Over the spring break, I got to go visit some close friends from high school. Josie and Tyjah are their names, and they are currently playing house together in Denver while commuting to school. At the start of the year, Tyjah was attending Colorado Mesa and Josie was a senior in high school. Not wanting to be several states away from her Man, Josie graduated high school a semester early and has been attending a community college in Denver. Tyjah also transferred schools to Denver Metropolitan University so that they could live together full time.
Since I moved out of Albuquerque, New Mexico in the eighth grade, I have been primarily a low elevation creature, living in San Antonio and only really leaving to visit family in New Orleans or Portland, both of which are around sea level. As a result of this, my asthmatic lungs were having to work extra hard, sucking in all the high mountain air that they could with wheezy, labored breaths.
Despite the discomfort that I had breathing, I was more then happy to be where I was. After growing up with the Sandia range of the Rockies well in my view, I found the Appalachians to be a disappointing cluster of rolling hills. Needless to see, it was nice to see my massive, majestic friends for the first time in a while.
Being that we were in a state with such scenery, we simply had to go on a hike while I was in town. Fortunately, Josie and Tyjah live not 20 minutes away from Red Rocks park and Amphitheater, a beautiful state park in the more arid part of the state. My last full day in town, we got at dawn and headed over for a morning stroll.
Being the degenerates that we are, we had to do an “off the beaten path” type thing. Tyjah had found an old part of the trail that was blocked off for being a falling hazard, as part of it went up a very steep boulder, which we immediately gravitated toward. We quickly discovered that each of us had some sort of factor that slowed are ascent; Josie was short and un athletic, Tyjah was wearing horrible shoes that consequently had no traction, and I was wheezing up a Storm.
My wheezing was made worse by the fact that I was constantly shuffling around to help out my less mobile comrades. I ended up between the two of them, staying behind Tyjah to steady him in bad traction, and in front of Josie to help pull her up when needed. By the time we got to the top the giant rock formation we were climbing, my lungs were whistling with every breath.
The view that we had toward the top me our trip well worth it. That high up, we had an excellent view of an adjacent rock formation as well as a good view down the side of ours. We snapped a few photos, and then headed down. While kinda brief, that hike reminded me of the beauty of the western United States, and me think more extensively about going to law school or finding an entry level job in Colorado after I graduate. In the meanwhile, I can not wait to go visit my friends and the mountains again!
I have never been to the mountainous parts of the west. Whenever I have been on the west coast, it has been in major cities like Dallas and Sacramento. I think there is a lot of beauty in places like Colorado that many east coast dwellers don’t know of or don’t appreciate. While I’m not an avid hiker, I do like hiking and the Mile High City might be the place to go.
Red Rocks Park is beautiful and it’s great that you got to go with friends, drama aside. As a geoscience major, seeing all the exposed rock and colorful formations out west is an amazing experience. After returning home from my family’s roadtrip across Utah, Colorado and Arizona, I understand your disappointment with the comparatively boring topography around here. However, if you’re interested in hiking closer to home, I would recommend going on the Appalachian Trail.
I’ve never really gone hiking beyond very brief tours of some of the trails in my area. The landscape picture you showed definitely makes me feel like I’ve been missing out on what hiking can offer.