AURORA • Monique Melton can’t see, but Colorado’s nature still calls her.

The singing of the birds. The buzzing of the beetles. The rustling of the leaves on the poplars in the sky. The rippling of the water on the shore.

It’s an overcast morning at Cherry Creek State Park, otherwise Melton would be enjoying another of nature’s favorite feelings: the sun on her smiling face. Instead, this morning she feels the cool breeze over the reservoir, bringing with it a certain scent.

“I can smell fish,” notes her companion that morning, Theresa Montano, who is also blind.

Melton and Montano are joined by another.

“Hello, this is Samantha,” says the voice on Montano’s phone. “How can I help you today?”

Melton and Montano are here to enjoy Cherry Creek State Park. And Samantha is here to help – from the worldwide network of professional, 24/7 agents who provide their eyes through a phone app called Aira.

The agents are called “visual interpreters.” They see through the camera of the phone that the blind or visually impaired customer is holding.

Customers are called “explorers” and they turn to the app for help reading mail, navigating an airport, ordering at Starbucks or shopping at Target, for example. (Stores have signed agreements with Aira that allow customers to call an employee for free.)

“Explorer” is a proud name for Aira, says Everette Bacon, the company’s vice president of blind initiatives. “Because we know that in the past, blind people may not have always had the opportunity to explore their neighborhood and their world.”

Now they are exploring the state parks of Colorado.

This is thanks to the fact that the state has expanded its $250,000 contract with Aira to include the 42 parks – and added geofences to the areas and government buildings already mapped.

This means that the Aira agent on camera has the GPS information to guide you through the parks. And it means that the app automatically registers the parks as free zones; there is no cost to the explorer, who would otherwise have to pay around $50 for a monthly starter plan.

“It’s exciting. It just opens up a new possibility,” Melton said this morning in Cherry Creek. “Let’s get out there.”

“Let’s find a way,” is the instruction to Samantha.

“Absolutely,” she replies from her desk in South Carolina. “It looks like there’s a paved path about 10 yards in front of us toward the camera if you want to start walking.”

Melton and Montano lead the way, asking questions here and there and waving the phone with the camera around so Samantha can see it.

“Can you tell me about the trees and plants and the landscape?” asks Melton.

“Absolutely,” says Samantha. “On the left, it looks like the grass has been mowed or groomed in some way. And on the right, there’s this tall, wavy grass, thin and yellow.”

Further to the right is the large blue body of water; Samantha describes the docked boats and the paddleboarders pushing off from the shore. She also describes the strange “funnel” shaped sculptures that provide shelter over the picnic tables where Melton and Montano started.

“Ahh,” Montano remarks. “We were wondering what they looked like!”

People who are blind or visually impaired all too often face questions, which is exactly what motivated Montano to work with the state’s Technology Accessibility Program (TAP), which is part of the Governor’s Office of Information Technology.

Montano started at TAP about seven years ago while working as a software developer. The state “wanted to start a program to really change the culture,” she says.

TAP’s goal was to bridge the gaps between public servants of all abilities and the citizens of all abilities they serve. The idea was to use technology “to make everything more accessible, from accessible documents to accessible email,” Montano says.

Everything from more accessible government websites to more accessible government facilities like DMVs. That’s where Aira came in.

“Colorado is unique,” says Bacon, the blind manager who came to Aira while working on accessibility issues in his hometown of Salt Lake City. “Colorado just has a lot of blind people who are very passionate about accessibility, and they’ve managed to emphasize access to visual information as a right. They’ve pushed through legislation to make that happen.”

He was referring to House Bill 21-1110, which expanded the scope of unlawful discrimination and required state agencies, including Colorado Parks and Wildlife, to adhere to new accessibility standards.

CPW, along with TAP and the Office of Information Technology, announced the expansion of Aira to state parks this summer.

The partnership “helps ensure accessibility to Colorado’s natural environment for all,” said the office’s executive director, David Edinger. “Together, we are not only changing the way people who are blind or visually impaired enjoy our state’s natural beauty, but we are also an example of how public-private collaborations can have meaningful impact.”

Aira has limits, CPW has acknowledged.

One is the need for cell reception to run the app. Among Front Range state parks, Staunton and Golden Gate Canyon are probably not a good idea. And one might consider a shorter walk rather than a hike, since the free service expires after 30 minutes. (Users can make another call and will likely reach a different agent.)

“There is also a learning curve for technologies like this,” CPW said in a statement, “and some age generations have adopted the service more quickly.”

The state sees Aira as a “concession,” says Kelly Tabor, TAP’s communications manager. “But we’re not perfect. We don’t strive for perfection, we strive for progress.”

This is an advancement that is not found anywhere else in nature, says Bacon. “If I wanted to go to the park earlier, I would probably have needed someone as a guide.”

He continues: “It’s really independence and freedom that blind people haven’t necessarily had before. A lot of blind people are housebound and can’t explore their surroundings very well. Maybe that’s because they haven’t learned to travel independently, or they haven’t had a family member, friend or something to help them.”

The great outdoors can be intimidating. “Some people will always hesitate,” says Montano.

Her blindness hasn’t stopped her. She loves skiing and cycling, sometimes on a tandem with her blind friend in the other seat. That will be Melton.

“Nature is an essential part of Colorado culture,” she says here on the trail in Cherry Creek State Park. “Getting out and enjoying the park is about participating in that culture and enjoying that peace and meditation.”

Aira leads her to a peninsula overlooking the water. She stops at the point where she can hear the water and the birds. She can smell the fish. She can feel the breeze on her face and the sunshine breaking through the clouds.

It’s true, she says: “You don’t have to see to enjoy.”