Rocky Mountain High

     This year, TCU played a football game against Colorado that provided me the perfect opportunity for me to convince my friends to fly to Colorado with me, so that I could engage in one of my favorite activities: hiking.  The day following the football game, we drove into Rocky Mountain National Park to embark on a 9 mile traverse to Sky Pond.  

A friend we made on the trail - a Golden Mantled Ground Squirrel (Callospermophilus lateralis)

     What I had not taken into account was that it was labor day weekend - one of the busiest times of the year for the park.  We were lucky enough sign up for a timed entry slot for the park the day prior - a new system to limit the amount of visitors each day - before they sold out in less than a minute.  When we got to the park, we waited in a line of cars longer than the lunchtime rush drive-through line at Chick-Fil-A before being admitted through the gates.  When we got to the Bear Lake side of the park, we were informed that the parking lot closest to the trail was already filled, so we parked and took a shuttle, in which we were packed like sardines, to the trailhead.

     One thing to note about me is that I absolutely despise crowds.  I am fairly introverted, so big groups of people tend to bring me stress and fatigue.  In addition, people can really get in the way of some fantastic photo opportunities and ruin the peacefulness of the outdoors - a big reason of why I love hiking in the first place.  Therefore, there were many reasons why I was hoping that the amount of people I had already seen was not representative of how many people would be hiking the trail alongside our group.  Luckily, surprisingly few people got off at the Glacier Gorge stop, making me ever so slightly optimistic for our ensuing hike.

A Henry David Thoreau quote greeted us at the trailhead: :"...in wilderness is the preservation of the world."

     Once we got on the trail, we saw significantly less people, which made the experience much better for me, but also made me wonder how the other people were spending their time in the park.  I do know that people who don't enjoy hiking exist, but I always assumed that they had never been on a truly enthralling trail.  I couldn't bring myself to think that someone would come all the way out to Rocky Mountain National Park - one of the most beautiful places in the world, and say no to hiking like one does to coleslaw in the Raising Cane's box combo.  At the very least, I hoped that people were breathing in the mountain air, and joining in the blissful mountain feeling.

     On our trek up to Sky Pond, I was amazed at how few people we saw.  With all the labor day festivities, I assumed our hiking situation would be comparable to the start of the Boston Marathon.  However, we were able to enjoy quite a bit of solitude, which put a huge smile on my face.  Whenever I sit back and realize that I am surrounded by nature, with no observable human settlements in the immediate distance, it fills me with a genuine happiness that I rarely feel otherwise.  Not that I'm never happy, but I feel a different kind of happy in nature.  I feel fulfilled.  Like my only job in life is to enjoy the beauty before me.  It puts an unavoidable grin across my whole face. 

Alberta Falls: the first waterfall on the trail

     The day before, we had researched hikes to do in Rocky Mountain National Park and narrowed the search down to three options: Sky Pond, Lake Hiyaha, and Emerald Lake.  With no bias in presenting the hikes, somehow our group, not filled with the most gung-ho hikers, decided unanimously to try Sky Pond - by far the longest of the options.  It took a little more convincing of the group than I thought it would, and I still find it hard to see how people don't get the same levels of enjoyment out of the outdoor activities as I do.

The Powerpoint slide that cemented our plans

     On the trail, since our group wasn't as avid about long walks through the wilderness, we stopped quite a bit, so I had lots of time to really sit and take in the outdoors.  We met a couple friends on the trail of all shapes and sizes, passed gorgeous waterfalls, and even jumped into Sky Pond.  The views left me awestruck.

     Once we reached Sky Pond, we quite literally immersed ourselves in nature, jumping in the frigid waters as a celebration of our trek.  We took our time with the lake, enjoying the views and taking a second to just be - the thing that always keeps me coming back for more.

Sky Pond and all its brilliance

    Once we started to head down, I felt just as energized as when we started.  The pond was so peaceful that just thinking about that time I spent there put a smile on my face.  

    On our way down, I began to notice even more than on the way up.  The first lake we passed, called The Loch, was even prettier from the other side. 

The Loch

        As we made our way around The Loch, we met our second friend on the adventure: an elk.  I was in awe of how close she came.  Here was an elk just minding her own business, and not a care in the world about the humans all around her.  It made me reflect on how small our lives really are. This elk didn't care about my exams the next week, or who won the football game, or even who was president (though that may have a significant effect on her life).  All the things that brought me stress were so foreign to her that I was jealous of her lifestyle.  

My friend the elk (Cervus canadensis)

       It made me wonder how my life was any more valuable than his, or even if his was more valuable than mine, since he hadn't contributed to killing the earth near as much as I have with fossil fuels and single use plastics.  

       As we got further down the trail, we started to run into the larger tour groups, reminding me of the people I can't stand to see in the park.  We saw people going off the trail directly in front of a sign that said to stay on the trail.  We saw people starting the trail in the afternoon, when storms were predicted soon.  People were needlessly putting themselves and the area in danger to see god knows what.

       The trail got extremely crowded as we reached the base, and the shuttle was just as bad on the way back to the parking lot.  I might agree with Abbey on the fact that parking lots should be outside the park just to discourage this many people from going.  The way back was not nearly as enjoyable simply because the sheer number of people kept me from being able to connect with nature in the same way.  I was constantly getting out of the way or looking for a way to pass, instead of soaking in my time with nature.

       Overall, I had a great time going up to sky pond.  Getting to meet several Rocky Mountain National Park natives and jumping in the pond made my day.  I was slightly frustrated with the crowd on the way down, but I had expected as much given that it was Labor Day weekend.  As always, the trail gave me something to think about and much needed time away from my busy life at school.