Rocky Mountain National Park

So this is where I live now. I wake up every morning at 5:30 to dim light filtering through thin, and quite old, drapery. Birds warble outside my windows on the pines. The resident hummingbird rumbles past my door in pursuit of just about everything that infringes upon her nesting area. My double bed creaks as I rise excitedly to brew my Mate or Earl Grey tea, a daily ritual. No toaster oven or microwave, my 10 grain bread and eggs are grilled in the pan. I make french toast when the bread hardens, cut apples and dip them into sunflower seed butter. Slow and deliberate I am in my ambling around my cabin to get ready for work, or the farmers market on Saturday; the room is chilled by the breeze flooding through a small open window during the night. My morning rituals keep my thoughts on the ground and sate my need for home. When I step outside my cabin and enter the Moraine, I begin to fly.


Not a very good picture of my house. The tree crew clear cut around the housing area to remove hazard trees- trees killed by the pine beetle. Large log piles still remain, which provides great shelter to chipmunks!

My picnic area- I sit on the rocks instead of the broken wood table.

Moraine Park at sunrise- one of the first views I see when I leave my house.


Moraine Park is one of the favorite elk hangouts.

Took a hike to Bear Lake my first week at RMNP. It is probably the most accessible lake in the park and becomes a tourist hotspot in the summer, hence why I visited it on a cold and cloudy day.
The snow around Bear Lake was still quite thick in May.


Working the West Side: The cabin we stayed in had an ethereal view. We spend three days salvaging trees along a roadside that was slated for expansion. Salvaging involves digging up 3 to 4 foot tall trees, along with grasses and forbs, placing them in pots and waiting until after the road construction to replant them. My arms are filling out from digging, picking, and lifting 40+ lb. pots.


Last weekend I went on a two day backpacking trip to the West Side. We were in a rush to get to our campsite by dusk, so I didn't get a chance to take many pictures. Below is a picture taken of me in a frozen meadow at (I think) 11,000 ft. To get there was an uphill battle on well maintained trails, then through snow on a trail, then postholing offtrail. It was not easy, but worth every knee bruise, branch scratch, unexpected snow pocket fall and frozen toe.



The West side has the greatest percentage of beetle-kill in the park. Downed trees cluster over the rivers and it is very unsafe to walk in the backcountry on a windy day...Your heart sputters at every creak of a tree.

Pine Beetle Galleries

Mama and Fawn