Last year we came through Steamboat after picking up the trusty Suburban in Utah and heading back to Boulder. We joined my trusted companion's brother as he finished running the Wild West Relay with his team. (200 mile relay race, wow.) It was a quick trip, with no Casita, but we liked what we saw. This year we came and stayed a few days.
We stayed at the Rabbit Ears Pass National Forest Campground named Meadows, (elevation 9300 feet). It has rained just before we arrived. A blanket of flowers burst across the mountain meadows, in rich, sharp colors. The flowers were everywhere, so beautiful. Thank goodness nature isn't tied to the economy. No downtown in beauty up here.
Let me ask you something, am I poorer because I wasn't working and making money, or am I richer for experiencing this? If your answer is I am richer, why is the campground half-full and the freeway congested? I think many people do love beauty and richness of experience and will say so, but they serve commerce. Commerce is what they answer to, commerce is the master. I can have more richness of experience if I need less stuff.
We decided to track down the trail to Fish Creek Falls and hike it. I'm not much of a hiker, I view hiking as something you endure to get to where you want to go. Luckily this was a short hike of about 2 miles round-trip. It was a beautiful hike to the even more beautiful falls. Something odd happened on the hike though.
As we were getting started I was nervously asking questions about how long and steep the hike was and a retired lady in the parking lot essentially told me stop my whining because there was an "old" man that was hiking the trail just fine. Off we went and close to the top of the trail we met a wonderful "old" couple. Sure enough, this gentleman was making his way slowly up and down the trail using ski poles to steady himself. He was very thin and moved slowly and deliberately while his wife patiently walked by his side. We stopped and chatted for a minute about how beautiful it all was.
After reaching the top over-look, we hiked down to the bottom. About mid-way was the parking lot, and we passed the older couple again. We told them we were headed all the way to the bottom of the falls. "Oh, to be your age again!" the beautiful older woman exclaimed.
To be my age again? Stopped me in my tracks.
After our hiking day we slipped on over to the Strawberry Hot Springs for a nice, long, soak in the clear mountain water hot springs. I forgot how beautiful Colorado is. Shame on me. I love it here, and I love the people here.
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