Before leaving Colorado, I wanted to knock a few trips off of things I wanted to see before moving, among those things was revisiting a few places as well as seeing new places. Sky Pond held a unique position in my journey toward becoming more adventures and pushing myself further than I had gone before, it was my first big hike. So I thought it would be a great way to loop things back around before I left. I was trying to get out with my buddy Jesse, but we couldn't make the schedule work, so I decided to hit it alone.  

On my way into RMNP, there was a herd of Elk eating breakfast just off the road. Most of them still had the felt on their antlers, something I knew about but never saw with my own eyes, let alone photograph. I hadn't even made it to the trailhead, and this trip was already wondrous. 

Except for some mountain climbers who got out there really early (you can see them looking like tiny ants in a few photos below), I was the only one on the trail and had a rather lovely moment of solitude at Sky Pond. I took some time to reflect on where I had been and the journey that got me to where I was. It wasn't too long after, maybe 45 minutes, which a small crowd of people came up to see Sky Pond for themselves. I was grateful for the time I had and knew I was going to take one more hike in RMNP, so I didn't want to get too emotional, but I love this place.

Photography Date: 6-3-17
Writing Date: 8-20-18