And Nature Runs Through It

“But when I’m alone in the half light of the canyon, all existence seems to fade to a being with my sole and memories, and the sounds of the Big Blackfoot River and a four count rhythm and the hope that a fish will rise.

Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it.

The river was cut by the world’s great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words. And some of the words are theirs.

I am haunted by waters.”

- The ending of the movie “A River Runs Through It”

Those words have always moved me. I admire how they simply convey complex emotions. Lately, I have been thinking about how to use their format and convert them into how I feel about nature. On a recent hike up to Mills Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park, I got the idea to insert hiking in as the main subject instead of fly fishing. So my version follows:

But when I’m alone in the sunshine of the mountains, all existence seems to fade to a being with my sole and memories, and the sounds of Rocky Mountain National Park, and my quiet footsteps and the hope that an elk will appear.

Eventually, all things merge into one, and nature runs through it.

The Rockies were thrust up by plate tectonics with rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless footprints. Under the rocks are impressions made by millions of travelers on the trails. And some of the impressions are mine.

I am constantly amazed by nature.

Fifteen years earlier, a friend of mine and I traveled to Rocky Mountain National Park for my first visit. We had only one day to view the park and chose Mills Lake as our destination hike. We parked our rental car at the Sprague Lake Park and Ride and took the shuttle bus to the Glacier Gorge trailhead area. We began our hike and on our way to Alberta Falls, we were amazed that there were people actually pushing baby strollers on the trail. Once we cleared the falls, the remainder of the trail was less crowded and we found some solitude at the Lake for lunch. I remember the bugs that were all around the lake on that July day greeted us warmly. Mills Lake was truly an awesome sight though and well worth the logistics of getting there.

In the time since that day, I have visited Mills Lake only one other time and that was in the winter. My recent hike to Mills was on a busy late September weekend, so once again I was encouraged to take the shuttle bus from the Sprague Lake Park and Ride. I was carrying a rather heavy tripod and a backpack with camera equipment that made the standing up on the crowded shuttle bus exciting as we navigated the winding road up to the Glacier Gorge Trailhead.

Upon arrival at the trailhead, I sprang from the shuttle bus onto the trail. I was greeted with unseasonably warm temperatures and sunshine as I made my way up toward Alberta Falls. It is then that the idea of my “nature runs through it” popped into my head. The aspens on the trail were turning and it was a gorgeous day to be alive. I made it to Mills Lake and instantly saw a scene that I had to try and capture. It was a waterfall from the outflow of Mills Lake and it was beautiful.

And once again, I was amazed by nature.