This morning we took off for the Big South trailhead, which is located up Poudre Canyon almost to Cameron Pass. But first, because it's Sunday, we stopped at Poudre Canyon Chapel, hoping to see what it looks like inside.

We were in luck. The chapel was open, and the interior turned out to be spectacular.

The chapel's A-frame design swoops up and creates a surging space above the pews (I don't exaggerate – go and see for yourself). The effect is energetic and unexpected (based on the exterior of the building), yet inviting, due to the warm tones of the blonde siding that's used to cover the ceiling and walls. At the front of the chapel, the siding wraps around the space behind the altar, as a fluid, curvilinear backdrop. A low wall constructed of local stone signals the chapel's mountain location, and its debt to vernacular preferences. Altogether, the interior is terrifically realized, which my photo below only hints at.

My opinion is the chapel interior ranks among the best architecture in Northern Colorado, up there with the Miller Block in Old Town Fort Collins, Danforth Chapel on the CSU campus, the Rialto Theater in Loveland and, yes, the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park.

We spoke with the lady who serves as the chapel music director. She said she'd been married in the chapel and had gone to school in the one-room schoolhouse, which is located near by. She said the congregation holds services at the chapel during the summer and on Christmas Eve. The chapel itself, she said, had recently celebrated its fiftieth anniversary and had been built in 1959. In addition, she said the congregation had recently written a grant and received funding to build a new fire station, which has just begun construction on the site.