Sometimes to the end, but mostly just to wander, I’ve walked many paths.  I wander away from parts of myself that no longer grow so they may die alone.  I try to lose my fears along paths in haunted woods, or expose my bitterness on windswept ridges, but I always end up facing them on the way.  After all, they had led me there to begin with. How I see is more important than what I see, but oh, the sights I’ve seen. Wandering paths in the Rockies, I’ve both found and lost myself, but more importantly, I’ve learned my place.  I’ve learned the feeling of knowing that place and the knowing of feeling that place. Paths have led me from what was to what is and hopefully on to what will be, though I seek not the end. With only a beginning and an end, you have no story.  Will you even remember the journey if you keep your head down until the end and focused only on the outcome of your effort? Will you remember what you saw or smelled and how it made you feel if you don’t ease up and look around? When I was young and ambitious, I put my head down and powered to the end wherever I went.  I always got where I was going, but that was all. Now I observe and listen with my mind, but lead with my heart. The end will make so much more sense when you savor the journey and learn what’s around you. My journey and my path are not so much about me, but a way to learn the ways of the Earth and its creatures. Maybe it’s a path in Rocky Mountain National Park, the Flat Top Mountains, or even just a local natural area like Riverbend Ponds, a long journey or a short one, I let them parallel my life’s journey.  I’m not in a race to any destination. There is so much to see and feel on the way, why would I want it to be over?

Portraits of the Rockies   

Russell Gunter

As a Colorado native, Russell prefers to spend a lot of his free time in the high country avoiding the crowds and finding new adventures or returning to some of his favorite places for peace and scenery.  He was born near Fort Collins on the Front Range and fell in love with the mountain skyline where the sunrises and sunsets are incredible.  Although he's traveled the Rockies north to Canada, there's no place like home.  Colorado has so many diverse landscapes that it will take years to explore it all.  He finally got a camera to take on his adventures so he could share what he'd seen on his outings and photography quickly became his favorite hobby.  Since he learned to drive, he's been getting to know the back roads of Colorado as he looks for wildlife, scenery, and new places to camp.  A free thinking wanderer, he likes to share his experience and photographs with others who revere Colorado's beauty.