After finishing high school, my graduation present was a three week mountaineering course through the Colorado school of Outward Bound.  It was a trip that I didn’t fully appreciate at the time, but looking back, I learned a lot about myself and the true beauty of Colorado.    We started out of Buena Vista and climbed seven 14’ers (Mt. Elbert, Mt. Massive, Mt. Harvard, Mt. Princeton, Mt. Yale, Mt. Oxford, and Mt. Antero) over the course of the next three weeks.  The most memorable time of the entire trip was our stay near Independence Pass.  We had hiked into the area late at night and didn’t get camp set up until about 1:00AM. 

The next morning we awoke to fog drifting down the valley below us among the golden leaves of aspens scattered throughout the valley.  The air was cool and there was a light frost on the ground as the sun began to rise over the mountains.  As we began to heat our water for coffee, everyone in the group was quite as we took in the scenery.  Birds were chirping and the smell of coffee boiling made you feel like this was the best moment of your life and nothing would compare to it. 

During the day, we rock climbed and rappelled with Independence Pass as our backdrop throughout the day.  As we took breaks either at the bottom or the top of the rocks, everyone kept talking about how amazing Colorado is and the sunrise we had all experienced that morning.  If you ever have a chance to experience fall in the Rockies, make sure that you include a drive over Independence Pass.  Stop to take in the whole experience and enjoy what we have here in Colorado.