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My Colorado
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Article and photo by Jeff March
The morning of Wednesday, July 28, 1976, dawned clear and warm. This was to be my first pack trip in Colorado. I remember the intense blueness of the Colorado sky as I stepped off the bus in Estes Park and hoisted the 40-pound backpack to my shoulders.
Ahead of me was a young backpacker who had just gotten off the bus. I introduced myself and we became acquainted during the next few hours. Like me, Gary was a college student seeking a summer outdoor adventure. He was from Delaware; I was from southern California. We agreed to explore Rocky Mountain National Park together (as pictured above; I'm the one standing).
By the evening of Saturday, July 31, we were hiking a lower trail in the Park. The clear sky of the morning suddenly turned to dark, ominous, gray clouds. Then it began to rain...and it rained and rained.
By 8 p.m. we were soaked to the skin and decided to seek shelter, finding a decent spot on higher ground. We hastily set up Gary's nylon tarp and escaped under it, intent on keeping ourselves and our sleeping bags dry. The rain continued to come down in buckets—more like torrents—all night long. Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed streaks of daylight from the coal-black sky. I lay on my sleeping bag while water ran in channels beneath my ground cloth. It felt like the ground was moving, and it probably was.
By early next morning the rain had ended. The surrounding meadow was quiet. No birds chattered. There was no wind. Squirrels, marmots and rabbits seemed everywhere, as though asking what had happened—their homes drenched and flooded out. The animals stood motionless, like cardboard cutouts.
Gary and I parted company that Sunday afternoon knowing that we had experienced a rare storm. Soon we learned from news reports that it had dumped 10 to 12 inches of rain in four hours, and caused $35 million in damage to the Big Thompson Canyon below.
Worst of all was the human toll-145 dead. With all of the discomfort we had been through, we knew we were the fortunate ones.
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