Dave's mom, Jane--or Grandma Jane, as Isaac calls her--came out to visit us in Colorado for a week. So Meagan and Dave rented a beautiful house just outside of Estes Park last night, and Isaac and I drove up early this morning to meet the three of them for a hike in the park. It was a gorgeously sunny day, and the aspens were just hitting their peak colors in Rocky Mountain. The elk, of course, are in rut as it's fall here in the park, which meant we got to see and hear plenty of bugling. I recently saw an article on NPR's website about Colorado's version of tailgating, which is to set up chairs in a big field and watch the elk rut. Pretty amazing, sure, but what I find even better is a good hike into the depths of the park where you can find elk bathing in ponds or harems of females lying together beneath the mountainside and the awesome sound of the elk's bugle echoing through the valley. I think we had the right idea today.
On one particular part of the trail, the aspens were glowing with color, and with the ever-present fall wind, the leaves were raining down onto the trail. The earth was dappled with bright yellow. We all took a moment to stop and revel in the beauty of it, our faces to the sky and arms raised in hope of catching the leaves twirling down from above. It was a really beautiful moment.
Someone pooped out toward the end of the hike. That's a sure sign of a fun day...and nap time!
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