I remember seeing the image for the first time at Richard Hahn’s Alpenglow Images and Accents in downtown Estes Park. It was one of those images that caused me to gasp, to stop in awe of the beauty, the amazing yellow and orange colors of fall aspen Richard had captured. They framed Bear Lake below, Longs Peak in the distance, and a mountain blue sky above. I knew I wanted to replicate it.
So on September 30th, 2020, I walked Bear Lake. Looking at the mountainside, glancing back at Longs Peak, I tried to visualize the location up on the hill.
Only a couple of months before I’d retired to life in Estes Park, I had spent the previous thirty-seven years in suit pants and a striped tie, most of my time existing behind a desk in an office while leading a school district. Years of a regularly scheduled sedentary life had created soft legs and a gut like a pot-bellied pig. Despite my squishiness, I was determined to climb to the spot…