Late at night, after a long day of emails and meetings, CMarie climbs on top of a horse. She rides without saddle or bit into a frozen meadow under snowcapped peaks. There, with the bobcats and the aspen and the snow, she feels as big as the wild itself.

This episode takes place on Ute homelands.

Do you want to reach out to the team? Email us at terrafirma@cpr.org.

We've collaborated with Apple Maps to create a guide to the special places in nature that you've heard about in this podcast. It's a list of beautiful settings in the Rocky Mountains, handpicked by CMarie Fuhrman. To check it out, go to apple.co/terra-firma-guide.

Host and Writer: CMarie Fuhrman

Field Recordist: Jacob Job

Outdoor audio recorded at Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

Editor: Erin Jones

Producers: Rebekah Romberg, Kibwe Cooper

Art: Maria Juliana Pinzón

Executive Producer: Brad Turner

Additional Editorial Support: Jo Erickson, Luis Antonio Perez, Emily Williams

Thanks also to Jodi Gersh, Clara Shelton, Arielle Wilson, Martin Skavish and Jon Pinnow

Terra Firma is a production of Colorado Public Radio's Audio Innovations Studio.