The Crossing

This is Erik Stensland’s photo “The Crossing” from his website Images of RMNP. I visit his site periodically just to enjoy again the beauty of my favorite national park, to revisit remembered places and discover new ones. Grand vistas, lakes, meadows. Rugged peaks and colorful flora. But today I was stopped by this photo. Simple, serene, secluded. A little footbridge near Mills Lake. And Stensland’s comment that although he’s been here before, he’s never actually crossed the stream.

I was puzzled. How could he not cross? To me a little bridge like this is an irresistible invitation. It must be crossed. Its very presence means there’s something over there worth visiting, worth seeing, worth building a bridge for.

I’ve crossed such bridges many times in and around Rocky Mountain National Park. There’s one in Wild Basin on the trail up to Calypso Cascades (at least it was there half a century ago, the last time I was in Wild Basin). Beyond the bridge the trail gets steep, and more often than not, I turned around at some point. But once or twice I made it up to the Cascades to experience the peace of the forest, the roar of the stream as it tumbled down the mountain, and the flight of water ouzels in and out of the spray.

Bridges like this almost always lead to something. Something someone deemed worthwhile. Perhaps something worth your time …

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

–Robert Frost