Lake Agnus

                                                                                                        A Tale from the Trail

   Nature definitely hands out “here’s your sign” moments in life. One would think that a person who has reached their “golden years” would have learned enough from the school of hard knox to make them wiser in those years. Let me be the first to say, sometimes common sense flies out the window or should I say, that in my case, a wise decision sometimes get overshadowed by the eagerness to find the next amazing shot. Let me explain; It was the end of a busy summer on a beautiful weekend in September 2019. My youngest son Elisha had just completed his 7 years of active duty service in our nation’s military and had decided to settle in Colorado to be closer to family. I was thrilled having my son so close and now had a hiking buddy to accompany me on adventures. You see, my husband is not fond of hiking unless it involves stopping at every fishing hole we come across and that just doesn’t work for a photographer such as myself. I invited Elisha to go on a weekend trip to the Colorado State Forest State Park. The park stretches from the west side of the Medicine Bow Mountains to the north end of the, Never Summer Range of Northern Colorado. It is less crowded and is known for it’s pristine beauty and has something for everyone in every season. So off we went. We arrived and decided to set up camp at the campground before exploring the area.

                                                                              Bockman Campground in the Colorado State Forest State Park

We spent the entire day looking for moose and walking among the aspens, taking photos and exploring the trails near the visitors center. My son has a great sense of humor, always keeping me in stitches, laughing so loud that we scared off all the moose.Towards the end of the evening as we drove just west of Cameron Pass, to a road which led to the Lake Agnus trailhead. Now this is where the eagerness and loss of common sense takes over.  We pulled over so my son could get a shot of the moon just above the jagged peaks of Nokhu Crag. I got this crazy notion that we should hike to the the lake and catch the sunset. The sun was in the golden hour phase, and the moon had already risen over the jagged peaks, and the trail was only 2.1 miles roundtrip, We agreed, so we proceeded to drive up to the trailhead parking area.

                                                                               The jagged peaks of the Nokhu Crags

The rough terrain and the narrow winding dirt road would have made a logical person turn around, especially, while driving a small 2 wheel drive car with only a little daylight left. No turning back now I thought. So my son went along with the plan to hike to the alpine lake. As we stepped onto the trail, a sense of urgency hit, and the coolness of the evening fell upon us. It felt as if the light had been overcome by dark shadows in the forest. We found ourselves about 1/4 of the way up the trail when suddenly it dawned on me that we left out on the hike without a flashlight, backpack, water or warmer layers. While hesitating momentarily, we considered whether we should turn back but foolishly, I convinced Elisha we had enough time to get to the lake to get the shot and get back to the car. I will just blame that decision on the double dose of hard-headiness that runs strong in this family. The anticipation of a spectacular view of  an alpine lake carved out by ancient glaciers and surrounded by a natural amphitheater of high mountains peaks contributed to the desire to press on. The climb to the 10,666 foot surface elevation of the lake was full of switch-backs, boulders, steep drop offs and an occasional log to cross. Having moved to Colorado only a few months back the elevation and thinner air brought another challenge to adventure, breathing! I had to stop and rest every 30-40 yards. My heart raced and beat madly in my chest, then I began to hear sticks breaking in the forest. Being a young man with plenty of stamina, Elisha outpaced me easily to stay a bend or two ahead of me, I began calling  out,“slow down, your mama can’t breath, or “what if Bigfoot is a real thing”, “wait for me” and” how much further”? Since he had been frequently checking the sunset time on his phone, He yelled back down the trail,  “ Mom, we only have 15 minutes until sundown, we have to keep moving”. I quietly thought ,this sunset better be something special, as I struggled up the mountain trying to keep up. Just minutes before the actual sunset, we arrived. As I took the photos ,I could hear a voice of reason behind me saying “ Mom, we really need to head back now”, “Mom, its going to be really dark in the forest now that the sun has set and we have no flashlight”. Then recalling a conversation that I had previously with another camper earlier in the day, I remembered them saying that there had been a recent sighting of a cougar and cubs on the trail . The same trail we had just hiked! I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up as if on cue. The call of mountain sheep could be heard echoing in the mountains. My thought was, cougars like to eat mountain sheep, and that might sound like a dinner bell to a big cat. That was all that was needed for me to agree to pop smoke and hit the trail back into the forest for the descent to safety of the waiting car. I was in the lead this time moving around the switch backs making strides, actually thinking that I must look like a gazelle gracefully loping down the mountain. That thought quickly ended when Elisha said, “Mom, you know this is the most dangerous time to be doing this right? I said “yeah, I know, cougars, bears and Bigfoot like to hunt at night! “ He then replied, “ It’s not being able to adjust to the lighting”. He then explained as we kept moving that the faint light from above and the darkness from the forest floor would cause our eyes to be unable to adjust, making it easier to stumble. He suggested I slow down and take more care in my foot placement. About that time, my foot caught a rock and all I remember is that fall, not a tumble but a violent fall. The momentum sent me forward so quickly that my camera strapped to my right hand hit the ground first. My entire body crashed facedown with half my body hanging over the steep trail’s edge. Immediate excruciating pain overtook me, as I heard and felt the snap of bones. “Mom, are you dead”? “Are you going to make it? “Did you break something”, “Mom, are you gong to be able to get down this mountain”. I could hear the sense of fear in his voice and all I could muster were deep guttural grunts and moans. The breath had left me and I waited to see if my lungs were going to expand. I remember pushing myself up and over the ledge of the trail with my good hand and mustering a “ give me a second” with the breath I had left. Together ,we eventually made it down the trail in the dark and drove to the nearest hospital. I ended up with two broken fingers, a sprained ankle and a contused rib. My wide angle lens was busted but my beloved camera body was fine, miraculously. It was about midnight when we ventured back to the campsite to sleep. The temperature dropped to 32 degrees but we were so exhausted that both of us slept until 9 am in that little two person tent. 

 The top of the Crags from whence the mountain sheep calls came 

Looking back, my son was a real trooper and hung tight with me even when I threw those “here’s your sign” moments to the wind. Today looking back at that memory, this particular tale from the trail is one of my favorites. Just a mother and a son making memories together in the high country of Colorado, coming out alive even if it wasn't in one piece.