A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains

            I was rummaging through a box of books at a yard sale and came across a little gem. I picked up the book because of its title and brought it home expecting it might end up being another boring, drawn-out, old-English tale about traveling in ‘style’ during the 1870’s. For some readers, it might be that way. Bird’s style is not for everyone. “A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains,” is a compilation of letters written by Isabella Bird in 1973. Bird, an English woman traveling in the American West, departs San Francisco and heads East to Wyoming and then on to Colorado. Her ultimate goal: Estes Park. In these letters, Bird feeds us eloquent landscapes, quirky characters, harrowing descriptions of rides on horseback through the dark and snow, and her own unequivocal nerve.

            I’ll admit, that while I read the first few letters I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it through the rest of the book. But I am so glad I pushed on. Once Bird finds herself in Colorado, she begins to deliver beautiful descriptions of the people she meets and the ground she covers. Her spirit for adventure really is inspiring.

            One of the main reasons I love this book so much is because it pops into my mind whenever I look at the foothills or drive into the mountains. Bird describes Longmount (current Longmont), Fort Collins, Greeley, Denver, Boulder, Fairplay, Colorado Springs and Estes Park as they were in the 1870’s. It is incredible to think about this area where we live and picture it completely empty. No suburban sprawl, no buildings, no paved roads, only trails. Consider, in Letter 5, that she writes from a “Nameless Region, Rocky Mountains.” When you really start to think about this, it is so awesome to imagine. What was it like to travel without maps? What was it like to have your directions be, “Go until you reach a fork in the trail, bear right and follow it until you come to a small clump of buildings”? What was it like to find a piece of land and call it your own? Imagine all of this land so unexplored, unclaimed, undeveloped.

            As her stories and letters continue, we follow Bird into the deep, high mountains. The next time you go skiing at Breckenridge, stop for a minute.  Just imagine traveling alone, by horseback, with only a few warm layers, in the middle of winter, through that same exact place. That is where Bird takes us, deep into the shadows of the Rockies. Her stories are bold, well-written, moving and thought provoking. I highly recommend this read, and I encourage you to let go while you’re reading it. Let yourself imagine Bird’s Colorado.