I landed in Denver around dinnertime on a Friday night. After a disorienting walk around downtown, I finally stumbled into my hotel where I recombobulated myself bit and prepared to head back out for the evening.
My hotel was located right in the middle of downtown, on the 16th Street Pedestrian Mall. My first thought was that the free circulator shuttles slithering through the Mall were rather unnecessary; after all, I thought, it was only a bit over a mile from end to end; I could walk the whole distance in about twenty minutes. And so I started wandering, crossing the street and zig-zagging my way through the many retail centers and restaurants that lined the Mall.
Eventually, I was tired. I checked out my step tracker and found that I had already walked 8 miles! My time in airports combined with getting lost while trying to find my hotel really added up, it turned out. I gave in and jumped on a shuttle after all. Back at my hotel, I let my sore legs get some much-needed rest.
Out of the City
One of the reasons I wanted to visit Denver was the spectacular scenery provided by the Rocky Mountains, the backdrop of the city. I set aside the second day of my trip for that goal and headed up to Boulder, a nearby suburb, to do some hiking.
When I caught my first glimpse of the trail, my initial thought was that this is going to be a challenging trip. I looked down at the trail and saw a rough sand-and-gravel path roughly six feet wide. I looked up and followed the path with my eyes, watching it twist and turn towards the mountain range, all the while ascending through a sloping prairie.
I eventually found the will to get started with this hike and walked for about ten minutes before I reached the base of the mountain. I was panting at that point like a tired old smoking addict and I had barely even begun the trek yet! I yanked the water bottle from the lower pocket of my cargo shorts and took a long swig, then stood in place for a moment, readying myself mentally for what was sure to be an even more difficult challenge ahead.
As I climbed ever higher, every now and again I would stop to look down at the sprawling University of Colorado below me. The matching red roofs were a dead giveaway of the campus’ location. Feeling exhausted, I stopped to catch my breath, I thought I was about halfway to the top. In fact, I was barely off ground level.
At one point, crews were working on parts of the trail. It was open, but the path itself was closed and I had to navigate past an orange construction fence. At another point, I took a wrong turn; when I started to go downhill, I realized my mistake and turned around, meaning I had to climb uphill even more. The higher I went, the crazier the trail became, growing more narrow with steep drops off the side. The terrain grew from smooth gravel into small steps formed by large rocks. At several points, I actually had to crawl on all fours to keep myself stable. There were multiple moments where I thought I had reached the summit, but the trail just kept going.
Finally, I spotted the landmark I’d been looking for: The Royal Arch. This meant I had truly reached the top of the trail.
I spotted a small landing as I walked through the arch and onto the platform of boulders beyond. Some of the boulders protruded away from the wallface, forming cliffs. There were, of course, no handrails or fences. In this narrow area, it was very important to be careful.
There were a lot of people on the top platform. I noticed that most seemed to be young, maybe 20 or 30, like me. Some were in small groups while others seemed to be hiking solo. More than a few had their dogs with them, their tails wagging and they sipped from water bowls their masters had set up. One pup in particular was noticeably smaller than the rest, and his owner held his 20 pound body faithfully as the two stood together on one of the cliffs.
Everyone up there was completely exhausted! We had all just hiked for several hours to get up here and everyone was excited to kneel or sit down and take a rest. Still, there were plenty of high-fives and congratulations to go around, as folks swapped stories and enjoyed the views. Finally, the rotation led me towards the end of one of the cliffs. As I grabbed a selfie, several of my new friends gave thumbs-up, thinking I was aiming the camera in their direction rather than taking my own picture.
Eventually, I turned around and looked off the cliff and out into the horizon, taking in the enormity of the panorama that I was free to behold. That university was now a tiny speck in a tiny portion of the full landscape. The moment was magical. This was my first solo hike, and I accomplished it.
As I trekked back down the mountain, I tried to preserve what little water I had remaining. It was much easier going down than up, but I had to take it slow across the steep sets of rocky stairs. I felt dirty and tired and really had to pee, yet fully accomplished in what I had just completed. By the time I reached the gravel trail at the foot of the mountain, I ran the rest of the way downhill, both excited and looking anxiously for a bathroom.
As I walked back to the bus, I passed a couple of kids selling lemonade and Thai ice tea. I decided to take them up on the Thai tea and at that moment it tasted like the most amazing drink in the world! Cold and refreshing, sweet and soothing, I downed it in just a couple of minutes.
Back in the city proper of Denver later that evening, I enjoyed my favorite meal of the trip, a bison burger with jalapeno-filled onion rings. Perhaps that burger was amazing also because of my feelings of exhaustion and accomplishment earlier in the day, but at that moment nothing in the world could have tasted better than that meal.
As I sat on the plane heading home, I knew this had been an amazing trip. This has been one of my first great accomplishments of solo travel, and I can only imagine what is next to come as I head out of North America on my own for the first time in a trip to Japan next month.
