On Earth Day 2026, our RealFoodTraveler.com Eco-Friendly Food, Travel & Adventure Editor presents some thoughts that might inspire a new way of looking at travel here on our planet.

Photo by Jimmy McDonough. Graphic by RealFoodTraveler.com.

Protecting What’s Dear

This is a strange article for a community devoted to informing travelers, I admit. Nonetheless, I hope you find it inspiring and useful reading for this Earth Day.

Within the heart of the Colorado Rockies is a place I hold dear. After decades of living and traveling around the state, I discovered it just a few years ago. On a cold winter’s day, I was musing over a map of Colorado (a paper map is a wonderful thing!), planning adventures for summery days ahead. I found a spot on the map I knew almost nothing about and was intrigued. So, I planned a long weekend camping trip to explore there with my son.

After hours of driving from Denver, we turned onto county roads that were new to me and the towns grew smaller and further apart. Wide open ranchlands, dotted with fields of alfalfa and wild meadow, were bisected by canyons and mountain ranges. Vast and minimally civilized. A perfect antidote to urban life. After a quick stop in a small town for provisions, we turned onto an even smaller road that turned to dirt after a few miles.

As the road climbed to our camp site, I was smitten. Rugged cliffs and red bluff formations were splashed with pale green grasses and dark evergreens.

Our early summer trip found snow still melting from the highest points; the sound of waterfalls was everywhere. So unusual in typically dry Colorado!

After pitching camp, we eagerly hit the trail. Up, up, up the trail wound, through dark forest and ragged rockfalls. Ponds and streams abounded, fed by the echoes of snowmelt all around the valley. At the top, views of flowering meadows and distant peaks appeared – many capped in white from a productive winter. Lured by the promise of a storied high-altitude lake, we pressed on.

Hiking with my youngest son in this dear place in the Colorado Rockies.

I timed everything wrong in my excitement. Wholly predictable afternoon lightning storms rolled in, forcing us to get off the mountain as fast as possible to find safety. It was too far to go back to our camp, so we descended on the other side and found a rustic camping village. As the thunderstorm raged into the evening and torrents of rain fell, I realized it was impossible for us to return to our camp miles away on the other side of the mountain.

Camping in the Rockies with my trusty propane stove and coffee pot is a source of joyous memories.

We asked the camp proprietor if there was a place for us to stay the night. Happily, there was room in their safari tent for us to stay overnight. Although my son was not too pleased with my poor decision-making, we enjoyed a nice meal and good sleep. The next day, we headed out early, back over the steep, rugged trail to our campsite. Enthralled by the beauty, I vowed to return. And to be more cautious in my planning!

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Over the years, I introduced my other children to this special place for camping and hiking adventures – all exceptionally memorable due to its awesome beauty in all seasons. On each visit, new trails were taken, new landscapes revealed. Much to my surprise, there are very few encounters with other explorers. Hours of hiking with no one on the trails. Camping with very few or no neighbors. Solitude and quiet except for the sounds of nature.

Mules and other critters outnumber people and occasionally share the trails in this special place.

How I wish I could share this place with you!

But I must not. I hope you forgive me. It is selfish, but not out of spite. This place is so delicate and vulnerable, it cannot survive a host of visitors – even those who are well-behaved. I must protect it.

Truthfully, I feel wrong even stepping foot there – it is so sublime and feels so sacred. Don’t get me wrong, this place is accessed by others. The hand of man is on it with dams and roads, trails and campgrounds. But it is remote enough to escape the worst of our rapacious society.

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This Earth Day 2026, as the human world spins into chaos, I urge you to find your own special place in nature and hold it dear. Treasure it. Protect it. Tell only those who you hold close and trust to treat it with care. I wish for you to have such a place in this big, beautiful world!

Any day is a good day to show your love of nature.

And consider this. Knowing that our world still offers places that feel undiscovered is a gift. That mystery is still part of our lives in a day when the internet and AI seem to offer all the answers at the click of a button – is that not a gift of sorts? It is for me. It is good to feel humbled by the scale and beauty of our planet.

Oh, and come to the Rocky Mountains! I will continue to share my experiences with you to plan your own adventures in this region I call home. There are so many magnificent wild places still here to be enjoyed where nature is raw and modernity falls away. Where the wind in the pines will lull you as the sky explodes in stars after a day of feeling more alive than you ever have thanks to experiencing nature with those you love.

Enjoying Colorado’s endless beauty is my happy place. How can I protect it for the future?

One more thought on this Earth Day…

On Easter Sunday, Astronaut Victor Glover shared these moving thoughts from the Artemis spaceship: “You’re on a spaceship called Earth… This oasis, this beautiful place where we get to exist TOGETHER…”

Despite our urge to explore the stars, let’s not forget there is yet still so much more here, right at our feet, that we must adore, treasure, and protect for the future.

I acknowledge and honor the peoples who originally inhabited Colorado’s landscapes. With each visit, I strive to show respect, care, and demonstrate gratitude for their history. 

-Story and photos by Jimmy McDonough, Eco-Friendly Food, Travel & Adventure Editor

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