A Twenty-Eight Year Adventure – Photo Essay

Every young couple starts out with the basics: a map to where you think you want to go and a compass that always leads you back home.

We started off like many naive newlyweds, sinking our toes into the grasses of verdant valleys not realizing what lay ahead. Our journey has led us to wicked wintry peaks where we slipped from our foothold, but we bundled up and braved the biting wind together.

Sometimes we struck out on a new path and bushwhacked our way through avalanche areas filled with fallen trees as the sun set over the next horizon. When one of us tumbled from the mountain, the other was there to lend a hand. The worst days were spent heading in the wrong direction while scrambling over fields of boulders and taking leaps over deadly crevasses and yet we never traveled alone.

And that was just last weekend.

We celebrated our 28th wedding anniversary in Crested Butte. It’s a one blink town, but we loved our stay. Since it’s shoulder season, we found an abundance of peace and quiet, perfect for relaxing. But my battery isn’t recharged by sitting next to a fire, reading a book.

The first day we hiked to a natural infinity pool built by crazed and intense beavers. I thought it would be fun to bushwhack around it. Our one hour hike soon became four.

The second day, we decided to mountain bike along a green (easy) trail. How hard could it be? Being directionally challenged, I missed a turn and led Danny up a red (difficult) trail filled with loose river rock. Hikers coming down the mountain told us to turn around.

We biked back down on a shoulder-wide single track with the mountain dropping off to my left. It was nerve-wracking to thread my front tire through the rocks while avoiding a collision with the pedal. I found it almost impossible to ride in a stable and straight line with left side weakness after knee surgery last January. My bike zigged and slipped off the trail. I fell hard, luckily on my right side. At first, I thought I might have broken my wrist. Danny jumped off his bike to help. We were happy to hit the hot tub once we made it back to our B & B where I soaked my strained tendon.

The last day, we hiked to Three Lakes. Not counting the one at the trailhead, I thought the third might be located over a rocky field of boulders only suitable for mountain goats and pika (giant rodents). We scrambled through gnarly remains of aspen and found a moonlike landscape to nowhere. That extended another short hike.

As we drove back to Boulder feeling restored after a quiet weekend outdoors, Danny and I mapped out what might lay ahead in the years to come.

“With you, it’s always an adventure,” said Danny, laughing. We’ve been in our happy place all along.

This is a response to the Weekly Photo Challenge – Happy Place.

Do you need quiet time to relax or do you get up and go?