Goodbye Colorado!

Yesterday was my last day of the season as a park ranger at Colorado National Monument. I was incredibly lucky to have this experience and I'd like to think I made the most of it. I went on a lot of adventures this summer and met a lot of truly wonderful people. Of course, there are more things I would've liked to do, places I would've liked to see, but I ran out of weekends. I prefer to think of those things as reasons to come back :)

Here are a few highlights:

The Firsts:

• 14,000-footer - Mt. Sneffels

• Raft trip - Lower Animas river, Durango

• Mountain bike trip - Rustler's Loop, Loma

• Road Race at night - Moonlight Miles 10K

Things I won't miss:

• The heat!

Things I will miss:

• Junior rangers. Going through their activity books, presenting them with a badge, and administering the oath was a highlight of every day at the visitor center.

• Meeting park visitors from all over the world

• The beach volleyball+bar that we go to on Friday nights

• Getting to hike during work time - that's pretty hard to beat

• Having a uniform - makes getting dressed for work very easy

• Taco Tuesdays with the maintenance guys

• Grand Junction Rockies single-A baseball games

• The drive to work - check out this color-enhanced photo of my commute:

• Bighorn sheep, lizards, red-tailed hawks, snakes, and scorpions (just kidding about the last two)

• My roommate Angela:

And lastly, I am re-posting a quote that I like a lot and sums up my feelings about this summer.

“If you have not touched the rocky wall of a canyon. If you have not heard a rushing river pound over cobblestones. If you have not seen a native trout rise in a crystalline pool beneath a shattering riffle, or a golden eagle spread its wings and cover you in shadow. If you have not seen the tree line recede to the top of a bare crested mountain. If you have not looked into a pair of wild eyes and seen your own reflection. Please, for the good of your soul, travel west.” 

― Daniel J. Rice, This Side of a Wilderness