Finals week had finally concluded. To cap off a long and arduous semester filled with both tedious and meaningless classes as well enticing and difficult ones, I did what seemed obvious - I went to the mountains.
Mel and I had planned this day trip about 2 weeks ago when I was stressed beyond belief with classes, work, projects, running, internship stuff, and of course money. But knowing that the day after my last final we would be heading up to Rocky Mountain National Park pulled me through, and the day finally came.
Soon we were heading up Big Thompson Canyon where it turns out the speed limit is 40mph, even on the flat and straight portions. Thank you officer.
Not even a threatening cop was going to stop this day from being totally relaxing, and shortly before noon we were heading down the trail to Mills Lake from the Glacier Gorge trail-head.
It wasn't long before the winding and confusing trails packing into the 8 feet of snow took us all over the valley before, thanks to the quick thinking of two direction oriented people (ha. ha.), we soon figured out where it was we had to be.
To be honest, I really didn't care where it was we ended up. Sure, Mills was the plan, but I was happy to just be outside. The temperature was near 70 even though there was still such an incredible snow pack, and the sun basked us in rays of warmth – I have the sunburn to prove it.
Wandering through the woods in an effort to intersect the trail, things just made sense again for the first time since Boston? Since Canyonlands? I am not sure, but it just worked. Everything was at peace, and that feeling of “I might actually have control of my life” overcame for the first time all semester I think.
By about 2pm we had reached Mills Lake, a beautiful expanse of water frozen in time at a point that lay at the base of Long Peak. Located at 10 thousand feet above sea level, Mills was an isolated place likely because the hoards of tourists struggled through the snow past about mile 1.
With the ridiculously warm temps, we lay on a rock near the melting lake and fell asleep. The sounds of cracking ice sheets that sounded like gunshots and dripping water from the hundreds of feet of rock around us woke me and put me to sleep simultaneously. For nearly a half hour, the sun baked my pale skin, and when I awoke I knew I had fried. I was strangely okay with it, and if that is the worst thing I have to complain about, so be it.
Things just seemed so peaceful up hear away from the throngs of city living and stresses of the world. The wispy, cotton-candy-clouds dispersed the suns rays around us, and it made packing up our days worth of food and gear dreadful. Why can't we just live here?
Around 4 we began out descent back to the trail-head through a meandering route following other people's likely confused and wandering tracks. We paused several times to look around – to look at what an amazing world rest just 45 minutes from our homes. Waterfalls and aspen trees as well as the scent of pine freshness and the sounds of a robin's song led us down to the parking lot.
From there, we went into Estes Park to walk around where it was even warmer before we made the extremely difficult decision to head home.
Though this was hardly our most adventurous, dangerous, or lengthy trip, it still served its purpose. To get away for just long enough and to rid ourselves of our struggles for an afternoon with nature. We both needed to get away, and it seems that this is a recurring theme.
But it seems that we cannot go more than 2 weeks without doing something to recharge. We did Sand Dunes in January and soon we were itching to get out again. That came in the form of Cameron Pass. Soon it was spring break and we did Canyonlands and Arches. Then a month later was Boston. Now 3 weeks later was this.
We are going crazy at the moment because we don't know when our next trip will be. We made a goal of having our next trip planned soon after returning from a previous one, but that has been sidetracked by a lack of money, unfortunately. Some people buy music and some go out to parties and spend money on booze, but instead we just put the cash towards gas money so we can go somewhere interesting for a week.
The idea of doing a Bryce, Zion, Southern California, and Grand Canyon loop still remains a possibility, despite concerns by some :) Likewise, a trip into Yellowstone and the Tetons is more plausible and tempting, but we have yet to set dates.
In the meantime, 14er season kicks up in a couple weeks, and there will be plenty of stories to come from that I am sure. Regardless of how many we get out to do (hopefully 20+), we always have Rocky to go back to and all of the endless miles of trails to explore.
What a summer it shall be.
