Nature is my religion, and these spaces are my church.

Back in June, I was camping with some friends up by Guanella Pass. It was my first Colorado camping trip of the season. To say I was excited is a complete understatement. I’m a fanatic for the National Parks, National Forests, and outdoor spaces like state parks and BLM land.

Nature is my religion, and these spaces are my church. I visit the National Parks and Forests with the dedication of a born again Christian. My faith in the healing and restorative powers of time spent in nature is unwavering. The time I’ve spend backpacking, camping, drinking, floating, toking, lounging, and loving in these places is directly responsible for all the good parts of who I am today.

I love these places with the voracity of a mamma bear. I’ve been know to spend hours picking up littler from camp sites, destroy ill placed fire rings while fixing others to the correct size, and yelling out the window at tourists who walk on the delicate tundra of Rocky Mountain National Park. When those people “saved” the bison, I cried. When that person died because they fell into a geyser, it took a lot of effort to feel sympathy for them. That girl who tagged the parks with her “art”, deserves a much harsher punishment. But I digress.

Without the National Parks and public places that I inherited as an American, I would not have been able to slur and stumble my way to a drunk rant about the enormity of love I have for these mystical spaces on that night back in June. Sitting in my chair, drinking, up on Guanella Pass I waxed poetic about how the vistas and trails call to my heart, and my heart answers from a deep place that most likely existed before I was born. It is a primal love and connection that I cannot deny. On that evening, at our river side camp site, my friends witnessed the love pour out of me with the eloquence that only five Deep Eddy vodka and sodas will produce.

“I love the parks!”

(Said with a heavy slur and choking back tears)

I will forever be a steward and junky for the National Parks. With love pouring out of me, today I get to say… HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the National Park Service. #nps100 Thank you for everything you do. May you enjoy another 100 years more.