The Rockies Take My Breath Away!

 June 22-24th, 2013

Rockies to the Horizon

Coming  back from NJ and landing in Denver, the Rocky Mountains are a towering majestic  presence on the horizon, awe inspiring and invigorating. So I turn the key  and get Mage's tires spinning again. Driving  through Golden, Colorado it takes a fair bit of will power not to pull over for a tour as I pass the Coors Brewery, but the huge crowd of alcoholics I spy waiting for the tour persuades me to forgo it. With hindsight, I probably missed a good party.

Around Idaho Springs I pick up the Rt. 103 Scenic Byway towards Mount Evans.  Echo Lake, lying just below the United States' highest highway, seems like a picturesque spot to park for the evening and also holds promise for some night photography. It's cloudy, but possibly and hopefully clearing later to bathe the snow capped Rocky Mountains behind the lake with the light of this year's "Super Full Moon" (30% bigger and brighter due to being on its closest orbital approach).

Two things I can tell for sure:

1) It's going to be a cold night here at this high altitude.

2) It's going to take a bit of acclimating to the lack of oxygen here at 10,000+ feet.

It feels like I'm constantly out of breath. Which makes it slightly more difficult than usual for me to talk to myself and be convinced that the headache and body aches I'm experiencing are in fact due to the altitude and not symptoms of Lyme's disease contracted from that little blood sucker of a tick I pulled out of me a few days ago. 

Echo Lake with small Super Moon

Having cheerfully survived the night starved of oxygen and warmth on the bank of Echo Lake I awoke and began the hike on Chicago Lakes Trail #52 from Echo Lake to the Lower Chicago Lake. In the morning I felt slightly more acclimated, but after an 8 mile round trip hike starting at 10,500' and ending at 11,700' I have to admit that I struggled at times and may have over extended myself a little. That afternoon Mage was a very welcome site for sore eyes and feet and legs and back.....

Fields of Gold- Guanella Pass

Feeling much more comfortable back in the driver's seat I dove the van through historic Georgetown and sliced and diced the mountain roads along another Scenic Byway leading up to Guanella Pass at around 12,000 feet. Planting my flag, well actually my tripod at the summit, I gathered some golden hour photos like you might gather the beautiful wild flowers flourishing along the mountain side until dusk settled upon the peak. I cooked up a meal and hydrated as best as I could, but apparently it wasn't enough. As I lay in bed tossing and turning while the cold Colorado winds rocked the van my headache reemerged with a vengeance, relentlessly tightening its grip and not letting go no matter how much precious water I chugged. Even without any cell phone signal,  I made the call to get up and drive down to a lesser altitude and was much happier for it. Down around 10,000' again I was able to park and almost immediately travel off to dreamland. I always thought that it would be awesome to take a couple of weeks to climb Mt. Everest. I'm definitely rethinking that now and have a huge, newly found respect for anyone who even comes close to such a feat!

Tomorrow I could avoid the ski town of Winter Park, but I won't. There is no point because on the other side lies Rocky Mountain National Park and there is no avoiding that place. It would be a crime to do so on a trip such as this...... Stay tuned.