Friday June 4, 2010

The landscape is changing before my eyes with each step.  The dry sandy mesa, turning to wide open meadows; green and lush, blanketed with dandelions and larkspur.  A dilapidated house sits among a stand of Aspen, lonely.  Mountains tower to the east and small patches of snow remain beneath the pines just at the edge of the forest.  I can see for miles and miles on all sides as we climb higher.  Clear springs surround us, water plentiful and delicious.  The taste of melted snow is sweet on my tongue.  The ground is saturated and I leave footprints in the mud.  Buttercups and Marsh Marigolds complement the fields of corn lilies.  The sun is slowly going down; my legs move on their own and I don’t think I can stop them.  The majestic snow-capped Rockies are getting closer and my stomach flutters.  We stand silently and watch the grazing elk.  He looks in our direction and immediately bounds up the mountain as three others follow suit.  We set up camp at 10,000 feet and watch the clouds turn orange and the sky fades from pink to purple on the horizon.  We are home, on many levels, we are home.

Camp 35: 10,000 feet with mountain and valley views
Camp 36:  spectacular sunset, major thunderheads in the distance and howling wolves!