Soon the flowers will begin to bloom, the bears will emerge, butterflies will flutter, hummingbirds will grace us with their presence, and with any luck, the afternoon skies will drown the earth with thunderstorms. And I will continue to contemplate the ways of the world.

John Denver’s Like A Sad Song refers to rain as the sound of heaven singing. It’s my favorite line in the song. One day, as the sky deceitfully threatened to rain, I found myself driving through Glen Haven in Larimer County.

Glen Haven is not too far from the town of Estes Park and is an unincorporated community located at 7,218 feet in elevation. Roughly 130 inhabitants call it home yearround. You can find a general store, town hall, post office, fire station, trading post, and the Inn of Glen Haven, one of the most romantic bed and breakfasts in Colorado, which I may have to write about in another column.

According to the United States Census Bureau, 5.8 out of the 5.9 square miles that make up Glen Haven is land, and 0.1 square miles is water. However, during the floods of 1976 and 2013, the entire town was pretty much made of water. Many of the businesses and homes in the area were damaged or destroyed.

Glen Haven’s recorded history dates back to the 1890s when a family from Illinois, the Knapps, moved a sawmill first from Harding Heights to Miller Fork and then to Glen Haven, by 1897. It was 1903 when an association formed by the Boulder Presbytery and the Knapps sold plots of land for a summer resort, which became Glen Haven.

In those days, one could purchase a plot of land for $50 and build a modest cabin for $20 worth of lumber. Many survived by the wild meat, fish, and water sources running through the village. Every generation has its trials and tribulations, but when I compare it to what I know, life seemed simpler back then.

The general store and the Inn of Glen Haven, formerly known as The Homestead, were built between 1921 and 1938. Throughout the years the postal service has been established, terminated, and reestablished. Its official services began in 1917. One day a week, residents would collect their mail from a covered wagon.

Today, you can see the final structure and location of the Glen Haven Post Office right on County Road 43, the only road in and out of the area. Other things you can find in Glen Haven these days are hiking and camping opportunities.

Some might say there is nothing truly extraordinary about Glen Haven, but for this mountain girl who craves absolute serenity and a beautiful Rocky Mountain sanctuary, I’d say that Glen Haven offers a little piece of heaven on earth.

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