Many people know someone so likable and interesting that they seem like a friend to everyone they meet. Nick Mollé was one of those people.
Nick had a way of connecting by asking questions, then listening, making you feel that you were important and cared about.
It could be his innate journalistic nature, or a curiosity honed by interviewing so many people to “get the story” for his myriad award-winning documentaries. Regardless, his passion for connecting people with nature was undeniable, his enthusiasm indefatigable, and his humor contagious.
I first came to know Nick by watching and listening to Rocky Mountain Channel 8 every morning while working for Murphy’s Resort. After I started my tour company, Tour Estes Park, I approached Nick to ride along with me, and he graciously accepted. We quickly became good friends.
He seemed to like the concepts I shared with my guests, especially a concept called “indigification,” which means to return to the natural way.
What an honor, then, for me to be the first recipient of the Nick Mollé Legacy Award at the 2026 Visit Estes Park Summit.
To receive this award is not just something to be so very proud and excited about; it’s also incredibly intimidating, as I’m taking it as a responsibility that I’ll have for the rest of my life, and I’ll tell you why.
When I was 15, growing up in the shadow of Longs Peak, a dear friend, Andy — who is still a dear friend over 50 years later — gave me a book to read by Enos Mills. Andy knew I was already a budding naturalist, and here was like-minded Enos Mills encouraging us to go into the woods prepared and unafraid.
Sent to Estes Park in 1884 at 14 to overcome what was later diagnosed as a debilitating food allergy, young Enos built his own cabin at 15, which still stands stout and strong on the Peak-to-Peak Highway.
With a pocketful of raisins and nuts and a voracious appetite to learn about plants and animals, he became a mountain guide. Then, curious to see the ocean, he walked to California and had a chance meeting with a man who would change his life forever — John Muir.
In the years after the gold rush, Muir railed against man’s impact on the landscape. Mills became his protégé and lifelong friend, bringing Muir’s message of conservation back to Colorado.
Muir began petitioning the government, writing thousands of letters over years and traveling the country to plead with anyone who would listen to fulfill his life’s dream of setting aside land for future generations.
Because of his efforts, we call Enos Mills the father of Rocky Mountain National Park.
One of Nick Mollé’s many cinematic creations is the documentary about Enos Mills called “The Living Dream,” which is about Rocky Mountain National Park.
How could Andy and I have known that, all these years later, and after so many paths traveled, I would be leading hundreds of families a year into Rocky Mountain National Park? How could we have known that I would be creating memories and teaching respect and adoration for the natural world just as Enos Mills did over 100 years ago, and Nick Mollé further embodied?
Now I pledge, as the recipient of the inaugural Nick Mollé Award, to continue to spread the message of the importance of stewardship, of restoring wetlands, and with the urgency of returning balance to nature not just here in Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park but around the world.
I do this with optimism and hope that my grandchildren and future generations may live in some semblance of the Earth as it was not so long ago.
Related
Reflecting on Nick Mollé’s legacy
Many people know someone so likable and interesting that they seem like a friend to everyone they meet. Nick Mollé was one of those people.
Nick had a way of connecting by asking questions, then listening, making you feel that you were important and cared about.
It could be his innate journalistic nature, or a curiosity honed by interviewing so many people to “get the story” for his myriad award-winning documentaries. Regardless, his passion for connecting people with nature was undeniable, his enthusiasm indefatigable, and his humor contagious.
I first came to know Nick by watching and listening to Rocky Mountain Channel 8 every morning while working for Murphy’s Resort. After I started my tour company, Tour Estes Park, I approached Nick to ride along with me, and he graciously accepted. We quickly became good friends.
He seemed to like the concepts I shared with my guests, especially a concept called “indigification,” which means to return to the natural way.
What an honor, then, for me to be the first recipient of the Nick Mollé Legacy Award at the 2026 Visit Estes Park Summit.
To receive this award is not just something to be so very proud and excited about; it’s also incredibly intimidating, as I’m taking it as a responsibility that I’ll have for the rest of my life, and I’ll tell you why.
When I was 15, growing up in the shadow of Longs Peak, a dear friend, Andy — who is still a dear friend over 50 years later — gave me a book to read by Enos Mills. Andy knew I was already a budding naturalist, and here was like-minded Enos Mills encouraging us to go into the woods prepared and unafraid.
Sent to Estes Park in 1884 at 14 to overcome what was later diagnosed as a debilitating food allergy, young Enos built his own cabin at 15, which still stands stout and strong on the Peak-to-Peak Highway.
With a pocketful of raisins and nuts and a voracious appetite to learn about plants and animals, he became a mountain guide. Then, curious to see the ocean, he walked to California and had a chance meeting with a man who would change his life forever — John Muir.
In the years after the gold rush, Muir railed against man’s impact on the landscape. Mills became his protégé and lifelong friend, bringing Muir’s message of conservation back to Colorado.
Muir began petitioning the government, writing thousands of letters over years and traveling the country to plead with anyone who would listen to fulfill his life’s dream of setting aside land for future generations.
Because of his efforts, we call Enos Mills the father of Rocky Mountain National Park.
One of Nick Mollé’s many cinematic creations is the documentary about Enos Mills called “The Living Dream,” which is about Rocky Mountain National Park.
How could Andy and I have known that, all these years later, and after so many paths traveled, I would be leading hundreds of families a year into Rocky Mountain National Park? How could we have known that I would be creating memories and teaching respect and adoration for the natural world just as Enos Mills did over 100 years ago, and Nick Mollé further embodied?
Now I pledge, as the recipient of the inaugural Nick Mollé Award, to continue to spread the message of the importance of stewardship, of restoring wetlands, and with the urgency of returning balance to nature not just here in Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park but around the world.
I do this with optimism and hope that my grandchildren and future generations may live in some semblance of the Earth as it was not so long ago.
Related