Some of these articles were published in the Estes Park News in a column I wrote called "Tales from the Trail." These were true stories of things that happened to people in or around Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park.
Estes Park is is located in the Colorado Rockies north-west of Denver or directly west of Loveland.
If you've never been to Estes Park you don't know what you're missing. Estes is often called "the gateway to the Rockies" and for good reason. The main entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park is in Estes and the town itself is surrounded by national forest and wilderness. The whole area is one huge playground for the outdoor lover.
If you have comments or constructive critique about these articles, or have a story of your own you'd like to share, please feel free to visit my guest book.
Enjoy!
PS - Roxy is currently writing a book called "A Year Without A Kitchen Sink."
A true story of a young woman who was married to an abusive alcoholic/drug addict. After leaving her husband she drove 4,400 miles looking for a new home, camping the whole trip. A month after leaving her husband she found Estes Park and fell in love with it instantly. For the first winter she stayed in a motel, but the following summer camped in the wilderness alone, for five months.
Finally, one year after leaving her husband, she saved enough money to get her own place. Her own place with a kitchen sink...
Now you know how I found my love of the mountains and the great outdoors.
Why I left Washington State
I moved to Washington State in September 2006. The Cascade Mountains are east of us and the San Juan Islands are to the west, but the area between, including some of the islands, has been destroyed by farming, logging and urban sprawl.
Each day in 2006 I woke depressed by the traffic, noise and general ugliness of this land, so I decided to take "A Picture a Day," throughout 2007, of something beautiful, unique or unusual, to prove to myself that even here, there is something worth taking a picture of each and every day.
My theme is based around nature (of course), and there is such a lack of wild or serene places here I know this will be a challenge. You have to remember, we moved here from the Colorado Rockies, a place where elk and other large wildlife are daily sightings, and peaceful places with no traffic sounds are abundant.
I intend to write a full article about this experience once the year is over, and may make notes here should I feel inspired to do so.
Here is the link to "A Picture a Day, 2007," by Roxy.
Enjoy!