I believe in the Rocky Mountains. No, I don’t mean that I fall on my face worshipping Pike’s Peak every Sunday, or make regular sacrifices to Mount Elbert. What I mean by this is that I believe in the Rocky Mountains because they teach me that joy can be found in hard work, as long as I am with the people that I love. For as long as I could remember, my family and I took an annual summer trip to El Dorado Springs in the Rocky Mountains. Somewhere along the road, we lost this tradition. This last summer, we took a trip there for the first time in seven years. From the moment I stepped out of the car, I remembered the smell of the innumerous pine trees, and the constant sound of the rushing water of Boulder Creek. After about five minutes of getting settled, we all set of on the trail. We were met by a series of uphill walks until we made it to the thick of the trail. We maintained a slower pace than my brothers and I would have liked, due to the presence of my sisters and my mother. After some time, one of my sisters and my mom got too tired to keep going, so they turned back early, and my dad accompanied them back down the mountain. Those of us that remained powered on with a slightly faster pace. In no time, we hit a harder section of the trail. Everyone, including me, was feeling their energy drain slowly. To make matters worse, I was elected in charge of carrying the backpack full of water bottles. The farther we went, the harder the trail got. By this time I was very tired, and had to tell myself, “Mind over body!” to force myself to keep going. We made it through most of the trail, but made the decision to turn back, due to the threat of thunderstorms. The hike back cost each of us almost all of the energy that we had left in the tank. When we finally reached the beginning of the trail again, we saw the rest of our family waiting for us with the food prepared. For the rest of the day, we relaxed and ate sandwiches along the river. We had all worked very hard on that hike. However, we were all happy to be there, enjoying time well spent with our family. The labor we endured was all worth it because we were going through the labor together. This is a lesson I can apply to various aspects of my day to day life. For example, in school I work hard to complete all, or rather most of my assignments, and at times struggle to stay awake. But, I can enjoy the hard work because I am with some of my closest friends. I believe that the Rocky Mountains teach me that I can enjoy working hard if I go through it with my family and friends.