Tomorrow marks the first day of my stint as Artist-in-Residence at Rocky Mountain National Park. I left home a couple days ago, spent a night in Sheridan, WY, and pulled into Estes Park last night. Last night and tonight I am camping at Mary's Lake with a friend from high school and her family. They live in Boulder and are familiar with the park and the Estes Park area. It's great to see her again, camp in a lovely spot, and enjoy some hiking and exploring in the park together.

Today we took the shuttle over to the Bear Lake area, then hiked up to Alberta Falls and over to and around Bear Lake. Hiking with three awesome little boys kept our pace on the easy side, affording a nice day of adjusting to the altitude. We also drove Trail Ridge Road to the Alpine Visitor Center. This drive was my introduction to the National Parks back in September 1998, when I came to Estes Park with my pipe band (bapgpipes and drums competition band) for the Long's Peak Highland Festival. One day my much older and wiser band mates said, "Hey Jess, we're going to drive Trail Ridge Road. Come with!" I had no idea what any of this meant, had only a vague understanding of what national parks were, and pretty much just agreed to go because I'm always up for an adventure. We drove TRR up to the Alpine Visitor Center and then hiked to the little peak there, at something over 13,000 feet. I remember watching the outside temperature plummet as we ascended, and was in awe as we rose above the tree line. This trip was my first introduction to mountains as well as national parks. It's fair to say that the experience influenced a plethora of life choices down the road.