A young singer-songwriter went on a camping trip with his friends into the Colorado Rockies to watch the Perseid meteor shower in the summer of 1970. The beauty and wonder he saw on that trip inspired him, and over the following six months, John Denver worked to capture that experience in his music. The result was “Rocky Mountain High,” an enduring classic and one of Colorado’s two state songs.
Photo courtesy: Rob Hazzard of National Park Service
While growing cities have encroached on the forests and the streams, Coloradans have worked hard to preserve the natural beauty that makes our state special. In addition to the clear-blue mountain lakes, Colorado is home to eighteen certified International Dark Sky Places, ideal for stargazing—an increasingly rare privilege in our light-polluted times. Many of these are also some of the most beautiful natural sites in the country, like the Black Canyon of the Gunnison and the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve.
As Coloradans, we’re incredibly lucky to have such ready access to these beautiful sights. That Perseid meteor shower John Denver watched returns every summer. This year it will peak in the late night of August 12 and early morning of the 13th. If you have the chance, head out into the mountains (or if you’re lucky enough, just your backyard) that night to catch a sight of it rainin’ fire in the sky. You won’t regret it.
Source: Devin Flores, the Colorado Encyclopedia
