RMNP Camping
Topping off a string of weekend travel, Annie and I camped recently in Rocky Mountain National Park with friends from our church. We had been looking forward to this weekend for several months and we weren’t disappointed. RMNP is a pristine area with incredible mountains, rivers and lakes. Unfortunately certain areas have been affected by the pine beetle, specifically our camp site. Just last year the whole campground was leveled because of the dead trees. So while the grounds were somewhat barren, the views were far from it. We had a great group of friends to spend the weekend with and the perfect facilitators (the Mansfields) to take care of the details. We spent our time eating, doing a little hiking, a little fishing. It was the second time for us to use our new tent, and incredibly, our first time to ever “mate” our sleeping bags (they are both REI brand and zip together to form one large bag). I’m not sure why we didn’t try it before… luxurious!











On Saturday evening I was privileged to take a long run with Jon Graham up Loch Vale Trail. I had planned this run for weeks (months?) and it was better than I dreamed. It easily tops the list as my most memorable run ever. We started at 6:00pm with just enough light to make it up and down, and with a small thunderstorm having just blown through, the other trail users were gone. Above Alberta Falls we saw one lone flyfisherman heading down. Everything was wet and lush and it was the magical time in the evening when the light is most striking. The trail itself is pristine, heading up to Alberta Falls, then up into the valley where enormous rock cliffs provide some of the best climbing in the world. Eventually the trail cuts through dense forests on trails of cut stone and half sawn tree trunks. Coming around a bend the path dropped us alongside the quietly lapping shores of The Loch, with our final destination, the waterfall at the lip of the Lake of Glass, as a stunning backdrop. Past The Loch and just above treeline it turns to a hands and feet scramble up the side of a waterfall, where the trail essentially turns into a stream. Gaining the lip of the waterfall you suddenly find yourself in a giant basin surrounded by 13,000 foot mountains and a long view back into the valley. Jaw-dropping. It took us nearly two hours to cover the 7 miles and 2,000ft, but it flew by and faded into the background within a setting like that.

It was pure enjoyment, being physically able to move and run in such a time and place with a friend. Every turn had us smiling and uttering exclamations of amazement. The day is coming sooner than I expected where I won’t be able to do physical things like this, but I hope having done it once will be enough to sustain in me a thankful attitude towards my Maker.
“He set the earth on its foundations, so that it should never be moved…
The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place that you appointed for them…
You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
They flow between the hills;
They give drink to every animal of the field;
From your lofty abode you water the mountains;
The earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.
O Lord, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom have you made them all;
May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
may the Lord rejoice in his works.” – from Psalm 104
I didn’t take these photos, but collected them off of flickr (key word search “loch vale” or “lake of glass.” Unfortunately I don’t remember where all of them came from, but some of the nicer ones (and many more) are from a user here (RichsPics).





















































