Wilderness Cure

We spent a lot of time last week watching the PBS series The National Parks: America's Best Idea. I was drawn to the story of Stephen Mather, the first director of the National Park Service, whose "love of the parks was highly personal: he had found that time in nature helped him ward off the bouts of depression to which he was prone."

The description resonated with me. Since our move to Colorado, I always head to the high country—or at least to a spot where I have an unimpeded view of the mountains— when I feel depression lurking. And if I need a big wilderness fix, one of the jewels in Mather's park system is less than two hours away. (RMNP pictures, July 2009)