reflections from the mountaintop
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK, CO. – I grew up in Larchmont, a section of Norfolk where one of the few open spaces was the large public playground with concrete basketball courts where the neighborhood guys and I spent much of our free time.
To get there, we had to cross a heavily traveled, four-lane, divided thoroughfare that was a main drag for careening 18-wheelers, sailors traveling between the naval base and downtown, and students heading to and from Old Dominion University.
If the cacophony of Hampton Boulevard weren’t enough, there was the clanging of the trains at the nearby coal yards and the backdrop of noise from military aircraft.
Don’t get me wrong. I loved spending my early years amidst the hubbub, but I also developed quite an appreciation for peace and quiet.
That’s one of the many reasons that my July 4 expedition to the top of the Rockies was so very meaningful.
This summer’s adventure came during my wife Emily’s and my week-long trip to Boulder to visit her daughter Catherine Bode (Collegiate ’95), Nate Emerson, and their 17-month-old son Blake.
I could romanticize this vignette by telling you that we carried 100-pound packs as we tromped through six feet of snow from our base camp near Estes Park to a point nearly 12,500 feet above sea level.
The truth of the matter, though, is that with Nate at the wheel, we traveled up the very devious U.S. Highway 34, parked, and walked the final half mile (which did include a 260-foot elevation gain) to the top of Trail Ridge on the shoulder of Sundance Mountain.
Though there were many other folks around on this clear, 55-degree, low-humidity morning, there was hardly a sound, and the virtual silence gave the setting an unmistakable aura of serenity.
It was that feeling combined with spectacular view (and perhaps the high altitude) that took my breath away.
We looked upon the rugged beauty of the tundra and nearby granite and schist formations thousands of years in the making.
We gazed far into the distance upon snow-covered peaks such as Mummy Range, Thunder Mountain, Mt. Chiquita, and Tombstone Ridge and could only speculate as to the origin of their names.
We marveled at the glacial landscape that included alpine wildflowers and fir, spruce, and pine trees and wondered how they could possibly find sustenance in the harsh soil beneath the rock faces.
As we walked slowly along the path with Blake stopping to inspect every pebble and wave at every passerby, an elk crested a rise no more than 75 yards to our right.
Another appeared.
Then another.
There were 17 in all.
They nibbled the natural forage, moved along as if oblivious to the humans scrambling for cameras, video recorders, and cell phones, and finally disappeared into the distance as quietly as they had arrived.
We reached our destination, sat for a while, talked and reflected, then began our descent.
As we returned to civilization (and temperatures in the low 90’s), we passed snow walls towering as high as 15 feet, creeks that were actually the runoff from melting snow, several bull elk within a few feet of the road, even the Stanley Hotel where the Stephen King movie The Shining was filmed.
What, I asked my traveling companions as I pulled out my note pad, did you see from the mountaintop?
“A giant playground, a great place just to be moving through the wilderness,” said Nate, a Wisconsin native and director of the Colorado office of the Jackson Hole Mountain Guides.
“I see skiing, hiking, rock climbing, ridge running.
“The scenery is always right in your face, and it’s very powerful.”
“It reminds me of The Sound of Music,” said Catherine, a high school English teacher who has become enraptured with the aesthetics of the West and the challenges provided by the outdoor recreational opportunities.
“It’s Julie Andrews dancing in a field of wildflowers with the mountain peaks in the background.”
“I feel like I was in another world,” said Emily, with whom I’ve shared an incredible journey for almost 25 years.
“Pristine. Nature at its best, untouched, unmarred.”
What did I see?
All of the above, for sure.
And some great terrain for cross country runners to do hill repeats.
And a young couple following their dreams, accepting the risks and inconveniences of living so far from their families, raising their son with love and tenderness, and building a wonderful life together.
