8 Years

8 years. Had it been that long? As I was hiking today it occurred to me that I hadn't made a conscious effort to take this path in 8 years.

8 years ago, a childhood friend of my wife's came out to Colorado from Michigan to recreate a memory with her husband. They had hiked up to Dream Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park and had taken a photo in a tree beside the lake. When they came out to visit, we had shown a park ranger the picture and he accurately placed the shot at Dream Lake.

That day back in September of 2001, we had hiked up through fresh snow. Today, the weather was warm and clear with yellow aspen leaves flickering in the breeze. I remember the year back then because my wife's friends left on a plane back to Michigan just one day before September 11th, the day all air traffic stopped and we all had to deal with the horrific events of the day.

Today, as I made my way up the trail from the Bear Lake Trail head, past the lily pads of Nymph Lake, up to Dream Lake, I saw the place where they recreated their moment and I remembered.

I did not stop though. I continued onward to the last lake, Emerald Lake, a place I had never seen. I made my way around the lake through a maze of boulders and eventually set up the tripod for some shots. I had my peanut butter and honey sandwich lunch on a big rock by the lake and soaked up the warm afternoon sun and then it was time to head back down.

8 years I thought again as I descended. Where had the time gone? I remembered that a few years back we had made our way on snow shoes to Dream Lake where we found a frozen slab of ice. This was odd indeed. Why hadn't I ventured this way?

Bear Lake is probably the most popular destination in all of Rocky Mountain National Park. It is the trail head area that leads to Nymph, Dream, and Emerald Lakes as well. I had just avoided the crowds. Until today.