YMCA of the Rockies

This morning we are in Estes Park, CO at the YMCA of the Rockies family camp and conference center. We 'll be here through Monday noon. I spent the summer of 1951 here as a worker. I had just finished my freshman year at Drury College, and this was a summer job, though it was more like volunteer service - it paid $1 a day plus room and board! So I didn't really make much money. But it was a wonderful summer. The buildings  today bear little resemblance to what I remember. The basic layout is the same - there 's just way more of it. The dorm where I lived and the dining hall where I ate apparently no longer exist, unless they are "inside" some existing, larger building. The main administration building today existed then, though I think it's been enlarged. And when you stand on the front porch of that building, the view is much the same, especially in the distance:

           

  View from the administration building: The three visible peaks are Chapin, Chiquita and Ypsilon

Yesterday,  Friday, was originally to have been a day Betsey was to have a test at Anschutz. But that was changed, and she ended up staying home all day. She slept late, had a late breakfast, then came downstairs. Ellen went into Boulder to do some shopping while I hung out with Betsey. I worked on some little CD projects for Betsey and then in mid-afternoon, Rob came back with their friend, Caroline Hopewell, who is visiting from Cape Cod on her way to her daughter's college graduation in Utah. Her arrival freed up Ellen and myself to come up to Estes Park for this little break. 

So here we are. We arrived at about 6:15 or so last evening, checked in and had supper in the Aspen Dining Hall, cafeteria - style. 

                                    Aspen Dining Hall 

There are a lot of people here, and most of them are with groups. There appear to be 8 or so organizations having a conference here, most of them Christian groups of an evangelical nature. Two are all-men, and one of those is from a place called Resurrection Ministries, based in Loveland, CO. We peeked in on one of their events last evening which featured a band with a charismatic male lead singer. All the men were wearing illuminated bands around their heads, like halos; a few were wearing them around the neck. Another world. 

                              Charismatic men's renewal event

Speaking of another world, as we came into Estes Park yesterday, we passed the access road to the Long's Peak trailhead. I climbed  Long's Peak in 1951.  It is 14,256 feet high. I got a shot of it from the highway. It 's hard to believe I was on the top of that mountain! 

                                 Long's Peak on the right.

Professional rock climbers ascend the sheer East Face, but what is called the "cable route" (because it has a couple of places where cables are bolted into the rock to assist you) goes up just to the right of the East Face. I don't think I'll try to make an ascent this weekend "for old time's sake," but we may go up closer and get some better photos.