Margaret Mizushima is the author of the Timber Creek K-9 series. You can find out about her here, or click here to read her last post.
My family moved to Colorado when I was a young teen, and I’ve been drawn to the mountain wilderness to explore hiking trails and peaks ever since. And each autumn, the great outdoors beckons with a dazzling display of color. Aspen dot the mountainsides with pockets of yellow, gold, and orange against a backdrop of greens and blues from endless forests of pine and spruce.
I’m a slow hiker, often stepping aside on the trail to let others pass. But my slow pace allows for taking in the sights and scents of the high country and for stopping at scenic overlooks to catch my breath. Though I grew up in the San Luis Valley of Colorado, now I live in the northern part of the state, only an hour’s drive from one of the most beautiful spots on earth—Rocky Mountain National Park.
The National Park
The park is a protected sanctuary for many different species of wild animals. I love to linger there at dusk to listen to the elk bugle as they come down from the mountains into the meadows. It’s a thrill to hear their melodic whistle as the sound travels closer and closer until the elk herd finally appears through the trees. The cows graze on the meadow grass while the bulls spar.
My time hiking the Sangre de Cristo mountain range when I was a kid and that spent in the park as an adult inspired the fictional setting in my Timber Creek K-9 Mysteries. Wild spaces seem dark and full of mystery—what better stage for outdoor mysteries packed with action and adventure? And now that I’m older and not able to hike as far or climb as high as I used to, it gives me the opportunity to go into my fictional world and embrace my inner wild.
Where do you like to go to embrace yours?
Margaret Mizushima is the author of the award-winning and internationally published Timber Creek K-9 Mysteries. She serves as president for the Rocky Mountain Chapter of Mystery Writers of America, was elected the 2019 Writer of the Year by Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, and is also a member of Northern Colorado Writers, Sisters in Crime, and Women Writing the West. She lives in Colorado on a small ranch with her veterinarian husband where they raised two daughters and a multitude of animals. She can be found on Facebook/AuthorMargaretMizushima, Twitter @margmizu, Instagram at margmizu, and her website at www.margaretmizushima.com.
Because my daughter and her family lived in Broomfield for 10 years, we had the pure pleasure of hiking in many Colorado places, including Bear Lake trail in Rocky Mountain National Park and St. Mary’s Glacier near Idaho Springs. So much beauty lies in Colorado and though I’m a Wisconsin girl, the lure of the mountains is real. My inner wild goes to any wooded area where I can participate in birding hikes to add to my life list of bird species.
And Wisconsin has gorgeous places to hike I’m sure! We’ve had such terrible fires and smoke this year in Colorado, but about a foot of snow fell yesterday and has slowed it down. Grateful for that!
I live a stone’s throw from the Boise River and walk six miles each day on the Boise River Greenbelt (in three two-mile stints) with my Irish Wolfhound, Willa.
Laurie: You own the dog of my husband’s dreams! He longs to have an Irish Wolfhound ever since reading The Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne. I’ve heard they have a limited life span, but they are tremendous companions.
Joy Ann — Wolfhounds are The Best animal companions you could ever imagine
Laurie, that sounds absolutely lovely! We hope to stay in Boise tomorrow night as we’re headed to WA to visit our daughter. 🙂
Safe travels. You’re in for some wicked driving weather.
Years ago my husband and I took our older son for a vacation driving around Colorado. So beautiful!! Here on Long Island, we have many beautiful spots, but certainly not the terrain and wildlife that you do. I love driving out East, amid the farms that still remain in the area.
Sounds like you had a lovely vacation out here, Marilyn. I also like driving around to look at farmland! I was born in Kansas, and visited grandparents there many, many years, always driving through farmland as we went. Good memories!
Margaret, we lived in Colorado for 15 years. We loved to take the kids to hike or ski. Your post reminds me how much I miss the area now that we’re in Wisconsin. Hiking is lovely here too, but its hard to get the views.
Thanks for this post!
Yes, I’m sure the hiking is lovely there, Tracie. I spent time in Madison at a conference years ago and stayed in a hotel that was built over the edge of a lake. It was so beautiful, and I enjoyed it so much!