Sometimes we all just need a break – a chance to reorient ourselves with our surrounding that we too often become immersed in. We become encased in this world around us that we lose sight of ourselves. We need this break to rekindle our fondness of the things that matter most and simply forget that world of distractions yielded in our day-to-day life.
Knowing that spring break was still 2 weeks away was both a hindrance and a blessing. But it was clear as Feb 27th rolled around that I wouldn’t make it to vacation without taking a spontaneous excursion to the mountains. On Mel’s birthday, we loaded up the car and headed up to Cameron Pass at roughly 10 thousand feet.
Arriving at the Blue Lake trailhead, it was clear that the several feet of snow would be, well, an amazing change from the unseasonably mild and snow-sparse world of Fort Collins. And it only took 90 minutes up that canyon. We quickly geared up and embarked on the 8 foot-deep, snow covered trail.
We were intent on reaching the Blue Lake peak, but our delayed start courtesy of much needed sleep proved to alter that plan. But hey, who cares because rather than torture ourselves to reach a peak, we played around in the snow for a while. And believe it or not, running on 8 feet of snow is quite the feat.
3:30 soon rolled around, and that was the time we had set that we needed to be making our return to the car along the 3 miles of strenuous snowy trail we managed to cover. Of course, all work no play makes for a boring day, so why not try to trigger a snow collapse.
No such luck, but it was still fun.
As we neared the car, it became clear that a snowstorm was rolling in, but we were intent on sledding. It was something we wanted to do all day, and blizzard conditions weren’t going to stop us. We quickly raced across the road with sleds in hand and up a steep and lengthy hill for one quick run, partly to say we did and partly for the thrill of time crunched adventure.
By the time we left, it was nearly impossible to see. However, the snow wouldn’t be what would nearly kill us on the way down the road towards Fort Collins.
Traveling along the road and eying the yellow line in an effort to maintain control and vision, we were traveling around 35mph when Mel started yelling and I saw a large, burly looking beast moving right into my lane from the right. Breaking hard and swerving, we avoided what would have likely totaled my recently purchased car. Oddly enough, as we drove by the enormous elk, we had to look up to see all of it. Crazy!
But then, of course another one decided to come in from the left side. Final straw… 10mph and freak-out mode time J
We were in the clear all the way until we were entering the city limits when an entirely opposite animal darted across the road – a small cat. Luckily, my racecar driving skills missed that incident as well.
Nearing the dense residential area of town, a small fox or deer or something ran across the left lane and into the bushes, and I had had enough.
This day, though totally amazing in every way as usual when the mountains are involved, would be forever named the “Road kill-Roulette-Ride.”
Beyond the trip report
This semester has been ridiculously busy between classes, work, and the newspaper. Add in running and having some amount of fun, there is almost no time to write freely. But I finally made time. It is these little breaks from life that keep us sane.
There is so much happening in the world, and so much of it interests me to the extent that I wish I could be reporting it or helping in some way, but that is not plausible at the moment. And that, I think, adds to the stress that has overwhelmingly plagued even my resting mind for the past 2 weeks. Deadlines for papers, projects and financial aid, exam week, and future living arrangement planning have overwhelmed me lately.
But I think I have reached that point of realization where there are bigger things than what I get wrapped up in. For a while and even a little still, it bothered me that I would get so stressed, and that would stress me out further. Ridiculous and totally absurd.
But luckily, everything is done that needs to be. Spring break is finally here, and on Sunday I leave for a week of backpacking through Canyonlands and Arches National Parks in Utah. It is sure to be an inspiring and much needed reflection time through Abbey Country, and a detailed trip report will, of course follow.
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