Memory Monday

Time for another memory Monday. Today's memory is fairly recent. It comes from 2006 when I took a summer geography course that involved camping for 2 weeks in various National Parks and Monuments in the west. It was the best college course I ever took by far and also one of the best trips of my life. On that trip, I made a friend that I still keep in contact with to this day, even though we only spent a couple of weeks together and were from different states.

On this trip I got to experience Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons and the Arches of Utah for the very first time. I'd never really hard-core roughed it and we would have to go days without showers, cook completely on camp stoves and slept in the sometimes bitter cold nights, although it was May.

I saw some of the most amazing scenery ever. There were so many moments on that trip when I would just sit quietly and try to soak-up that exact moment I was living in. I tried to capture those moments in pictures, but the feeling can't be repeated.

My favorite moment on that trip happened while we were in Rocky Mountain National Park. There was a ridge directly behind our campsite and many times we would trek up there and sit on the ridge, watching the sun set in the west and the elk below us in a meadow. The first night we were there it was a full moon, the sun was sinking in a purple sky and the elk would bellow from time to time. It was magical. That's the best way I can describe it. I remember sittig there just trying to enjoy the atmosphere and remember that moment as best as I could. I just hope in life that feeling is repeated for me many times.

This is a view from the ridge.



Here is part of our group on the porch at the Old Faithful Inn.