Hope is in the Air; Springtime in Rocky Mountain National Park

By Barb Boyer Buck

There is a quality to the early spring air in the Colorado Rocky Mountains that makes me want to get outside.  The weather changes quickly here, so I wear layers and bring snowshoes or spikes in case I’ll need them. Once I actually start walking in it, the fresh air entices me to rip off my hat and gloves and unzip my coat.  It’s still chilly but if the wind isn’t blowing, it’s an amazing feeling on my skin – more invigorating than cold.  The air is a call to come out of hibernation and embrace the wilderness again.  

​This is weather made for humans: calm, with temps ranging from chilly to warm.  Rocky Mountain wildlife thrives in many conditions but humans can bask in this pleasant weather, rediscovering hope in Spring. 

​Summer is wonderful too, but when it gets very hot, I’m liable to put my bare feet in the streams that slice through the rocky canyons. I dip my bandana in this frigid water, too, and then tie it around my neck. I’m liable to sit there, cooling off, for longer than my hiking partners are willing to wait.  So mostly I hike alone with my journal and always, my camera.  Well, these days it’s my smart phone.

The quality of spring air in the Northern Colorado Rockies this month seems even more refreshing. It’s a bit too early to chalk it up to the significantly reduced visitation due to 

North St. Vrain Creek in Wild Basin was flowing clearly on March 18. Photo by Barb Boyer Buck

the recent closure of Rocky Mountain National Park and all accommodations in town. Nor to the fact that no one is eating out anymore and pretty much staying in their homes.   This year, with the threat of the dreaded COVID19 keeping everyone inside, the spring air is even more tempting. ​

​Truly, the air smells and feels so fresh it can’t help but draw me outside.

Copeland Mountain rises over Copeland Lake on March 18 in Wild Basin. Photo by Barb Boyer Buck

In Spring, the air smells slightly of water. It smells like the fresh streams in the summer, before I put my feet in them.   It must be because of the heavy, wet snow that falls generously starting this month and extending into May.

In late Spring into early Summer, the pines wake up and unleash a flood of pollen which is carried through the wind.  This makes everyone sneeze, even those who are not allergic to pine.  At this point, the air smells itchy.  Actually, I don’t know what it smells like because I’m usually too congested.  ​

I imagine it smells like mustard because that’s what it looks like.  It covers every surface, even creeping through all the cracks in your home to make deposits on your furniture.   ​
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But right now, in early Spring in the Rockies, the air is nurturing and clean.  When the temperature is mild, I open my windows to let the glorious breeze touch everything that has gotten dreary in my house over the winter.  My plants perk up and start stretching even more toward the promise of Spring.  ​

But locally, a sense of dread has settled over us after a series of dizzying changes made us afraid to leave our homes. Last week, the National Park Service lifted all fees to go into RMNP and with schools ordered to close, visitors in very high numbers came to the national park. I went too.  But there was a false sense that we were somehow safe up here, in the mountains, and that precautions didn’t need to be made.  I think all of us believed that you didn’t need to practice social distancing or wear personal protective equipment when you’re out in nature.

Mud season in the Northern Colorado Rockies made for some tricky hiking in Wild Basin on March 18. Photo by Barb Boyer Buck

I went to the store on March 16, wearing medical exam gloves and a face mask (not the 95 kind, just the kind that I already had). I dragged my friend along with ​

My friend and I felt a bit foolish shopping on March 16, since we were the only ones wearing PPE. Turns out, we were just ahead of the game. Photo by Barb Boyer Buck

me, dressed in the same PPE.  The store was completely packed.  Nobody else wore gloves.  No one was practicing social distancing.  We waited in a line that stretched quite a bit down into a merchandise aisle. We stood very close to each other, for nearly 20 minutes. I saw only one other woman wearing a mask and that was on our way out.  She was striding across the parking lot.  This made my friend and I feel a bit foolish about being costumed in pandemic fashion.

Just two days later I took what turned out to be my last hike in Rocky Mountain National Park “until further notice.”  I saw many groups of people, hugging and kissing each other for selfies.  It seemed like summertime – almost as crowded and just as noisy.   I began wondering if we should practice social distancing outside, too. ​

On March 20, our mayor asked the Secretary of the Interior to close Rocky Mountain National Park; that evening, RMNP closed for an indeterminate period of time.  And three days later, all hotels were ordered to stop operations by the Town of Estes Park.  Why would a town that depends on tourism to survive discourage visitation of any kind?  This situation is very serious, I realized.  ​​

Those of us who moved up here to experience the Rocky Mountains on a daily basis, and those who moved here to make lots of cash in the summer only to fall in love with the national park and stay, felt defeated.   Stymied in a way we never have been before.  We can’t go into Rocky?  Really?  

​How are we supposed to deal with the stress of life?  The stress of this pandemic and losing work?  How do we handle the forced separation from the place that makes everything worth it?

Kinnikinnick (bearberry) in Wild Basin on March 18. Photo by Barb Boyer Buck

For all of us who take solace in nature, we handle it by answering the call of the spring air.

My strategy right now is to take neighborhood walks and hikes by myself, while Rocky Mountain National Park remains closed. Experiencing Spring can happen anywhere - get outside and explore your neighborhood! Photo by Barb Boyer Buck

We find a spot and time of day near our homes where we can be alone (or with our pets and/or quarantine partner) and give it a good sniff.  We say hi to the sun when it peeks out and listen to the chirping of the wild songbirds, including my favorite which starts to show up this month – the Rocky Mountain Bluebird. We wear spikes to deal with the potentially icy conditions.  

Don’t let this global pandemic kill your joy in Spring. Walk on the earth among the trees. Stay six feet away from anyone you may encounter on your stroll.  Experience the air and notice what it smells and feels like, wherever you live. ​​

Accept Nature’s invitation to shed the dreariness of Winter and be renewed by Spring. ​

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