I've returned to the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park for round two. Instead of interning with the Communication Department, however, I'm a teen counselor with their day camp program here.
I absolutely loved my internship last year, but I am beyond excited to be working with kids and teens in the beautiful Rocky Mountains this summer. If you know me, you know I love camp life. I will be singing camp songs again and playing camp games again as well as hiking more, camping more, exploring more. I can't wait to meet the teens I'll be working with each week and I'm so excited to get to know them better!
Sunday May 24 I flew 2 hours from Dallas to Denver, hopped on the Estes Park shuttle for an hour and a half, and was dropped off at the beautiful YMCA of the Rockies. I felt like I needed to pinch myself every moment of my trip. My thoughts were pretty much I'M GOING BACK TO COLORADO. I'M IN DENVER. I'M IN ESTES. I'M AT THE YMCA. The craziest thing to me is it doesn't feel like a year has gone by. I feel like I was just here only a few weeks ago.
Shortly after I arrived I met my new roommate and she asked me if I wanted to go play volleyball. YES A MILLION TIMES YES. It was the best possible reunion with Estes Park. (Sadly it had rained all day though so we had to play indoor volleyball instead of on the sand).
Monday May 25
Day Camp training Day One:
6:30am Wake Up
7:20 Breakfast
8am Meet in Legett to learn songs, rules, and policies
After training on our way back to Mt. Ypsilon (our dorm), I ran into some girls who were going to hike Bear Lake and a few of the 3 lakes if they could. They asked if I wanted to come and I said YES. (That's my motto for everything. Say yes. Just do it. You never know what will happen.) Unfortunately it started raining once we entered Rocky Mountain National Park. Fortunately, not even rain can make RMNP any less beautiful or any less hike-able.
We started for Nymph Lake and were greeted by so much SNOW. I remember the snow sticking around in May last year, but there wasn't this much. Apparently it was a heavy snowfall year for Colorado. This year, however, I was better prepared with my legit hiking boots instead of walking through snow with my non-waterproof tennis shoes.
It was so beautiful.
Once we reached Nymph after half a mile it started icy raining on us, which wasn't too pleasant. We turned around in case the bad weather decided to stick around. While the hike was short-lived, it was still exciting starting my first day back in RMNP. 
On our way out of the park we stopped suddenly because a MAMA BEAR ran across the road in front of us. I know that doesn't sound that crazy, I mean yeah, of course, there's bears in a national park in the mountains. But you don't see them too often - I waited ALL SUMMER last year to see a bear and never did. And then my first day back I see one.BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE.
Mama Bear had a sweet little cub that ran after her shortly after. It was SO cute.
I'm taking this Mama Bear and her baby as a sign that this summer will be wonderful and unexpected.
A little sad twinge passed through me this week as I started doing things and meeting new people. One of the things that made leaving so hard last summer was not only the mountains, but the people. It's so true what they say, it's the people that make the place. So many of my friends didn't return this summer. While I'm so happy they're off having their own adventures elsewhere, I wish they could be here again, even just for a day.
BUT. It's been a wonderful week already and I'm SO HAPPY to be here again. Nothing ever happens the same way twice, and I'm excited to see what surprises, friendships, blessings, and oddities happen this summer. And the bear sighting was just a super magical addition to my first week back.
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Staff training all day erryday. I am now archery certified, practiced conflict management, discussed personality types, learned about the Leave No Trace program, and basically became equipped to handle the 15-20 munchkins I'll be wrangling each week. I also played a lot of sand volleyball (in 40 degree weather. Colorado evenings are merciless), and caught up with old friends.
Saturday
Abby and I decided to do a hike on Saturday morning, and I was so excited we chose to do Eagle Cliff. So technically Eagle Cliff isn't even an official hike anymore and the park doesn't up keep it or anything. It's basically a follow-a-trail-that-sometimes-disappears-straight-up-a-mountain kind of hike. It's one of my favorites (It was the first hike I did last year and I did it again later in the summer) because of the view - you basically can see all sides of the YMCA, Estes Park, and RMNP. In my mind I picture it as a short-ish hike up with an amazing pay off, but once we started hiking it I remembered how difficult gaining 1000+ feet in such a short amount of time is. I don't know if it was an altitude issue or being super tired, but I battled with Eagle Cliff today and the mountain was winning. Abby was super sweet (she's the kind of person that won't strand you on a mountain for dead which is great) and we finally reached the top. And the view, as always, didn't disappoint.
We spent almost an hour up top taking pictures and enjoying the I-just-climbed-a-mountain feeling. I'm so excited to explore RMNP more this summer (and hopefully be better adjusted to the altitude lolz)
Check out my instagram @weissweissbaby22 and add me on snapchat (racheldub22) to see more of my Rocky Mountain adventures this summer!
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