Through Mountain Passes

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One summer Monday I took the bus from Montrose, Colorado to Albuquerque New Mexico and spent the morning driving up and down through Rocky Mountain passes.  The sun may have risen a bit before 6AM when the bus departed from the little station along the highway, but the only indications I had of it were the pinkish wisps of clouds and muted light in the east above the mountains of the western slope of the Rockies along the eastern horizon.  

My stalwart friends, Bill and Marty were up to see me off at oh-dark-thirty, and as the bus pulled out onto US 50 South and began to leave Montrose, I was thrilled to see the dawn echoed in magenta clouds over the western sky above the mesa.  It was such a blessing to be with them -- as it has been to visit many friends along the way.  The love of friends is one of the best examples of God's love in our lives.

I watched out of the windows as the town fell behind us and the ranches of the valley to the south appeared one after the other.  I was also watching for wildlife, but the first animal I saw was in a paddock edged with aspen trees.  It was a large white llama which stared as us as we noisily roared up the road.  The llama's expression seemed haughty as it regarded our loud passing.  I thought, "Ah . . . if a cat may look at a king, a llama may indeed watch a Greyhound."

In a few minutes later, the somewhat brightening grey dawn of the valley as we approached the town of Ridgway  was occluded by the deep dark shadows of the ever-narrowing canyons of Ouray.  Although I still wasn't very awake, and still looking for wildlife, I was treated to the view of two deer alongside of the road.  The deer both looked at the bus, though not as haughtily as the llama had.  Next I saw a skunk rambling away from the road into the woods.

When the bus moved into Ouray, the charmingly preserved mining town of Ouray I was happy to see it again.  We drove past the town's hot spring pool tucked in the canyon as it rises between 10,000-14,000 foot peaks.  There are six sections in the pool, each of a different temperature.  They range from normal cool water to 110 degrees.  It is wonderful to soak in the hot mineral water while enjoying the mountain views.  In the last few weeks I was blessed to sample this delight with my friends.  We also went hiking in an alpine valley filled with beautiful wild flowers, a burbling creek and lovely trees -- aspens and cottonwoods, lodgepole pines and ponderosa.  It was hard to leave the area.

The bus continued through the downtown area lined with refurbished old west storefronts.  As you leave Ouray going south you climb on a road designated as a "Scenic Byway"-- and boy -- is it ever!  

I was sitting on the starboard side of the bus and as we climbed up the switchback just out of town and turned right, I looked out the window and was treated to the view of a long drop to the creek.  Since the road is not very wide, it seemed like the drop off was very close to the edge. 

I kept watching down the cliffside and up at the peaks across the canyon in amazement as we continued to climb.  As we traveled, I noticed that the color of the rocks and soil in and around the creek began to change color.  At first they were a beige or light brown, and then the colors changed to a range from bright yellow to mustardy brown, and then more and more orange.  A few minutes later the dirt and rocks of the creek looked mostly reddish orange and then a rusty red. 

The canyons blocked out the sun and there was still only light in the sky when I caught a glimpse of a mountain between the canyon walls at the top of the pass.  upon seeing it, I understood the latest color of the creek.  The mountain was red!  And sure enough, as we got closer to it at the top of the pass, I saw a sign that said we were at about 11,000 feet in Red Mountain Pass.  What a delight it was to see the sun for the first time that day just to the left of Red Mountain.  As the bus began our descent of the pass by heading toward the first switchback on the way down, I looked into the woods to be treated to a wonderful sight.

A grey wolf had apparently been startled by the sound of the bus and was heading into an Aspen stand, looking at us over his left shoulder.  I was thrilled to see him, glad to get a glimpse of another creature of the wild.  The last time I saw a wolf was at Denali National Park in Alaska.  It is always a treat and a blessing.

Later in the day we drove through several other mountain passes and eventually totally descended to the mesas and lower level plains of southern Colorado and New Mexico.  I then got on an Amtrak train and enjoyed the ride to southern California.  It's so good to travel while being attentive to the Lord and to the beauty of creation as the Holy Spirit reveals it to us!

God is so good and so faithful.  

Creation is beyond beautiful and it is so wonderful to be part of it.  When you consider the amazing variety of life on earth -- on the land, in the air, and in the seas, the wonder of it all can overwhelm you.  What a joy it is to be alive and as human beings, to have been given stewardship of the earth.  It is too precious not to value and protect it.  How lovely to be given the gift of life on earth and what a treasure it is to be entrusted by God to help keep it.

Thank You, Lord, for the beauty of the earth and for the privilege of life.  
Help us to be good stewards and to take care of one another as well.  

Thank You for Your love and faithfulness.  
Help us to life in You and with You, 
serving You by loving one another and Your whole creation.  

 Alleluia!  Amen.             

All Bible passages are taken from The New Revised Standard Version, 
copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education 
of the National Council of the Churches of Christ 
in the United States of America. 

Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Kathleen Ware Harris  © 2013

kwharris777@gmail.com