The Mountains of Colorado- My Favorite Place to "Just Be"

 

Over Labor Day Weekend, I traveled to Boulder, Colorado for the TCU game against the Colorado Buffaloes. While it was an incredible game, what was even more incredible was my time spent in the beautiful Colorado mountains. Being from Tennessee, I am used to seeing differentiation in topography in my daily life. Now, of course, I attend TCU- which means I live in a state with an utter lack of mountains. I miss hiking, weaving in and out of mountains on long drives, and simply looking up (or into the distance) and being in absolute awe of what’s in front of me. Looking upon the mountains never fails to make me feel small and insignificant. However, feeling small is not necessarily a bad thing. Instead, it is a good reminder that the world is wide, and it will continue to turn and grow and change and remain despite the problems I may be facing. My problems don’t seem so big as I stand at the foot of a mountain.

Throughout the weekend, I experienced the mountains in two ways. First, in observation. I could see the mountains from the balcony of my hosts’ apartment. This, of course, meant that I spent more than a few minutes every few hours just sitting, watching, and listening. We even had the opportunity to have dinner from the porch and watch the sun sink behind me mountains. The orange sun cast many colors across the sky, which were contrasted by the purple mountains below it. I especially enjoyed the color difference between the mountains that was dictated by their proximity- the ones in the back were a much deeper purple, while the ones in front were a bit lighter, almost misty. Mountains with a backdrop of mountains. 

Second, I experienced the mountains in action. The day after the football game, my little group woke up early and drove into Boulder Mountain Park. I absolutely love hiking, so I jumped at the chance. I had been hiking in Colorado this summer (Mesa Verde National Park), but I knew that a new mountain brought new experiences. Upon arrival, my group actually parked in the wrong location, so we ended up doing the hike backward (the easy part first, then walking UPHILL for the entire last leg- brutal). On the hike, we saw a hawk, encountered many beautiful and stretching valleys, and were in awe of the world around us. In the picture I snapped, you can see a Ponderosa Pine (thank you Apple photo technology for that). However, after we snapped a few pics, our group put away our phones and tried to be as “in the moment” as we could be- taking in all the sights, smells, and tastes of the fresh mountain air. What an experience!