Winter may still be a few months away, but mountains have a way of calling in every season.
During a recent visit to Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park, I returned to a trail that held a special place in my memory: the hike to Timber Lake, a beautiful alpine lake tucked beneath the Continental Divide.
I first made that hike in 1996, just after graduating from college and shortly before beginning a career that would occupy much of the next three decades. At the time, I had no idea where those years would take me — or how quickly they would pass.
Nearly 30 years later, I found myself back at the same trailhead.
The hike became much more than a return to a favorite place. Walking the same trail and eventually standing beside the same lake gave me a chance to think about everything that had happened in the years between those two visits. The mountains had changed in subtle ways, and so had I.
I brought cameras along for the journey and turned the experience into a video for Past Yonder, my YouTube channel where I share adventures both on and off the snow.
The video follows the climb back to Timber Lake while looking back at my original visit and reflecting on the strange experience of returning to a place that has remained a part of my memory for nearly three decades.
If you enjoy DCSki’s stories and my adventures in the mountains, I hope you’ll check out my channel Past Yonder, and consider subscribing to follow along with future journeys.
