Lover’s Leap…
This is a legend that I suspect will never fade with any amount of time. As long as there is a tall peak nearby, this story is bound to be told at the campfire for ages to come. It touches on our most valued emotion, Love.
And Poetic endings, however tragic they must be.
You see, cliffs and crags, high above our heads carry Legends. One legend is known as “Lover’s Leap”. Many high points soaring above any valley are said to be the places that star-crossed lovers jump to eternal life together.
The story of the lovers starts as most love stories do with happiness and unending love. A native man falls so deeply in love with a woman from another tribe, that desperate actions begin to unfold. Forbidden by their families and tribes to see one another, the brave couple runs away in the night. Taking with them nothing as they make a quick escape through the valley. Moving silently through the trees and up the streams to a place where they can see the village below.
They stay in the wilderness contemplating what move to make next. They sleep under the stars, crossing fingers and whispering softly to one another in the moonlight. No fire for warmth, as the fire would give away their hiding spot. Only the safety of each other’s arms. They tell one another stories into the deep dark night and at dusk, they fall silent in their last slumber.
Startled awake by noise from their horse, they rise and wipe the tiredness of the morning away as quickly as they can. They hear shouting far in the distance, coming towards them. This moment will define the rest of their lives. It is a moment in time that stands still and the air even stops to allow a moment of silence, to say goodbye to the old life, and welcome the new life in.
At that moment, they decide, together… that they are lovers and will never be apart. In the distance, her tribe can be heard closing in, looking desperately for their lost sister, who was “taken” by the opposing tribe. His tribe, wallowing in sorrow and shouting to the wind that the other opposing tribe is advancing on him and hunting him. Both can be heard along the ridges, shouting in a language of grief. Neither of them listen to what the wind tells them of the couple above.
The Eagles and Wolves cry out to inform the lovers that the others are closing in, fast. The cries break their silence and shove a power into their chest that lunges them into action. In the end, they know that what they have is too powerful to lose. On the lam is where they must stay, on the edges of the hills, they desperately try to think of where they can go. They crawl upon their horse and survey the scene. Backing the horse further up the hill as they look below.
As the tribes close in from each side, they find themselves cornered on a tall outcrop, high above the land that was moments ago large enough to find their escape in. On their horse, standing on that crag, he touches her face and she smiles knowingly. They know that their only way is forward, into the dreamland. Swiftly they turn again, preparing the horse for the runway ahead and scurry forward, the horse lifting the dirt in small puffs as it rears and launches forward, obeying the commands. Glorious wings unfurling on the horse that carries them away.
All the others hold their breaths as they watch the impossible. They get to the edge and the horse begins to lift them into the air, high above as they ride into the clouds, never to be seen by the worldly others again. Eagles circled where they split the clouds and entered the heavens above. Wolves howling at the entrance to the valleys announcing the departure. The wolves become guardians of the entrance to the valleys that rise to the Lover’s Leap.
They then became stars and live together in the other world, where no one knows the tribulations of separation. A world free of pain and grief, together they share eternal love. A world without prejudice.
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Look into your history of your area, no matter where you are and see what you have for legends nearby. They are always star crossed opposed by those that raise or imprison them. This was my story, I varied by location and locals.
There are several of them in Colorado. Here are a few that I found in research for Colorado. Red Cliff (the video features this one), Silver Plume, Lookout Mountain, Turkey Creek Canyon, Hardscrabble Pass, Spanish Peaks, Virginia Dale and so many more. They are all over, research shows them in Texas, Tennessee, Missouri and more. The closest to me would be Hardscrabble Pass in Custer County Colorado, though I am sure that even closer is the Royal Gorge at one time or another. I seem to remember a similar story about the Royal Gorge but the couple leapt to the other side and made the escape.
The story as I heard it was about a small cliff in the tiny Coal Camp town of Rockvale, Colorado when I was very young. I would lay on that cliff, my head handing over the edge, dreaming of those very clouds that they departed through. They were so beautiful, and I was eternally grateful that they were finally free. I was sooooo young.
Where’s yours? I’d love to hear about your location and version!
This legend will be retold for centuries, and will never fade as long as there is forbidden love.
Not Forgotten Colorado 
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