IT’S FASCINATING TO ME how ‘green’ summer can look when viewed from the far distance of winter. Apparently, the grass is greener on the other side of the year!
I took the photos in this blog early on a July morning on the eastern edge of the ‘Blue Sky Wilderness’ – or The Quiet Side, as I call it. This part of the wilderness is closer to metro Denver than other more popular spots but far harder to reach. On the Sunday morning pictured I saw no one. At Guanella Pass, Chicago Lakes and on Blue Sky’s summit crowds almost certainly teemed. But here, in this location? Nature’s peace reigned. I wish I could share every precious element of it. The taste of the air. The soothing dampness. The morning bird song…
Conditions were crisp and dewy, clean and sparkling. Viewed from February, with snow currently on the ground and plants dormant and yellowed, this July landscape looks incredibly appealing!
Some of the best moments in life can only ever be revisited in memory. But that’s the beautiful thing about nature and places like this. What’s pictured below doesn’t only have to be a memory. The possibility of it also lies in the future. A paradise and a promise, waiting ahead.
An important final note: if you visit this location, please visit gently and respectfully. Leave it as you find it: undamaged, unaltered, untrampled, undiminished. Sadly, not everyone does that, as the photo below shows. The people that visit this wilderness spot have thoroughly altered it for their convenience. This is not leave-no-trace camping. It isn’t ‘visiting’ nature – it is selfishly ‘using’ it. And arguably abusing it. For everyone reading this, let’s be better. Thank you!
