Red Rocks...from her perspective

When did Dave Matthews Band Live at Red Rocks come out? I'll save you from looking. Google tells me October 28, 1997. Back then, I was in deep with DMB. So deep that I cried when I couldn't see Dave and Tim at Duke University when I was in high school. I am not ashamed to admit that. No worries! The tears have dried. My dream was realized in 2014 when Dave and Tim opened for DMB on their summer. I've gotten off topic. I'm not writing this blog as a love letter to DMB. I was just sharing the date to say that I've known of Red Rocks since 1997.

In the 20 years (seriously, TWENTY?!) since that album was released, I've listened to it more times that I can count. Beyond that, I've seen friends post pictures from Red Rocks, I've watched concerts that were recorded at Red Rocks, and I've had more than one "Let's go to a show at Red Rocks!" conversation. 

Let's fast forward to present day...or at least two weeks ago. Eric and I traveled to Denver to meet up with Amanda (flew in from LA) and see Nicole (lives in Denver). Eric, Amanda and I all had Red Rocks at the top of our list of places to see. We looked up concerts, but no one we knew was playing. Did anyone know there is a band called Lettuce? No? Okay, we had never heard of them either. We nixed the concert idea, but still planned a morning visit so we could see the amphitheater and do a hike. 

**Important to note...if you want to visit on the day of a show, go early. They close the amphitheater for visitors early. The day we went, it was at or before noon.**

I'll shut up so you can admire some pictures...

A view from the top.

Feels Titanic-y to me.

This was as close as we could get to the stage; they were doing soundcheck.

Amanda is a rock star. She RAN UP all the stairs.

It was rather breathtaking. And not just because of the view. Did you see all of those stairs!? The walk down wasn't so bad, but the walk up!? I had to take a break after climbing back up before we went to find the trailhead. Oh my gosh, that makes me sound real outdoorsy!

Fair warning: There are no pictures from here on out. We took no pictures on this hike. No one had their phone out. We didn't even grab my real camera out of the backpack. In this day and age, it is almost like it didn't happen because I can't post a picture on Instagram or show off on my blog. But believe me, we did it, honest!

We did the Trading Post Trail. It is "only" 1.4 miles...pretty much all uphill. I'm wondering now if we went the other direction (the trail is a circle) if I still would have felt that it was all uphill. Might have to test that out. We were blessed with a gorgeous Colorado day. The sun was shining bright and hot and it was quite lovely except for the fact that there was no shade. The trailhead greets you with a sign warning of rattlesnakes and mountain lions. Oh, nature, you are so inviting.

Let me tell you a little something about myself. I'm not an outdoor-loving person. Unless we are talking about a beach. I'd live outside at a beach. The ocean makes sense to me. I know east or west, depending on what beach I'm at. In the mountains, I'm lost. And I feel lost. I have no way to get my bearings unless I use a map. I was reminded during this hike just how much I've come to depend on the blue "you are here" dot on Google Maps. You guys may wonder how I ended up with someone who feels so at home in the mountains. At the beginning of our relationship, Eric and I always laughed at all the things we were "opposite" on. We learned that Paula Abdul was certainly right. Opposites attract. And in our years together, our opposites have brought us closer together as we learn to love (or at least like in the case of me and hiking) that other side of the coin.

I don't know what hiking is about to Eric. I should ask him. I asked him to post something about Red Rocks from his perspective, so maybe once I read that, I will know. Hiking, I think, is about seeing all these great things that you can't see from a car. At Red Rocks, that means rocks! Big rocks.

At some point, I saw a map with the rocks labeled. And as we were hiking, I was thinking to myself, "Why aren't there signs telling me what rock I'm looking at!?" The only rock with a name that I remember seeing was Frog Rock and that's because I named it on the way out; it looked like a frog ready to hop away. (As I'm writing this, I went to look for a map with the rocks labeled and...that rock is really called Frog Rock. Haha. I'm not as original as I thought; they did a really good job naming that rock.)

So, we're on this hike, and hiking should be about seeing things you can't see from a car, but nothing is labeled and my eyes aren't wandering far from my feet... Even if the rocks were labeled, I was probably too "in my head" to see anything while we were walking the trail.

In my head, how? Well...

• My eyes were on my feet the whole time so I didn't trip over a rock. My "fear" was validated when Amanda fell. She was OK. She just needs to learn not to walk while looking backwards or while drinking water.
• My ears were listening for rattlesnakes, which I heard at least 20 times. I'm likely exaggerating as I realized toward the end of the hike that the sound of shoes crunching sand on the rocks was the sound I was most in tune with...but it did sound like what I imagine a rattlesnake to sound like, so I did hear that at least 20 times.
• My brain was all over the place. It was processing the "rattlesnake" sound. It was wondering if I could physically do this hike given the altitude and blaring sun. It was thinking, “If I pass out, will a helicopter come save me? Can Eric and Amanda carry me? Shut up, it is only a mile and a half, you can do this. But what if I pass out!?”

Welcome to my world of anxiety.

As an aside: The last hike I did with Amanda and Eric really did involve me having to sit down so I didn't pass out. Eric and I went to visit Amanda in Pasadena and went to hike Eaton Canyon to see the waterfall. I was sick. Like ears didn't pop on the descent into LA, head was super congested sick. But I was taking meds so I thought I could do it. Had we taken the correct trail to start with, instead of going directly up a mountain in 100 degree heat, I probably would have been okay. Anyway, I was thinking about that during this hike, too.

Along the trail, we saw children, older adults, and a lady carrying a baby. Each time we passed someone I would think to myself, "If they can do it, I can do it."

I did take a minute to tell the mom with the baby how impressive it was that she did the hike with a kid strapped to her. Her hiking companion echoed my sentiments and had a super cute dog that we got to love on a little bit (while I was thinking, “Maybe you can carry me if I pass out”). It shouldn't surprise me, the thing about the mom hiking carrying her kid, I'm of the mind that you earn superhero powers when you become a mom.

We stopped to "admire the view" on a few occasions. I would say this when I needed a rest after a particularly long stretch of uphill hiking. In these moments we were lucky to find bits of shade to help cool down.

The trail ended back at the Trading Post where we bought some t-shirts, a hat (for Eric), and a coffee mug for our ever-growing collection. And, we spent so much money, they gave us a 75th anniversary pendant! Woo hoo!

The amphitheater was definitely a site to see if you're ever in the Denver area. The hike was ... rewarding. I finished it without passing out, being bitten by a rattlesnake, or attacked by a mountain lion. All in all, I'd say that's a win!