DAY 29: Rocky Mountain High.....Colorado

He was born in the summer of his 57th year.........Comin' home to a place he'd never been before
He left yesterday behind him, you might say he was born again......You might say he found a key for every door

............with apologies to John Denver


If geography has royalty then the Rocky Mountains are America's Royalty, our kings and queens. How absolutely majestic the mountains are. I left Denver on Tuesday morning for the ride up through Boulder to Estes Park, which is the take off point for the Rockies. It was one thing to see the snow capped mountains off in the distance. Another thing altogether to see them up close. As I rounded the bend before me lay Lake Estes and the Rockies behind it.

I pulled up to the Park Rangers station and paid my $20.00 entry fee, received my map and a friendly "Good Morning" from the Ranger. I glanced down at my watch and wished that I had more time than just the bulk of the day. Having gotten here I really didn't wish to leave.

You don't realize just how big and how awesome the Rocky Mountains are. They are always before you....always around you. Reaching to the sky they seem so close and yet so far at the same time. I slowly meandered the jeep through the first couple turns stopping seemingly every three feet to take another picture. Not wishing to miss anything. Wanting this day and its accompanying scenery and sights to be forever etched in my mind.

I finally pulled myself over at the edge of a mountain meadow and looked the map over. Where to head to get a good hike in. I finally settled on the hike up to Deer Mountain......three miles up and three miles back down. At the summit the height is just over 10,000 feet.

This was going to be fun. Parking the jeep, I began to get ready. My now well worn hiking boots. My water pack. My hiking stick. A hat and sun glasses.  I went over to the trailhead and the posting sign where I met a bunch of folks who had just came down, mostly twenty something girls. "How is the hike up?" I asked. And the replies ranged from "Not too bad" to "Challenging" to "Tough".  One young woman offered up "Make sure that you take a rock up to place at the top" and proceeded to tell me that it was habit or tradition to bring a rock up and place it on the pile as sign that you had finished, had made it. I thanked her for sharing that .....and then I was off. At first the path was wide and easy, but became increasingly steeper and rocky as I proceeded up the hill.

A far different hike from the one back at the beginning of my trip in the Blue Ridge Mountains on Skyline Drive. And it took a long time. Not due to difficulty but because of the many stops to take pictures. And pictures. And pictures. One view and vista prettier than the next.

 And finally at the top. At the summit. A pile of rocks greeted me there, brought up and piled by hikers who had made the summit.....and I added mine to the pile.

The Rockies are just beautiful. Making my way back down the path I passed several hikers heading up. Always a smile and a friendly hello. You are never really hiking alone. A great time to think which in part was what this whole trip was about.

Back in my jeep, I continued through the park driving past mountain meadows, rushing whitewater and incredible mountain views. Just a unique experience unlike anything else.....Before I even left I wanted to come back. But with my month now ending, it was time to head home....and a part of me was now looking forward to that.