Half Moon Pass on Holy Cross Mountain cuts through the rugged Rocky Mountains outside Minturn Colorado just a 2 hour drive from Denver. The dirt passage up Tigwon Road leading to Half Moon Pass shakes all the bolts lose on any rugged vehicle and can swallow tires whole.
Kendall steps from her Chevy Trailblazer parked under a pine tree in a dirt pullout, big enough for two cars. A red tail hawk surfs the wind, drifting back and forth in a rhythmic motion, resembling a circus performer on a trapeze. The warm air envelopes her body as she breathes deeply expanding her chest, letting the unpolluted air fill her lungs and her soul. The bad energy trapped in her organs flows out into the world as she exhales. Leaning back she smiles and stretches her stiff muscles.
The whisper of wind on the tree tops and the sound of her blood, pumping deep within her ear drums are the only sounds she can hear as she reaches for her Camelback. The Camelback water tube tastes like old rubber but the backpack contains the hiking necessities of rain gear, Heal Your Body book, a journal, mid day snacks of cherries, cheese, crackers, dark chocolate with sea salt and her first aid kit. The sun is searing down on her, so she pulls out her sunblock for an extra coating, tightens her mesh hiking shoes, adjust her visor and heads toward the trailhead.
Moving toward a canopy of evergreens, she enters the start of Half Moon Pass hike. Cool air lingers under the canopy, void of any sun and creates a refreshing energy pulse through her body. The ground is soft and when she steps, there is a hollow sound as if deep below, water has carved out an underground cavern. The scent of earth hangs in the evergreens but it settles low in the air. A fresh breeze captured the sweet smell of the wildflowers and pushed it into the evergreens to mix with the earth, trees, animals and fresh air. Each movement she can feel her leg muscles stretch and release. Her shoulders release downward from her tense neck and she pauses to rub them. This place pulls all the anger and sadness from her face when she realizes how alone she really is at this moment. This area of the forest resembles the making of a child’s fairy tale, mossy rocks, dark, rich hues of red, brown and black, tree trunks with bark formed into intricate patterns, flowers growing out of tiny cracks in boulders the size of cars. She looks in every direction trying to see every inch she can possibly observe.
The path through the evergreens continues for a quarter of a mile and as Kendall glides through, her thoughts take her away from the experience. She reaches a clearing in the evergreens where the path juts up ward through a grove of aspens and she can see the sun sneaking through the heart shaped leaves. Stepping from the fairy tale forest, the sun illuminates her, causing a shiver to shake off the cool. Continuing on her journey through the aspens, she can feel the dust accumulating in her expensive mesh shoes and shakes her head. On her legs, dirt has accumulated giving her the mark of a person who participated in life today.
The gradual steepness of this trail causes her heart to beat faster but not enough to stop and rest. Watching images of wilderness on a stair stepper has nothing on the opulence of Half Moon Pass. This section of the trail, just past the aspens is steep, carved into the mountainside and covered with jagged rocks that demand attention. Kendall tip toes through the rocky mine field, squeezed tightly with columbine wild flowers in shades of lavender and maroon, baby evergreens with dark and light green branches reach out looking for light and tickle her legs as she strides through.
The crest of the trail opens up and into her view comes Cross Creek River where the cascading snowmelt pushes the intense heat from the sun at 10,000 feet far from its edge. The runoff is higher than expected. Hesitating to move forward, Kendall searches for the beetle kill, pine tree that has strategically fallen over the river to allow passage to Holy Cross peak. She moves toward the river stepping lightly and seeing if anything has changed since her last trip. Spotting the natural bridge, several hundred yards up the river, she searches for the trail. Underbrush has hidden it at first glance but she is able to locate it and with a little bush wacking, makes it to the tree. This river crossing, the trees on the opposite river bank, thick and held straight with jagged boulder faces, shooting straight up from the rivers edge causes Kendall to stare. Her heart is now beating faster and her body tenses from the brain down. Blinking slowly, she looks down at her hiking shoes and back to the tree. The water underneath is pounding the rocks below and flowing in a rapid descent off the mountain. Taking in a slow breath and letting it out little by little, she looks around for some sort of support but knows she’s alone. With a determined hand she grasps the large branch sticking out from the tree and she pulls herself up onto the tree bridge. One slow step at a time takes her across the tree, her focus is forward so she will not lose her nerve and fall in the river. Running out of air and across the river, she jumps onto solid ground and lets out a yelp. Bending forward and resting her hands on her knees she begins to breath again. She glances back at the tree and after a few moments she heads upriver. Scaling these rocks will be impossible but she finds a small opening in the rocks, only big enough for her to squeeze through sideways. Shimmying though the rocks she discovers the trail again. The path, surrounded with pine trees begins to thin out and she happens onto another clearing. The open space tucked between these mountains, spans for half a mile and is filled with waist high golden colored grass. In the distance are jagged peaks in shades of gray and yellowish gray green and appear to be painted on a canvas. The serene moment is broken when something whizzes past her head and instinct shouts for her to crouch to the ground.
