The Dig Out

This year the dig out of the Trail Ridge store reminds me of two years ago, only this time there is less snow.  

It has been a tiring few days from all the strenuous snow shoveling and stocking of boxes.  I feel like I have been getting in much better shape though lately.  Combined with all the walking and hiking that I have done in the past several days, I have been burning off those calories!  

The snow is so deep!  However, the pit is coming along.  That's the area where the snow was piled the highest.  The top of the building was barely visible over the snow piles.  I think that everyone here is working hard, and working together.  I expect it to be a very successful season for everyone overall!  The progress is very visible.  It's amazing the amount of snow that there is out there!  I am starting to get more and more excited for when the store actually opens (which should be Wednesday, May 29th).  I am keeping my fingers crossed that all goes that way.

However, I have been thinking lately about how much I will miss some of the friends that I made from last year.  I think that it was a very nice season last year.  Really, I don't expect to ever be able to replace the people that I met from last year.  I am just hoping to meet a lot of new people.  It's such an amazing place to work here in Rocky Mountain National Park!  One of the only negatives about this job is that I make so many friends and then I don't get to see most of them again.  

Well, there are going to be several more days filled with hours and hours of snow shoveling.  I plan on posting updates periodically through out this summer.  Especially when I start more hiking and adventuring in the park!

  

"I've got a Rocky Mountain High" (Season #4)

I've been in Colorado now for five days.  I'd forgotten how much different life is here.  There really is not much to worry about.  The people are nice.  The place is great.  The scenery is beautiful.  There are people from all over the United States and from all over the world.  Sometimes it seems surreal.  It's such a great atmosphere to be in.  I remember the past seasons now, and I remember the people and the experiences from before.  I miss those people and experiences a lot.  It is a different type of life here, but it is also one which is in constant evolution.  Every season is different.  Last year I lived with a guy from my home town in Indiana.  This year I am living with two guys from Wisconsin and one from upstate New York.

One of the best things about being out here again in Estes Park, Colorado is that there is always something to do.  If I ever say that I am bored out here, then there must be a major problem!  The place must have lost it's magic.  There's always something to do.

If I am not working up on the mountain then that means it's my day off.  If it's my day off I can go hiking on any of the trails that I haven't already completed for a new experience, or I can go hike a trail that I have done before and experience something new on it.  If perhaps I am not in the mood for a hike (rarely true) than I can go into town and walk the strip where the shops are.  Sometimes I might feel just like going for a walk into town or around the lake.  This season I have already walked into town several times with some coworkers.  A good walk can serve the purposes of both helping me to get in shape and learning more about the people that I work with here in this resort town.

One of the things that I am most looking forward to this summer is when all of the foreign workers come.  They naturally tend to be some of the most interesting people here to me.  I am not sure if it's their unique style of doing things, their cultural stories, or somethings else that makes them so interesting.  It might be that most of them have such good manors, much better than even the friendliest of Americans.

This season I've already set a few goals for myself while I am in Colorado.  One of them is to hike to the top of Longs Peak.  It's something that most people that visit Rocky Mountain yearn to do.  Few of those people attempt it, and only a small number are successful in making it.  That means it's a challenge.  It must be as challenging mentally as it is physically to complete a hike which gains almost a mile in elevation.

Another of my goals, which honestly I am not wholeheartedly into yet, is to start running again.  There are several coworkers out here in Rocky that are joggers and runners.  I've watched them over the past several seasons and wondered what it was like to run along the road towards the mountains, or jog the trails near the property in Estes.  We'll see if this goal ends up being important or not.

The other goals are to come away with new friendships and relationships and have a positive experience that I can carry into the next stage of life.  I should not make the mistake of saying that I won't be coming back for season number five.  I do not know that at this point, and that's alright, because right now, "I've got a Rocky Mountain High"