Wilderness

Being from ... my family has made habit of spending time together in the mountains during the summer. For as far back as I can remember, we have made sandwiches and driven up ... Road on Sunday afternoons. The road follows the creek that streams down from Helen Hunt Falls. We always park along the road and set up a picnic next to the water. My favorite part of these visits to the creek has always been walking up stream, moving against the soft current, being careful not slip on the polished stones, and ducking to avoid the aspen that crowd around the water’s edge.

I’ve made it my own tradition. There is nothing more picturesque than peacefully walking through nature on a warm summer’s day. It is beautiful the way the light reflects on the water and slowly reveals the multi-colored rocks: only granted their true beauty when immersed in water. The water is always cold, in true Colorado Rocky Mountain fashion. This is the most challenging part of the experience: getting yourself used to your feet and legs being numb to the core. However, the pain of cold limbs disappears at the sight of aspen leaves floating on the surface and whispering in the trees above. On several occasions I’ve run into a deer or two stopping for a drink. The birds are always around and occasionally, depending on the color of your shirt, you may get a visit from a hummingbird.

I’ve spent a lot of time outdoors, but no experience has been quite as intimate and peaceful for me as my time at the creek. The drive is short and it’s an easy escape to something fresh, quiet and beautiful. Nothing is more refreshing than cupping the cool water in folded hands, wading into the deep parts of the creek, and looking up at the trees as the yellow light engulfs me. In moments like these I want nothing to change and I feel blessed to have access to such a rich wilderness in the Colorado Mountains.