DHT from one node to another, minimizing such reorganization is required to efficiently support high rates of churn (node arrival and failure).


title: Distributed hash table

text: Consistent hashing employs a function formula_1 that defines an abstract notion of the distance between the keys formula_2 and formula_3, which is unrelated to geographical distance or network latency. Each node is assigned a single key called its "identifier" (ID). A node with ID formula_4 owns all the keys formula_5 for which formula_4 is the closest ID, measured according to formula_7.


title: Distributed hash table

text: For example, the Chord DHT uses consistent hashing, which treats nodes as points on a circle, and formula_1 is the distance traveling clockwise around the circle from formula_2 to formula_3. Thus, the circular keyspace is split into contiguous segments whose endpoints are the node identifiers. If formula_11 and formula_12 are two adjacent IDs, with a shorter clockwise distance from formula_11 to formula_12, then the node with ID formula_12 owns all the keys that fall between formula_11 and formula_12.


title: Distributed hash table

text: In rendezvous hashing, also called highest random weight (HRW) hashing, all clients use the same hash function formula_18 (chosen ahead of time) to associate a key to one of the "n" available servers.


title: Distributed hash table

text: The client associates that key with the server corresponding to the highest hash weight for that key.


title: Distributed hash table

text: A server with ID formula_19 owns all the keys formula_5 for which the hash weight formula_21 is higher than the hash weight of any other node for that key.


title: Distributed hash table

text: Locality-preserving hashing ensures that similar keys are assigned to similar objects. This can enable a more efficient execution of range queries, however, in contrast to using consistent hashing, there is no more assurance that the keys (and thus the load) is uniformly randomly distributed over the key space and the participating peers. DHT protocols such as Self-Chord and Oscar address such issues. Self-Chord decouples object keys from peer IDs and sorts keys along the ring with a statistical approach based on the swarm intelligence paradigm. Sorting ensures that similar keys are stored by neighbour nodes and that discovery procedures, including range queries, can be performed in logarithmic time. Oscar constructs a navigable small-world network based on random walk sampling also assuring logarithmic search time.


title: Distributed hash table

text: Each node maintains a set of links to other nodes (its "neighbors" or routing table). Together, these links form the overlay network. A node picks its neighbors according to a certain structure, called the network's topology.


title: Distributed hash table

text: All DHT topologies share some variant of the most essential property: for any key , each node either has a node ID that owns or has a link to a node whose node ID is "closer" to , in terms of the keyspace distance defined above. It is then easy to route a message to the owner of any key using the following greedy algorithm (that is not necessarily globally optimal): at each step, forward the message to the neighbor whose ID is closest to . When there is no such neighbor, then we must have arrived at the closest node, which is the owner of as defined above. This style of routing is sometimes called key-based routing.


title: Distributed hash table

text: Beyond basic routing correctness, two important constraints on the topology are to guarantee that the maximum number of hops in any route (route length) is low, so that requests complete quickly; and that the maximum number of neighbors of any node (maximum node degree) is low, so that maintenance overhead is not excessive. Of course, having shorter routes requires higher maximum degree. Some common choices for maximum degree and route length are as follows, where is the number of nodes in the DHT, using Big O notation:


title: Distributed hash table

text: The most common choice, formula_22 degree/route length, is not optimal in terms of degree/route length tradeoff, but such topologies typically allow more flexibility in choice of neighbors. Many DHTs use that flexibility to pick neighbors that are close in terms of latency in the physical underlying network. In general, all DHTs construct navigable small-world network topologies, which trade-off route length vs. network degree.


title: Distributed hash table

text: Maximum route length is closely related to diameter: the maximum number of hops in any shortest path between nodes. Clearly, the network's worst case route length is at least as large as its diameter, so DHTs are limited by the degree/diameter tradeoff that is fundamental in graph theory. Route length can be greater than diameter, since the greedy routing algorithm may not find shortest paths.


title: Distributed hash table

text: Aside from routing, there exist many algorithms that exploit the structure of the overlay network for sending a message to all nodes, or a subset of nodes, in a DHT. These algorithms are used by applications to do overlay multicast, range queries, or to collect statistics. Two systems that are based on this approach are Structella, which implements flooding and random walks on a Pastry overlay, and DQ-DHT, which implements a dynamic querying search algorithm over a Chord network.


title: Distributed hash table

text: Because of the decentralization, fault tolerance, and scalability of DHTs, they are inherently more resilient against a hostile attacker than a centralized system.


title: Distributed hash table

text: Open systems for distributed data storage that are robust against massive hostile attackers are feasible.


title: Distributed hash table

text: A DHT system that is carefully designed to have Byzantine fault tolerance can defend against a security weakness, known as the Sybil attack, which affects most current DHT designs. Whanau is a DHT designed to be resistant to Sybil attacks.


title: Distributed hash table

text: Petar Maymounkov, one of the original authors of Kademlia, has proposed a way to circumvent the weakness to the Sybil attack by incorporating social trust relationships into the system design. The new system, codenamed Tonika or also known by its domain name as 5ttt, is based on an algorithm design known as "electric routing" and co-authored with the mathematician Jonathan Kelner. Maymounkov has now undertaken a comprehensive implementation effort of this new system. However, research into effective defences against Sybil attacks is generally considered an open question, and wide variety of potential defences are proposed every year in top security research conferences.


title: Distributed hash table

text: Most notable differences encountered in practical instances of DHT implementations include at least the following:


title: Alif Laila

text: Alif Laila is an Indian television series based on the "One Thousand and One Nights", also known as the "Arabian Nights". It was produced by Sagar Arts. It was made in two seasons. The series from 1993 to 1997 for 143 episodes on DD National.


title: Alif Laila

text: The plotline of the series starts from the very beginning when Shahrzad starts telling stories to Shahryar and contains both the well-known and the lesser-known stories from the "One Thousand and One Nights" which are mentioned here. The name "Alif Laila" is a short form of the original Arabic title of the "One Thousand and One Nights" - "Alif Layla wa-Layla" ().


title: Alif Laila

text: The episodes of "Alif Laila" were released on both VCD and DVD format from Moserbaer. The DVD release was marketed as 20 volumes consisting of 143 episodes.


title: Alif Laila

text: The show has re-aired on channels owned by Shri Adhikari Brothers since its original run. It re-aired from June 2011 on Dabangg TV from 2012 to 2013 and on Dhamaal TV from 2013 to 2016. In 2020 it was broadcast during the quarantine period on DD Bharati.


title: Croupier (film)

text: Croupier is a 1998 British neo-noir film directed by Mike Hodges and starring Clive Owen. The film attracted a strong critical following in North America and helped to launch Owen's acting career there. It uses interior monologues in the style of many early noir detective films.


title: Croupier (film)

text: "Croupier" was released on DVD by Alliance Atlantis in Canada and Image Entertainment in the US. It was disqualified from the Academy Awards after it was shown on Dutch television.


title: Croupier (film)

text: Jack Manfred is an aspiring but as yet unsuccessful writer. To make ends meet and against his better judgment, he takes a job as a croupier at a local casino. The interview was set up by his father, a small-time hustler back home in South Africa.


title: Croupier (film)

text: Jack finds himself drawn into the casino world, and the job gradually takes over his life. He goes drinking with Matt, a croupier who he knows is cheating the casino. He sleeps with a fellow croupier named Bella in violation of casino policy. His relationship with his girlfriend Marion begins to deteriorate when he lets her read part of his book about a cold, unfeeling croupier who enjoys seeing gamblers lose, a character transparently based on Jack himself. Bella confronts Jack at his apartment, accuses him of getting her fired, and tells Marion about the one-night stand.


title: Croupier (film)

text: One gambler, Jani, tries to befriend Jack, another serious violation of casino rules. Jani shows him bruises saying she got them from gambling creditors and asks Jack to be the inside man for a planned robbery at the casino. All he has to do is raise the alarm when a gambler cheats at his table. Jack eventually agrees and accepts a £10,000 advance with an additional £10,000 if all goes well. In doing so, Jack notices that Jani's injuries were faked.


title: Croupier (film)

text: Marion reconciles with Jack but discovers that he is involved in something criminal and tries to foil it. She deletes a phone message for Jack alerting him that the robbery is on for Christmas Eve, and instead alerts a former colleague on the police. On the night of the robbery, Jack gets beaten by the gambler as a distraction while others try to grab the money. They fail, and Jack and Marion have an argument but she stays with him.


title: Croupier (film)

text: When a late-night knock at the door comes, Jack assumes it to be the casino robbers demanding the return of their advance money. Instead, it is a policeman, who informs him that Marion has been killed in an apparent hit-and-run.


title: Croupier (film)

text: Jack finishes his book and gets it published anonymously. It is a big success, but he doesn't change anything about his life, continuing to work as a croupier and live in his basement flat, not even buying the new car he wanted.


title: Croupier (film)

text: Jack goes on with his life and gets another call, this one from Jani, who congratulates him on playing his part in the attempted robbery and implies that she benefited significantly. Then she puts his father on the phone, and he implies that he set up the croupier job for Jack in order to arrange for the attempted robbery, and he benefited as well. Stunned but amused, Jack hangs up. Just then, Bella appears from the bedroom and kisses him.


title: Croupier (film)

text: "Croupier" received a muted response upon its initial release in Britain. It was not until its release in the United States that it received widespread critical praise.


title: Croupier (film)

text: The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gave "Croupier" a 95% positive rating based on 58 reviews, with an average rating of 7.6/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "The writer slumming for human truths and real experience is a common enough story, but this cool-headed and slick thriller provides a gut-churningly compelling backdrop to a look at our darker sides." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 75 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: Croupier (film)

text: Roger Ebert gave the film three stars, remarking that the point of the film was not the plot, but the atmosphere and characterization. He also lauded the realistic depiction of the casino itself. Stephen Holden in "The New York Times" called the movie, "a breezy meditation on life as a game of chance".


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Rocky Mountain National Park is an American national park located approximately northwest of Denver in north-central Colorado, within the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. The park is situated between the towns of Estes Park to the east and Grand Lake to the west. The eastern and western slopes of the Continental Divide run directly through the center of the park with the headwaters of the Colorado River located in the park's northwestern region. The main features of the park include mountains, alpine lakes and a wide variety of wildlife within various climates and environments, from wooded forests to mountain tundra.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: The Rocky Mountain National Park Act was signed by President Woodrow Wilson on January 26, 1915, establishing the park boundaries and protecting the area for future generations. The Civilian Conservation Corps built the main automobile route, Trail Ridge Road, in the 1930s. In 1976, UNESCO designated the park as one of the first World Biosphere Reserves. In 2018, more than 4.5 million recreational visitors entered the park. The park is one of the most visited in the National Park System, ranking as the third most visited national park in 2015. In 2019, the park saw record attendance yet again with 4,678,804 visitors, a 44% increase since 2012.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: The park has a total of five visitor centers, with park headquarters located at the Beaver Meadows Visitor Centera National Historic Landmark designed by the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture at Taliesin West. National Forest lands surround the park on all sides, including Roosevelt National Forest to the north and east, Routt National Forest to the north and west, and Arapaho National Forest to the west and south, with the Indian Peaks Wilderness area located directly south of the park.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: The history of Rocky Mountain National Park began when Paleo-Indians traveled along what is now Trail Ridge Road to hunt and forage for food. Ute and Arapaho people subsequently hunted and camped in the area. In 1820, the Long Expedition, led by Stephen H. Long for whom Longs Peak was named, approached the Rockies via the Platte River. Settlers began arriving in the mid-1800s, displacing the Native Americans who mostly left the area voluntarily by 1860, while others were removed to reservations by 1878.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Lulu City, Dutchtown, and Gaskill in the Never Summer Mountains were established in the 1870s when prospectors came in search of gold and silver. The boom ended by 1883 with miners deserting their claims. The railroad reached Lyons, Colorado in 1881 and the Big Thompson Canyon Road—a section of U.S. Route 34 from Loveland to Estes Park—was completed in 1904. The 1920s saw a boom in building lodges, including the Bear Lake Trail School, and roads in the park, culminating with the construction of Trail Ridge Road to Fall River Pass between 1929 and 1932, then to Grand Lake by 1938.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Prominent individuals in the effort to create a national park included Enos Mills from the Estes Park area, James Grafton Rogers from Denver, and J. Horace McFarland of Pennsylvania. The national park was established on January 26, 1915.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Rocky Mountain National Park encompasses of federal land, with an additional of U.S. Forest Service wilderness adjoining the park boundaries. The Continental Divide runs generally northsouth through the center of the park, with rivers and streams on the western side of the divide flowing toward the Pacific Ocean while those on the eastern side flow toward the Atlantic.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: A geographical anomaly is found along the slopes of the Never Summer Mountains where the Continental Divide forms a horseshoeshaped bend for about , heading from southtonorth but then curving sharply southward and westward out of the park. The sharp bend results in streams on the eastern slopes of the range joining the headwaters of the Colorado River that flow south and west, eventually reaching the Pacific. Meanwhile, streams on the western slopes join rivers that flow north and then east and south, eventually reaching the Atlantic.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: The headwaters of the Colorado River are located in the park's northwestern region. The park contains approximately of rivers and streams, of trails, and 150 lakes.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Rocky Mountain National Park is one of the highest national parks in the nation, with elevations from , the highest point of which is Longs Peak. Trail Ridge Road is the highest paved through-road in the country, with a peak elevation of . Sixty mountain peaks over high provide scenic vistas. On the north side of the park, the Mummy Range contains a number of thirteener peaks, including Hagues Peak, Mummy Mountain, Fairchild Mountain, Ypsilon Mountain, and Mount Chiquita. Several small glaciers and permanent snowfields are found in the high mountain cirques.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Region 1 is known for moose and big meadows and is located on the west, or Grand Lake, side of the Continental Divide. Thirty miles of the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail loop through the park and pass through alpine tundra and scenery.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: The Big Meadows area with its grasses and wildflowers can be reached via the Onahu, Tonahutu, or Green Mountain trail. Other scenic areas include Long Meadows and the Kawuneeche Valley (Coyote Valley) of the upper Colorado River which is a good place for birdwatching, as well as snowshoeing and cross-country skiing in winter. The valley trail loops through Kawuneeche Valley which contained as many as 39 mines, though less than 20 of those have archived records and archeological remains. LuLu City is the site of an abandoned silver mining town of the early 1880s located along the Colorado River Trail. According to a 1985 report prepared for the NRHP, there were only three cabin ruins remaining along with remnants of six other buildings.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Baker Pass crosses the Continental Divide through the Never Summer Mountains and into the Michigan River drainage to the west of Mount Nimbusa drainage that feeds streams and rivers that drain into the Gulf of Mexico. Other mountain passes are La Poudre Pass and Thunder Pass, which was once used by stage coaches and is a route to Michigan Lakes. Little Yellowstone has geological features similar to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. The Green Mountain trail once was a wagon road used to haul hay from Big Meadows. Flattop Mountain, which can be accessed from the eastern and western sides of the park, is near Green Mountain. Shadow Mountain Lookouta wildfire observation toweris on the National Register of Historic Places. Paradise Park Natural Area is an essentially hidden and protected wild area with no maintained trails penetrating it.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Skeleton Gulch, Cascade Falls, North Inlet Falls, Granite Falls, and Adams Falls are found in the west side of the park. The west side lakes include Bowen Lake, Lake Verna, Lake of the Clouds, Haynach Lakes, Timber Lake, Lone Pine Lake, Lake Nanita, and Lake Nokoni.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Region 2 is the alpine region of the park with accessible tundra trails at high elevationsan area known for its spectacular vistas. Within this region is Mount Ida, with tundra slopes and a wide-open view of the Continental Divide. Forest Canyon Pass is near the top of the Old Ute Trail that once linked villages across the Continental Divide.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Chapin Pass trail traverses a dense forest to beautiful views of the Chapin Creek valley, proceeding onward above timberline to the western flank of Mount Chapin. Tundra Communities Trail, accessible from Trail Ridge Road, is a hike offering tundra views and alpine wildflowers. Other trails are Tombstone Ridge and Ute Trail, which starts at the tundra and is mostly downhill from Ute Crossing to Upper Beaver Meadows, with one backcountry camping site. Cache La Poudre River trail begins north of Poudre Lake on the west side of the valley near Milner Pass and heads downward toward the Mummy Pass trail junction. Lake Irene is a recreation and picnic area.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Region 3, known for wilderness escape, is in the northern part of the park and is accessed from the Estes Park area.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: The Mummy Range is a short mountain range in the north of the park. The Mummies tend to be gentler and more forested than the other peaks in the park, though some slopes are rugged and heavily glaciated, particularly around Ypsilon Mountain and Mummy Mountain. Bridal Veil Falls is a scenic point and trail accessible from the Cow Creek trailhead, at the Continental Divide Research Center. West Creek Falls and Chasm Falls, near Old Fall River Road, are also in this region. The Alluvial Fan trail leads to a bridge over the river that had been the site of the Lawn Lake Flood.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Lumpy Ridge Trail leads to Paul Bunyan's Boot at about from the trailhead, then Gem Lake, and a further to Balanced Rock. Black Canyon Trail intersects Cow Creek Trail, forming part of the Gem Lake loop which goes through the old McGregor Ranch valley, passing Lumpy Ridge rock formations, with a loop hike that goes into the McGraw Ranch valley.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Cow Creek Trail follows Cow Creek, with its many beaver ponds, extending past the Bridal Falls turnoff as the Dark Mountain trail, then joining the Black Canyon trail to intersect the Lawn Lake trail shortly below the lake. North Boundary Trail connects to the Lost Lake trail system. North Fork Trail begins outside of the park in the Comanche Peak Wilderness before reaching the park boundary and ending at Lost Lake. Stormy Peaks Trail connects Colorado State University's Pingree Park campus in the Comanche Peak Wilderness and the North Fork Trail inside the park.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Beaver Mountain Loop, also used by horseback riders, passes through forests and meadows, crosses Beaver Brook and several aspen-filled drainages, and has a great view of Longs Peak. Deer Mountain Trail gives a 360 degree view of eastern part of the park. The summit plateau of Deer Mountain offers expansive views of the Continental Divide. During the winter, the lower trail generally has little snow, though packed and drifted snow are to be expected on the switchbacks. Snow cover on the summit may be three to five feet deep, requiring the use of snowshoes or skis.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: The trail to Lake Estes in Estes Park meanders through a bird sanctuary, beside a golf course, along the Big Thompson River and Fish Creek, through the lakeside picnic area and along the lakeshore. The trail is used by birdwatchers, bikers and hikers.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Lawn Lake Trail climbs to Lawn Lake and Crystal Lake, one of the parks deepest lakes, in the alpine ecosystem and along the course of the Roaring River. The river shows the massive damage caused by a dam failure in 1982 that claimed the lives of three campers. The trail is a strenuous snowshoe hike in the winter. Ypsilon Lake Trail leads to its namesake as well as Chipmunk Lake, with views of Longs Peak, while traversing pine forests with grouseberry and bearberry bushes. The trail also offers views of the canyon gouged out by rampaging water that broke loose from Lawn Lake Dam in 1982. Visible is the south face of Ypsilon Mountain, with its Y shaped gash rising sharply from the shoreline.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Gem Lake is high among the rounded granite domes of Lumpy Ridge. Untouched by glaciation, this outcrop of 1.8 billion-year-old granite has been sculpted by wind and chemical erosion into a backbone-like ridge. Pillars, potholes, and balanced rocks are found around the midpoint of the trail, along with views of the Estes Valley and Continental Divide. Potts Puddle trail is accessible from the Black Canyon trail.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Region 4 is the heart of the park with easy road and trail access, great views, and lake hikes including the most popular trails. Flattop Mountain is a tundra hike and the easiest hike to the Continental Divide in the park. Crossing over Flattop Mountain, the hike to Hallett Peak passes through three climate zones, traversing the ridge that supports Tyndall Glacier and finally ascending to the summit of Hallett Peak.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Bear Lake is a high-elevation lake in a spruce and fir forest at the base of Hallett Peak and Flattop Mountain. Bierstadt Lake sits atop a lateral moraine named Bierstadt Moraine, and drains into Mill Creek. There are several trails that lead to Bierstadt Lake through groves of aspens and lodgepole pines. North of Bierstadt Moraine is Hollowell Park, a large and marshy meadow along Mill Creek. The Hollowell Park trail runs along Steep Mountain's south side. Ranches, lumber and sawmill enterprises operated in Hollowell Park into the early 1900s.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Glacial Basin was the site of a resort run by Abner and Alberta Sprague, after whom Sprague Lake is named. The lake is a shallow body of water that was created when the Spragues dammed Boulder Brook to create a fish pond. Sprague Lake is a popular place for birdwatching, hiking and viewing the mountain peaks, along with camping at the Glacier Basin campground.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Dream Lake is one of the most-photographed lakes and is also noted for its winter snowshoeing. Emerald Lake is located directly below the saddle between Hallett Peak and Flattop Mountain, only a short hike beyond Dream Lake. The shore of Lake Haiyaha (a Native American word for "big rocks") is surrounded by boulders along with ancient, twisted and picturesque pine trees growing out of rock crevices. Nymph Lake is named for the yellow lily, "Nymphaea polysepala", on its surface. Lake Helene is at the head of Odessa Gorge, east of Notchtop Mountain. Two Rivers Lake is found along the hike to Odessa Lake from Bear Lake, and has one backcountry campsite. The Cub Lake trail passes Big Thompson River, flowery meadows, and stands of pine and aspen trees. Ice and deep snow are present during the winter, requiring the use of skis or snowshoes.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: The Fern Lake trail passes Arch Rock formations, The Pool, and the cascading water of Fern Falls. Two backcountry campsites are located near the lake, and two more are closer to the trailhead. Odessa Lake has two approaches: one is along the Flattop trail from Bear Lake while the other is from the Fern Lake trailhead, along which are Fern Creek, The Pool, Fern Falls, and Fern Lake itself. One backcountry campsite is available. Other lakes are Jewel Lake, Mills Lake, Black Lake, Blue Lake, Lake of Glass, Sky Pond, and Spruce Lake.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: The Pool is a large turbulent water pocket formed below where Spruce and Fern Creeks join the Big Thompson River. The winter route is along a gravel road, which leads to a trail at the Fern Lake trailhead. Along the route are beaver-cut aspen, frozen waterfalls on the cliffs, and the Arch Rocks. The trail to Alberta Falls runs by Glacier Creek and Glacier Gorge.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Wind River Trail leaves the East Portal and follows the Wind River to join with the Storm Pass trail. There are three backcountry campsites. Other sites in the area are The Loch, Loch Vale, Mill Creek Basin, Andrews Glacier, Sky Point, Timberline Falls, Upper Beaver Meadows, and Storm Pass.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Region 5, known for waterfalls and backcountry, is south of Estes Park and contains Longs Peakthe park's iconic fourteenerand the Wild Basin area. Other peaks and passes include Lily Mountain, Estes Cone, Twin Sisters, Boulder-Grand Pass, and Granite Pass. Eugenia Mine operated about the late-19th to early-20th century, with some old equipment and a log cabin remaining. Sites and trails include Boulder Field, Wild Basin Trail, and Homer Rouse Memorial Trail.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Enos Mills, the main figure behind the creation of Rocky Mountain National Park, enjoyed walking to Lily Lake from his nearby cabin. Wildflowers are common in the spring and early summer. In the winter, the trail around the lake is often suitable for walking in boots, or as a short snowshoe or ski. Other lakes in the Wild Basin include Chasm Lake, Snowbank Lake, Lion Lakes 1 and 2, Thunder Lake, Ouzel Lake, Finch Lake, Bluebird Lake, Pear Lake, and Sandbeach Lake. Many of the lakes have backcountry campsites. Waterfalls include Ouzel Falls, Trio Falls, Copeland Falls, and Calypso Cascades.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: According to the Köppen climate classification system, Rocky Mountain National Park has a Subarctic climate with cool summers and year around precipitation ("Dfc"). According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the Plant Hardiness zone at Bear Lake Ranger Station (9492 ft / 2893 m) is 5a with an average annual extreme minimum temperature of -15.2 °F (-26.2 °C), and 5a with an average annual extreme minimum temperature of -16.1 °F (-26.7 °C) at Beaver Meadows Visitor Center (7825 ft / 2385 m).


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: The complex interactions of elevation, slope, exposure and regional-scale air masses determine the climate within the park, which is noted for its extreme weather patterns. A "collision of air masses" from several directions produces some of the key weather events in the region. When cold arctic air from the north meets warm moist air from the Gulf of Mexico at the Front Range, "intense, very wet snowfalls with total snow depth measured in the feet" accumulate in the park.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Higher elevation areas within the park receive twice as much precipitation as lower elevation areas, generally in the form of deep winter snowfall. Arctic conditions are prevalent during the winter, with sudden blizzards, high winds, and deep snowpack. High country overnight trips require gear suitable for -35 °F or below.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: The subalpine region does not begin to experience spring-like conditions until June. Wildflowers bloom from late June to early August.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Below , temperatures are often moderate, although nighttime temperatures are cool, as is typical of mountain weather. Spring comes to the montane area by early May, when wildflowers begin to bloom. Spring weather is subject to unpredictable changes in temperature and precipitation, with potential for snow along trails through May. In July and August, temperatures are generally in the 70s or 80s °F during the day, and as low as the 40s °F at night. Lower elevations receive rain as most of their summer precipitation.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Sudden dramatic changes in the weather may occur during the summer, typically due to afternoon thunderstorms that can cause as much as a 20 °F drop in temperature and windy conditions.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: The park's climate is also affected by the Continental Divide, which runs northwest to southeast through the center of the park atop the high peaks. The Continental Divide creates two distinct climate patterns - one typical of the east side near Estes Park and the other associated with the Grand Lake area on the park's west side. The west side of the park experiences more snow, less wind, and clear cold days during the winter months.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Rocky Mountain National Park was selected to participate in a climate change study, along with two other National Park Service areas in the Rocky Mountain region and three in the Appalachian Mountain region. The study began in 2011, orchestrated by members of the academic scientific community in cooperation with the National Park Service and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The stated objective: "develop and apply decision support tools that use NASA and other data and models to assess vulnerability of ecosystems and species to climate and land use change and evaluate management options."


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: , the preceding one hundred years of records indicated an increase in the average annual temperature of approximately . The average low temperature has increased more than the average high temperature during the same time period. As a result of the temperature increase, snow is melting from the mountains earlier in the year, leading to drier summers and probably to an earlier, longer fire season. Since the 1990s, mountain pine beetles have reproduced more rapidly and have not died off at their previous mortality rate during the winter months. Consequently, the increased beetle population has led to an increased rate of tree mortality in the park.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: The climate change study projects further temperature increases, with greater warming in the summer and higher extreme temperatures by 2050. Due to the increased temperature, there is a projected moderate increase in the rate of water evaporation. Reduced snowfallperhaps 15% to 30% less than current amountsand the elimination of surface hail, along with the higher likelihood of intense precipitation events are predicted by 2050. Droughts may be more likely due to increased temperatures, increased evaporation rates, and potential changes in precipitation.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Precambrian metamorphic rock formed the core of the North American continent during the Precambrian eon 4.5–1 billion years ago. During the Paleozoic era, western North America was submerged beneath a shallow sea, with a seabed composed of limestone and dolomite deposits many kilometers thick. Pikes Peak granite formed during the late Precambrian eon, continuing well into the Paleozoic era, when mass quantities of molten rock flowed, amalgamated, and formed the continents about 1 billion–300 million years ago. Concurrently, in the period from 500 to 300 million years ago, the region began to sink while lime and mud sediments were deposited in the vacated space. Eroded granite produced sand particles that formed stratalayers of sedimentin the sinking basin.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: About 300 million years ago, the land was uplifted creating the ancestral Rocky Mountains. Fountain Formation was deposited during the Pennsylvanian period of the Paleozoic era, 290–296 million years ago. Over the next 150 million years, the mountains uplifted, continued to erode, and covered themselves in their own sediment. Wind, gravity, rainwater, snow, and glacial ice eroded the granite mountains over geologic time scales. The Ancestral Rockies were eventually buried under subsequent strata.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: The Pierre Shale formation was deposited during the Paleogene and Cretaceous periods about 70 million years ago. The region was covered by a deep seathe Cretaceous Western Interior Seawaywhich deposited massive amounts of shale on the seabed. Both the thick stratum of shale and embedded marine life fossilsincluding ammonites and skeletons of fish and such marine reptiles as mosasaurs, plesiosaurs, and extinct species of sea turtles, along with rare dinosaur and bird remainswere created during this time period. The area now known as Colorado was eventually transformed from being at the bottom of an ocean to dry land again, giving yield to another fossiliferous rock layer known as the Denver Formation.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: At about 68 million years ago, the Front Range began to rise again due to the Laramide orogeny in the west. During the Cenozoic era, block uplift formed the present Rocky Mountains. The geologic composition of Rocky Mountain National Park was also affected by deformation and erosion during that era. The uplift disrupted the older drainage patterns and created the present drainage patterns.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Glacial geology in Rocky Mountain National Park can be seen from the mountain peaks to the valley floors. Ice is a powerful sculptor of this natural environment and large masses of moving ice are the most powerful tools. Telltale marks of giant glaciers can be seen all throughout the park. Streams and glaciations during the Quaternary period cut through the older sediment, creating mesa tops and alluvial plains, and revealing the present Rocky Mountains. The glaciation removed as much as of sedimentary rocks from earlier inland sea deposits. This erosion exposed the basement rock of the Ancestral Rockies. Evidence of the uplifting and erosion can be found on the way to Rocky Mountain National Park in the hogbacks of the Front Range foothills. Many sedimentary rocks from the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras exist in the basins surrounding the park.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: While the glaciation periods are largely in the past, the park still has several small glaciers. The glaciers include Andrews, Sprague, Tyndall, Taylor, Rowe, Mills, and Moomaw Glaciers.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: According to the A. W. Kuchler U.S. Potential natural vegetation Types, Rocky Mountain National Park encompasses three classifications; an Alpine tundra & Barren ("52") vegetation type with an Alpine tundra ("11") vegetation form, a Western Spruce/Fir ("15") vegetation type with a Rocky Mountain Conifer Forest ("3") vegetation form, and a Pine/Douglas fir ("18") vegetation type with a Rocky Mountain Conifer Forest ("3") vegetation form.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Colorado has one of the most diverse plant and animal environments of the United States, partially due to the dramatic temperature differences arising from varying elevation levels and topography. In dry climates, the average temperature drops 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit with every 1,000 foot increase in elevation (9.8 degrees Celsius per 1,000 meters). Most of Colorado is semi-arid with the mountains receiving the greatest amount of precipitation in the state.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: The Continental Divide runs north to south through the park, creating a climatic division. Ancient glaciers carved the topography into a range of ecological zones. The east side of the Divide tends to be drier with heavily glaciated peaks and cirques. The west side of the park is wetter with more lush, deep forests.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: There are four ecosystems, or zones, in Rocky Mountain National Park: montane, subalpine, alpine tundra, and riparian. The riparian zone occurs throughout all of the three other zones. Each individual ecosystem is composed of organisms interacting with one other and with their surrounding environment. Living organisms (biotic), along with the dead organic matter they produce, and the abiotic (non-living) environment that impacts those living organisms (water, weather, rocks, and landscape) are all members of an ecosystem.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: The park was designated a World Biosphere Reserve by the United Nations in 1976 to protect its natural resources. The park's biodiversity includes afforestation and reforestation, ecology, inland bodies of water, and mammals, while its ecosystems are managed for nature conservation, environmental education and public recreation purposes. The areas of research and monitoring include ungulate ecology and management, high-altitude revegetation, global change, acid precipitation effects, and aquatic ecology and management.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: For a checklist of plants with photographic images) in the Rocky Mountain National Park, see Checklist RMNP.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: The montane ecosystem is at the lowest elevations in the park, between , where the slopes and large meadow valleys support the widest range of plant and animal life, including montane forests, grasslands, and shrublands. The area has meandering rivers and during the summer, wildflowers grow in the open meadows. Ponderosa pine trees, grass, shrubs and herbs live on dry, south-facing slopes. North-facing slopes retain moisture better than those that face south. The soil better supports dense populations of trees, like Douglas fir, lodgepole pine, and ponderosa pine. There are also occasional Engelmann spruce and blue spruce trees. Quaking aspens thrive in high-moisture montane soils. Other water-loving small trees like willows, grey alder, and water birch may be found along streams or lakeshores. Water-logged soil in flat montane valleys may be unable to support growth of evergreen forests. The following areas are part of the montane ecosystem: Moraine Park, Horseshoe Park, Kawuneeche Valley, and Upper Beaver Meadows.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Some of the mammals that inhabit the montane ecosystem include snowshoe hares, coyotes, cougars, beavers, mule deer, moose, bighorn sheep, black bears, and Rocky Mountain elk. During the fall, visitors often flock to the park to witness the elk rut.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: From to , the montane forests give way to subalpine forests. Forests of fir and Engelmann spruce cover the mountainsides in subalpine areas. Trees grow straight and tall in the lower subalpine forests, but become shorter and more deformed the nearer they are to the tree line. At the tree line, seedlings may germinate on the lee side of rocks and grow only as high as the rock provides wind protection, with any further growth being more horizontal than vertical. The low growth of dense trees is called krummholz, which may become well-established and live for several hundred to a thousand years old.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: In the subalpine zone, lodgepole pines and huckleberry have established themselves in previous burn areas. Crystal clear lakes and fields of wildflowers are hidden among the trees. Mammals of the subalpine zone include bobcats, cougars, coyotes, elk, mule deer, chipmunks, shrews, porcupines and yellow-bellied marmots. Black bears are attracted by the berries and seeds of subalpine forests. Clark's nutcracker, Steller's jay, mountain chickadee and yellow-rumped warbler are some of the many birds found in the subalpine zone. Sprague Lake and Odessa Lake are two of the park's subalpine lakes.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Above tree line, at approximately , trees disappear and the vast alpine tundra takes over. Over one third of the park resides above the tree line, an area which limits plant growth due to the cold climate and strong winds. The few plants that can survive under such extreme conditions are mostly perennials. Many alpine plants are dwarfed at high elevations, though their occasional blossoms may be full-sized.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Cushion plants have long taproots that extend deep into the rocky soil. Their diminutive size, like clumps of moss, limits the effect of harsh winds. Many flowering plants of the tundra have dense hairs on stems and leaves to provide wind protection or red-colored pigments capable of converting the sun's light rays into heat. Some plants take two or more years to form flower buds, which survive the winter below the surface and then open and produce fruit with seeds in the few weeks of summer. Grasses and sedges are common where tundra soil is well-developed.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Non-flowering lichens cling to rocks and soil. Their enclosed algal cells can photosynthesize at any temperature above 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0 °C), and the outer fungal layers can absorb more than their own weight in water. Adaptations for survival amidst drying winds and cold temperatures may make tundra vegetation seem very hardy, but in some respects it remains very fragile. Footsteps can destroy tundra plants and it may take hundreds of years to recover. Mammals that live on the alpine tundra, or visit during the summer season, include bighorn sheep, elk, badgers, pikas, yellow-bellied marmots, and snowshoe hares. Birds include prairie falcons, white-tailed ptarmigans, and common ravens. Flowering plants include mertensia, sky pilot, alpine sunflowers, alpine dwarf columbine, and alpine forget-me-not. Grasses include kobresia, spike trisetum, spreading wheatgrass, and tufted hairgrass.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: The riparian ecosystem runs through the montane, subalpine, and alpine tundra zones and creates a foundation for life, especially for species that thrive next to streams, rivers, and lakes. The headwaters of the Colorado River, which provides water to many of the southwestern states, are located on the west side of the park. The Fall River, Cache la Poudre River and Big Thompson Rivers are located on the east side of the park. Just like the other ecosystems in the park, the riparian zone is affected by the climatic variables of temperature, precipitation, and elevation. Generally, riparian zones in valleys will have cooler temperatures than communities located on slopes and ridge tops. Depending on elevation, a riparian zone may have more or less precipitation than other riparian zones in the park, with the difference creating a shift in the types of plants and animals found in a specific zone.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Rocky Mountain National Park is home to many species of animals, including nearly seventy mammals and almost three hundred species of birds. This diversity is due to the park's varying topography, which creates a variety of habitats. However, some species have been extirpated from this park, including wolf packs, wolverine, grizzly bear, and American bison.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: The park is home to some 2,000 to 3,000 elk in summer, and between 800 and 1,000 elk spend the winter within its boundaries. Because of lack of predators such as wolves, the National Park Service culls around 50 elk each winter. Overgrazing by elk has become a major problem in the park's riparian areas, so much so that the NPS fences them out of many critical wetland habitats to let willows and aspens grow. The program seems to be working, as the deciduous wetland plants thrive within the fencing. Many people think the elk herd is too large, but are reluctant to reintroduce predators because of its proximity to large human populations and ranches.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Many other ungulates reside in the park, including bighorn sheep, moose, and mule deer. Bison were eliminated from the park in the 1800s, as were pronghorn and moose, the latter of which was restored to the area in 1978. Moose are now frequently seen in the park, especially on the park's west side. The park's bighorn sheep population has recovered and is estimated at 350 animals.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: The park is home to many predatory animals, including Canada lynx, foxes, bobcat, cougar, black bear, and coyotes. Wolves and grizzly bears were extirpated in the early 1900s. Most of these predators kill smaller animals, but mountain lions and coyotes kill deer and occasionally elk. Bears also eat larger prey. Moose have no predators in the park. Black bears are relatively uncommon in the park, numbering only 24-35 animals. They also have fewer cubs and the bears seem skinnier than they do in most areas. Canadian lynx are quite rare within the park, and they have probably spread north from the San Juan Mountains, where they were reintroduced in 1999. Cougars feed mainly on mule deer in the park, and live 10–13 years. Cougar territories can be as large as . Coyotes hunt both alone and in pairs, but occasionally hunt in packs. They mainly feed on rodents but occasionally bring down larger animals, including deer, and especially fawns and elk calves. Scat studies in Moraine Park showed that their primary foods were deer and rodents. They form strong family bonds and are very vocal.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: The park contains a network of trails that range from easy, paved paths suitable for all visitors including those with disabilities, to strenuous mountain trails for experienced, conditioned hikers as well as off-trail routes for backcountry hikes. Trails lead to more than 100 designated wilderness camping sites. From either the Bear Lake or Grand Lake trailheads, backpackers can hike a loop along the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail within the park. Most trails are for summer use only, since at other times of the year many trails are not safe due to weather conditions. Horseback riding is permitted on most trails, as are llamas and other pack animals.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Rock climbing and mountaineering opportunities include Lumpy Ridge, Hallett Peak, and Longs Peak, the highest peak in the park, with the easiest route being the Keyhole Route. This one-way climb has an elevation gain of . The vast east face, including the area known as The Diamond, is home to many classic big wall rock climbing routes. Many of the highest peaks have technical ice and rock routes on them, ranging from short scrambles to long multi-pitch climbs. Bouldering is popular in the park as well, as it is often considered a "mecca for boulderers around the world", particularly the Emerald Lake and Chaos Canyon areas.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Fishing is permitted at many of the park's lakes and streams. Four trout species inhabit park waters: rainbow, brook, cutthroat, and German brown trout.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: During the winter most of Trail Ridge Road is closed due to heavy snow, limiting motorized access to the edges of the park. Winter activities include snowshoeing and cross-country skiing which are possible from either the Estes Park or Grand Lake entrances. On the east side near Estes Park, skiing and snowshoeing trails are available off Bear Lake Road, such as the Bear Lake, Bierstadt Lake, and Sprague Lake trails and at Hidden Valley. Slopes for sledding are also available at Hidden Valley. The west side of the park near Grand Lake also has viable snowshoeing trails. Backcountry skiing and snowboarding can be enjoyed after climbing up one of the higher slopes, especially late in the snow season after avalanche danger has subsided and technical climbing remains also a possibility, although typically differing in style from the summer months.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Encountering bears is a concern in much of the Rocky Mountains, including the Wind River Range. There are other concerns as well, including bugs, wildfires, adverse snow conditions and nighttime cold temperatures.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: There have been notable incidents, including accidental deaths, due to falls from steep cliffs (a misstep could be fatal in this class 4/5 terrain) and due to falling rocks, over the years, including 1993, 2007 (involving an experienced NOLS leader), 2015 and 2018. Other incidents include a seriously injured backpacker being airlifted near SquareTop Mountain in 2005, and a fatal hiker incident (from an apparent accidental fall) in 2006 that involved state search and rescue. The U.S. Forest Service does not offer updated aggregated records on the official number of fatalities in such areas, including the Wind River Range.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Wildfires have been recorded in Rocky Mountain National Park prior to its establishment in 1915. Some of the most notable wildfires include the Bear Lake Fire, which was started by a campfire that was failed to be properly put out, and burned for two months in 1900. The Ouzel Fire in 1978 was caused naturally by lightning and was allowed to burn under supervision until it got out of hand and in total burned 1,050 acres of land. The Fern Lake Fire in 2012 was also caused by a campfire, the fire was intensified due to strong winds and drought in the area. Absence of fire in around Fern Lake for many centuries caused excessive dead trees and a thick layer of organic matter on the ground which fuelled the fire, ultimately leading to the it lasting for over two months, burning nearly 3,500 acres of land.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: An increase in average temperature in the Rocky Mountain region has been correlated to a decrease in snowfall that melts earlier in the year, attributing to drier summers and longer fire seasons. Rocky Mountain National Park is expected to see one of the largest increases in number of wildfires for the United States, with an increase in both duration and intensity for wildfires in general across the nation.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Wildfires that have a higher burn severity can cause serious damage to an ecosystem. High-severity wildfires can cause soil degradation by affecting the soils’ ability to absorb and process water. They also cause an increase in erosion due to burning away vegetation that holds the soil to the ground, thus increasing the chances of flooding and mudslides that cause further damage in and around the affected areas. Ash from the fires also contributes significantly to air and water pollution.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Low-severity wildfires however are crucial to maintaining a balanced ecosystem and can help prevent the damaging high-severity wildfires by clearing away excess organic material that adds fuel to and amplifies the spread of more severe wildfires. While severe fires can negatively impact the soil, less severe wildfires can be beneficial as burning the nutrient-rich dead organic material helps to fertilize the soil. The smaller fires also clear room for new growth and can fight against invasive species encroachment in the park.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Many parks including Rocky Mountain National Park use small fires as means to prevent more severe fires from getting out of hand. Along with small, prescribed burns, other fuel management practices include removing low hanging branches and forest thinning in general. Scientists have been working hard to find a balance in wildfires, allowing them to work as a restorative ecological process while avoiding the damage and pollution that come with high-severity wildfires.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: The park may be accessed through Estes Park or via the western entrance at Grand Lake. Trail Ridge Road, also known as U.S. Route 34, connects the eastern and western sides of the park. The park has a total of five visitor centers. The Alpine Visitor Center is located in the tundra environment along Trail Ridge Road, while Beaver Meadows and Fall River are both near Estes Park, with Kawuneeche in the Grand Lake area, and the Moraine Park Discovery Center near the Beaver Meadows entrance and visitor center.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Trail Ridge Road is long and connects the entrances in Grand Lake and Estes Park. Running generally eastwest through many hairpin turns, the road crosses Milner Pass through the Continental Divide at an elevation of . The highest point of the road is , with eleven miles of the road being above tree line which is approximately . The road is the highest continuously paved highway in the country, and includes many large turnouts at key points to stop and observe the scenery.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Most visitors to the park drive over the famous Trail Ridge Road, but other roads include Fall River Road and Bear Lake Road. The park is open every day of the year, weather permitting. Due to the extended winter season in higher elevations, Trail Ridge Road between Many Parks Curve and the Colorado River Trailhead is closed much of the year. The road is usually open again by Memorial Day and closes in mid-October, generally after Columbus Day. Fall River Road does not open until about July 4 and closes by, or in, October for vehicular traffic. Snow may also fall in sufficient quantities in higher elevations to require temporary closure of the roads into July, which is reported on the road status site.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Most visitors enter the park through the eastern entrances near Estes Park, which is about northwest of Denver. The most direct route to Trail Ridge Road is the Beaver Meadows entrance, located just west of Estes Park on U.S. Route 36, which leads to the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center and the park's headquarters. North of the Beaver Meadows entrance station is the Fall River entrance, which also leads to Trail Ridge Road and Old Fall River Road. There are three routes into Estes Park: I-25 to U.S. 34 west which runs alongside the Big Thompson River; U.S. 36 west (northwest) from Boulder connecting to U.S. 34 west; and the Peak to Peak Highway, also known as State Highway 7, from points south.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: The nearest airport is Denver International Airport and the closest train station is the Denver Union Station. Estes Park may be reached by rental car or shuttle. During peak tourist season, there is free shuttle service within the park; additionally, the town of Estes Park provides shuttle service to Estes Park Visitor Center, surrounding campgrounds, and the Rocky Mountain National Park's shuttles.


title: Rocky Mountain National Park

text: Visitors may also enter at the western side of the park from U.S. 34 near Grand Lake. U.S. 34 is reached by taking U.S. 40 north from I-70. The closest railroad station is the Amtrak station in Granby, which is from the western entrance of the park. Taxi service is available into the park.


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: Meditations on First Philosophy, in which the existence of God and the immortality of the soul are demonstrated () is a philosophical treatise by René Descartes first published in Latin in 1641. The French translation (by the Duke of Luynes with Descartes' supervision) was published in 1647 as "Méditations Métaphysiques". The title may contain a misreading by the printer, mistaking "animae immortalitas" for "animae immaterialitas", as suspected by A. Baillet.


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: The book is made up of six meditations, in which Descartes first discards all belief in things that are not absolutely certain, and then tries to establish what can be known for sure. He wrote the meditations as if he had meditated for six days: each meditation refers to the last one as "yesterday". (In fact, Descartes began work on the "Meditations" in 1639.) One of the most influential philosophical texts ever written, it is widely read to this day.


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: The book consists of the presentation of Descartes' metaphysical system at its most detailed level and in the expanding of his philosophical system, first introduced in the fourth part of his "Discourse on Method" (1637). Descartes' metaphysical thought is also found in the "Principles of Philosophy" (1644), which the author intended to be a philosophical guidebook.


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: Descartes says that he is asking the protection of the Faculty for his work, and to this end he writes the present dedication.


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: His first consideration is that the existence of God has to be demonstrated philosophically, besides the theological reasons for belief, particularly if we consider to make a demonstration for the non-believers. Moreover, the believers could be accused of making a circular reasoning, when saying that we must believe in God because of the Scriptures, and in the authority of the Scriptures because they have been inspired by God. He further indicates how the very Scriptures say that the mind of man is sufficient to discover God.


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: His aim is to apply a method to demonstrate these two truths, in a so clear and evident manner that result to be evident. This method he has developed for the Sciences.


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: Descartes explains how he made a mention of the two questions, the existence of God, and the soul, in his "Discourse on Method". Following this, he received objections, and two of them he considers are of importance. The first is how he concludes that the essence of the soul is a thing that thinks, excluding all other nature. To this he says that he has a clear perception that he is a thinking thing, and has no other clear perception, and from this he concludes that there is nothing else in the essence of the self.


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: The second is that from the idea I have of something that is more perfect than myself, it cannot be concluded that it exists. In the treatise we will see that in fact from the idea that there is something more perfect than myself, it follows that this exists.


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: It goes on to comment that on a general level the reasoning used by the atheists for denying the existence of God is based in the fact that "we ascribe to God affections that are human, or we attribute so much strength and wisdom to our minds" that we presume to understand that which God can and ought to do. He says that we have to consider God as incomprehensible and infinite, and our minds as limited and finite.


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: Finally says that the treatise was submitted to some men of learning to know their difficulties and objections, and are answered at the end of it.


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: The First Meditation, subtitled "What can be called into doubt", opens with the Meditator reflecting on the number of falsehoods he has believed during his life and on the subsequent faultiness of the body of knowledge he has built up from these falsehoods. He has resolved to sweep away all he thinks he knows and to start again from the foundations, building up his knowledge once more on more certain grounds. He has seated himself alone, by the fire, free of all worries so that he can demolish his former opinions with care.


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: The Meditator reasons that he need only find some reason to doubt his present opinions in order to prompt him to seek sturdier foundations for knowledge. Rather than doubt every one of his opinions individually, he reasons that he might cast them all into doubt if he can doubt the foundations and basic principles on which the opinions are founded.


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: Everything that the Meditator has accepted as most true he has come to learn from or through his senses. He acknowledges that sometimes the senses can deceive, but only with respect to objects that are very small or far away, and that our sensory knowledge on the whole is quite sturdy. The Meditator acknowledges that insane people might be more deceived, but that he is clearly not one of them and needn't worry himself about that.


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: However, the Meditator realizes that he is often convinced when he is dreaming that he is sensing real objects. He feels certain that he is awake and sitting by the fire, but reflects that often he has dreamed this very sort of thing and been wholly convinced by it. Though his present sensations may be dream images, he suggests that even dream images are drawn from waking experience, much like paintings in that respect. Even when a painter creates an imaginary creature, like a mermaid, the composite parts are drawn from real things—women and fish, in the case of a mermaid. And even when a painter creates something entirely new, at least the colors in the painting are drawn from real experience. Thus, the Meditator concludes, though he can doubt composite things, he cannot doubt the simple and universal parts from which they are constructed like shape, quantity, size, time, etc. While we can doubt studies based on composite things, like medicine, astronomy, or physics, he concludes that we cannot doubt studies based on simple things, like arithmetic and geometry.


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: On further reflection, the Meditator realizes that even simple things can be doubted. Omnipotent God could make even our conception of mathematics false. One might argue that God is supremely good and would not lead him to believe falsely all these things. But by this reasoning we should think that God would not deceive him with regard to anything, and yet this is clearly not true. If we suppose there is no God, then there is even greater likelihood of being deceived, since our imperfect senses would not have been created by a perfect being.


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: The Meditator finds it almost impossible to keep his habitual opinions and assumptions out of his head, try as he might. He resolves to pretend that these opinions are totally false and imaginary in order to counterbalance his habitual way of thinking. The Meditator wishes to avoid an excess of skepticism and instead uses a skeptical method, an important distinction. He supposes that not God, but some evil demon has committed itself to deceiving him so that everything he thinks he knows is false. By doubting everything, he can at least be sure not to be misled into falsehood by this demon.


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: Before retiring for the night, the Meditator indulges in his old beliefs, afraid to awake to a life of confusion. As a result he allows for the tempting falsehoods to continue unabridged.


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: Descartes saw his "Meditations" as providing the metaphysical underpinning of his new physics. Like Galileo, he sought to overturn what he saw as two-thousand-year-old prejudices injected into the Western tradition by Aristotle. The Aristotelian thought of Descartes' day placed great weight on the testimony of the senses, suggesting that all knowledge comes from the senses. The Meditator's suggestion that all one's most certain knowledge comes from the senses is meant to appeal directly to the Aristotelian philosophers who will be reading the "Meditations". The motivation, then, behind the First Meditation is to start in a position the Aristotelian philosophers would agree with and then, subtly, to seduce them away from it. Descartes is aware of how revolutionary his ideas are, and must pay lip service to the orthodox opinions of the day in order to be heeded.


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: Reading the First Meditation as an effort to coax Aristotelians away from their customary opinions allows us to read different interpretations into the different stages of doubt. For instance, there is some debate as to whether Descartes intended his famous "Dream Argument" to suggest the universal possibility of dreaming—that though there is waking experience, I can never know which moments are dreams and which are waking—or the possibility of a universal dream—that my whole life is a dream and that there is no waking world. If we read Descartes as suggesting the universal possibility of dreaming, we can explain an important distinction between the Dream Argument and the later "Evil Demon" argument. The latter suggests that all we know is false and that we cannot trust the senses one bit. The Dream Argument, if meant to suggest the universal possibility of dreaming, suggests only that the senses are not always and wholly reliable. The Dream Argument questions Aristotelian epistemology, while the Evil Demon Argument does away with it altogether. The "Painter's Analogy", which draws on the Dream Argument, concludes that mathematics and other purely cerebral studies are far more certain than astronomy or physics, which is an important step away from the Aristotelian reliance on the senses and toward Cartesian rationalism.


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: Read on its own, the First Meditation can be seen as presenting skeptical doubts as a subject of study in their own right. Certainly, skepticism is a much-discussed and hotly debated topic in philosophy, even today. Descartes raised the mystifying question of how we can claim to know with certainty anything about the world around us. The idea is not that these doubts are probable, but that their possibility can never be entirely ruled out. And if we can never be certain, how can we claim to know anything? Skepticism cuts straight to the heart of the Western philosophical enterprise and its attempt to provide a certain foundation for our knowledge and understanding of the world. It can even be pushed so far as to be read as a challenge to our very notion of rationality.


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: It is difficult to justify a dismissal of skepticism. Western philosophy since Descartes has been largely marked and motivated by an effort to overcome this problem.


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: Descartes' doubt is a methodological and rational doubt. That is, the Meditator is not just doubting everything at random, but is providing solid reasons for his doubt at each stage. For instance, he rejects the possibility that he might be mad since that would undercut the rationality that motivates his doubt. Descartes is trying to set up this doubt within a rational framework and needs to maintain a claim to rationality for his arguments to proceed.


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: He goes on to suggest more powerful reasons to doubt that his beliefs are true. In general, his method is that of forming skeptical hypotheses—methodic doubt. In the first meditation, he considers whether he is mad, dreaming, or deceived by an evil demon.


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: Descartes' goal, as stated at the beginning of the meditation, is to suspend judgment about any belief that is even slightly doubtful. The skeptical scenarios show that all of the beliefs he considers in the first meditation—including, at the very least, all his beliefs about the physical world, are doubtful. So he decides to suspend judgment. He will henceforth give up all of his beliefs about the physical world. He also decides to continually remind himself to avoid habitually falling into accepting beliefs without support, a habit to which he is susceptible.


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: In "Meditation II: Concerning the Nature of the Human Mind: That the mind is more known than the body", Descartes lays out a pattern of thought, sometimes called representationalism, in response to the doubts forwarded in "Meditation I". He identifies five steps in this theory:


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: Descartes argues that this representational theory disconnects the world from the mind, leading to the need for some sort of bridge to span the separation and provide "good reasons" to believe that the ideas accurately represent the outside world. The first plank he uses in constructing this bridge can be found in the following excerpt:


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: I have convinced myself that there is nothing in the world — no sky, no earth, no minds, no bodies. Doesn't it follow that I don't exist? No, surely I must exist if it's me who is convinced of something. But there is a deceiver, supremely powerful and cunning whose aim is to see that I am always deceived. But surely I exist, if I am deceived. Let him deceive me all he can, he will never make it the case that I am nothing while I think that I am something. Thus having fully weighed every consideration, I must finally conclude that the statement "I am, I exist" must be true whenever I state it or mentally consider it.


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: In other words, one's consciousness implies one's existence. In one of Descartes' replies to objections to the book, he summed this up in the phrase "cogito, ergo sum", 'Ithink therefore I am.'


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: Once he secures his existence, however, Descartes seeks to find out what "I" is. He rejects the typical method, which looks for a definition (e.g., Rational Animal), because the words used in the definition would then need to be defined. He seeks "simple terms" that do not need to be defined in this way, but whose meaning can just be "seen." From these self-evident truths, "complex terms" can be built up.


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: But what then am I? A thinking thing. And what is that? Something that doubts, understands, affirms, denies, wills, refuses, and also senses and has mental images.


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: To define himself further, Descartes turns to the example of wax. He determines that wax isn't wax because of its color, texture or shape, as all of these things can change and the substance still be wax. He believes that wax is perceived "by the intellect alone." Therefore, he distinguishes between "ordinary perception" and "judgment". When one understands the mathematical principles of the substance, such as its expansion under heat, figure and motion, the knowledge of the wax can be "clear and distinct".


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: If a substance such as wax can be known in this fashion, then the same must be of ourselves. The self, then, is not determined by what we sense of ourselves—these hands, this head, these eyes—but by simply the things one thinks. Thus, one "can't grasp anything more easily or plainly than [his] mind."


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: Descartes concludes that he exists because he is a "thinking thing." If he is the thing that can be deceived and can think and have thoughts, then he must exist.


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: Descartes argues that the idea of God is "innate" and placed in us by God, and rejects the possibility of such being "invented" or "adventitious".


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: Descartes argued that he had a clear and distinct idea of God. In the same way that the "cogito" was self-evident, so too is the existence of God, as his perfect idea of a perfect being could not have been caused by anything less than a perfect being.


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: The conclusions of the previous Meditations that "I" and "God" both exist lead to another problem: If God is perfectly good and the source of all that is, how is there room for error or falsehood? Descartes attempts to answer this question in "Meditation IV: On Truth and Falsity":


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: If I've got everything in me from God and He hasn't given me the ability to make errors, it doesn't seem possible for me ever to be in error.


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: The framework of his arguments center on the "great chain of being", in which God's perfect goodness is relative to His perfect being. On the extreme opposite end of the scale is complete nothingness, which is also the most evil state possible. Thus, humans are an intermediary between these two extremes, being less "real" or "good" than God, but more "real" and "good" than nothingness. Thus, error (as a part of evil) is not a positive reality, it is only the absence of what is correct. In this way, its existence is allowed within the context of a perfectly inerrant God.


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: I find that I am "intermediate" between God and nothingness, between the supreme entity and nonentity. Insofar as I am the creation of the supreme entity, there's nothing in me to account for my being deceived or led into error, but, inasmuch as I somehow participate in nothing or nonentity — that is, insofar as I am distinct from the supreme entity itself and lack many things — it's not surprising that I go wrong. I thus understand that, in itself, error is a lack, rather than a real thing dependent on God. Hence, I understand that I can err without God's having given me a special ability to do so. Rather, I fall into error because my God-given ability to judge the truth is not infinite.


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: Descartes also concedes two points that might allow for the possibility of his ability to make errors. First, he notes that it is very possible that his limited knowledge prevents him from understanding "why" God chose to create him so he could make mistakes. If he could see the things that God could see, with a complete and infinite scope, perhaps he would judge his ability to err as the best option. He uses this point to attack the Aristotelian structure of causes. The final cause described by Aristotle are the "what for" of an object, but Descartes claims that because he is unable to comprehend completely the mind of God, it is impossible to understand completely the "why" through science—only the "how."


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: I realize that I shouldn't be surprised at God's doing things that I can't explain. I shouldn't doubt His existence just because I find that I sometimes can't understand why or how He has made something. I know that my nature is weak and limited and that God's is limitless, incomprehensible, and infinite, and, from this, I can infer that He can do innumerable things whose reasons are unknown to me. On this ground alone, I regard the common practice of explaining things in terms of their purposes to be useless in physics: it would be foolhardy of me to think that I can discover God's purposes.


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: Secondly, he considers the possibility that an apparent error at the individual level could be understood within the totality of creation as error free.


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: When asking whether God's works are perfect, I ought to look at all of them together, not at one isolation. For something that seems imperfect when viewed alone might seem completely perfect when regarded as having a place in the world. Of course, since calling everything into doubt, I haven't established that anything exists besides me and God. But, when I consider God's immense power, I can't deny that He has made — or, in any case, that He could have made — many other things, and I must therefore view myself as having a place in a universe.


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: Lastly, "Meditation IV" attributes the source of error to a discrepancy between two divine gifts: understanding and free will. Understanding is given in an incomplete form, while will (by nature) can only be either completely given or not given at all. When he is presented with a certain amount of understanding and then "chooses" to act outside of that, he is in error. Thus, the gifts of God (understanding and will) both remain good and only the incorrect usage by him remains as error.


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: If I suspend judgement when I don't clearly and distinctly grasp what is true, I obviously do right and am not deceived. But, if I either affirm or deny in a case of this sort, I misuse my freedom of choice. If I affirm what is false, I clearly err, and, if I stumble onto the truth, I'm still blameworthy since the light of nature reveals that a perception of the understanding should always precede a decision of the will. In these misuses of freedom of choice lies the deprivation that accounts for error. And this deprivation, I maintain, lies in the working of the will insofar as it comes from me — not in my God-given ability to will, or even in the will's operation insofar as it derives from Him.


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: "Meditation V: Concerning the Essence of Material Things, and Again Concerning God, That He Exists" begins with the stated purpose of expanding the "known items" of God and self to include outside material objects; but Descartes saves that for "Meditation VI" in lieu of something he deems more fundamental but in the same direction: a discussion concerning the "ideas" of those external items. Along the way, he advances another logical proof of God's existence.


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: Before asking whether any such objects exist outside me, I ought to consider the ideas of these objects as they exist in my thoughts and see which are clear and which confused.


title: Meditations on First Philosophy

text: Descartes separates external objects into those that are clear and distinct and those that are confused and obscure. The former group consists of the ideas of extension, duration and movement. These geometrical ideas cannot be misconstrued or combined in a way that makes them false. For example, if the idea of a creature with the head of a giraffe, the body of a lion and tail of a beaver was constructed and the question asked if the creature had a large intestine, the answer would have to be invented. But, no mathematical re-arrangement of a triangle could allow its three internal angles to sum to anything but 180 degrees. Thus, Descartes perceived that truths may have a nature or essence of themselves, independent of the thinker. In Descartes' formulation, this is a "mathematical" truth only pragmatically related to nature; the properties of triangles in Euclidean geometry remain mathematically certain.