Weekends, mountains and new crushes

Vicki asked, in another thread, whether people were away on the
weekend. I didn't want to answer in that thread, but it did motivate
me to go on a bit about our fun Colorado summer.

My partner and I just got back from a teaser backpack trip in the
Comanche Peak Wilderness. We hiked about 4 miles in to an area (that I
won't reveal publicly) that was so secluded that we didn't see a
single human soul the whole time we were there. Just inside a large
stand of lodgepole pines and just across a creek (complete with beaver
dam) from hundreds of acres of grassy meadow, all surrounded by dark
brown peaks with a decent amount of remaining snow cover. It was
nearly 100 F in Denver when we left and a flawless 75 F when we
arrived where we set up camp.

Talk about a way to decompress from the week.

That's not the story though. The weekend backpack was a warmup for a 4-
day trip we will be taking next weekend to Mt. Zirkel Wilderness (just
north of Steamboat Springs). Mt. Zirkel is a much more popular
destination, but with good reason. There is more wildlife, more
flowers, huge subalpine lakes and active watershed that somehow
reveals colors you never knew existed in nature. The trip was
suggested by a new friend we have gotten close to in the past month.
This friend has only recently come out and has found us safe and
sup****tive as he explores his ***uality, both physically and
emotionally. And the mutual crush between us all is very fun. I
haven't traded this many SMS messages per day with someone in a long
time.

It's funny how a little fresh air and NRE can make the rest of life's
problems just a little more manageable.

Lane