The Air Up There

In light of our imminent departure for the flattest state in the Union, Danielle and I made our "60 Day Challenge" -- a pledge to play outside every day.  We have lingered in Colorado just long enough to get up to the highest elevations, and we've faithfully logged each day's adventure on our wall calendar. Just when fatigue is nipping at our heels, we remember the tundra bursting in blooms, or the staggering views from the surrounding peaks, and we head out again.  This month we also spent some time in the Crested Butte area (pictured above) and we both took downhill mountain biking lessons.  Danielle was a sight to see, suited up in armor and ripping confidently through the curves.  Safe to say it was the most fun we've ever had.

An evening hike near Gold Mountain, Ouray.

Relishing the diverse wildflowers, clean air and idyllic views at Blue Lakes (San Juan Mountains).

Backpacking in the seldom visited West Elks Range.  Tim mended his pack with rope and soldiered on, while loyal Koa was the liquor porter.  Even now, the morning light in the flower-strewn meadows and aspen groves lingers in my mind's eye.  

Cousin Ron and his son Ben, Aunt Irene and I took a long 4x4 journey over Baxter Pass, passing into a remote corner of Utah.  The Uintah Railway, the steepest and most ingenious narrow gauge railway of its day, used to snake its way up and over these cliffs, delivering my grandparents to and from the gilsonite mines.  We found the remains of the towns and the mines -- Dragon, Rainbow, Watson -- and used our photos and maps to pinpoint their stories.  Where they met, where they fell in love, where the lived together as a young married couple. Cement foundations, broken glass, buttons, bed springs, and an old stove constituted the meager remains.  But in simple act of standing there, sharing their view, my late grandparents came into sharper relief -- more real, more close.  Being in Colorado has helped me understand my place.  My place in a long continuum of love, birth, death and story.  In a word, home.

A new chapter is about to begin, but Danielle and I have any number of schemes to reside in Colorado part-time.  In her words, "it fits like a favorite t-shirt".  We'll be back.