Ms Perky mentioned in another thread that Posh and Spice start next week too.

 

^8-8-2023. Sprague Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.



^8-8-2023.



^8-8-2023. A nice easy path around the lake.



^8-8-2023.



^8-8-2023.


^8-8-2023. Michael and me.


On August 8, 2023 Michael and I entered Rocky Mountain National Park at 4:15 pm. We started by gimping around Sprague Lake.

 

^8-8-2023. Up at the Alpine Visitor Center on Trail Ridge Road in RMNP.




^8-8-2023. The closed Alpine Visitor Center.



^8-8-2023. Snowshoe rabbit on dirt Old Fall River Road.



^8-8-2023.



^8-8-2023. Elk were hanging out at the end of the Old Fall River Road, just at the Alpine Visitor Center.



^8-8-2023.



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^8-8-2023. A high elevation restroom.



^8-8-2023. Trail Ridge Road looking towards the way to Grand Lake.



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^8-8-2023. The Old Fall River Road in RMNP. It's one way and goes up to the Alpine Visitor Center.



^8-8-2023. My 2017 Pilot.



^8-8-2023. One view from the dirt road.



^8-8-2023. Above tree line.



^8-8-2023.


Unfortunately, these are posted all out of order. That's what happens when you post from your cellphone.

 

Brings back memories. I hate to admit it but after we arrived at that visitors center I started feeling ill. Although I was raised in the PA hills I must have lived too long in the MI flatlands. And it took me a long time to get over the altitude issue.

 

Dave I spent 4 or 5 months working out in colorado. I went almost a month without the altitude bothering me.
then one day I was just plain useless.
pretty much the only time except on pikes peak when I decided to run up the staircase took me a bit to recalibrate after that.
I did discover that athletic activities at altitude didn't work so well. They had a climbing wall at the top of Aspen, ~14000 ft.
Discretion became the better part of valor after about the 5 or 6th handhold.

 

Are you sure about that elevation?

What is the highest elevation in Aspen?

Aspen Highlands: 12,392 feet above sea level.
Aspen Mountain: 11,212 feet above sea level.

 

The PA hills are under 3,000 feet. That's a huge difference from 11,796 feet. My Loveland house is at 5,280 feet. I feel the difference and gasp hiking up there.

 

I went to a wedding in Telluride some years ago. Although the airport and town are at about 9000 ft, we went to a hoedown at 11000 ft the night before. I did not last long. Made a mistake by having a drink. About 30 min later my bro had to take me down to the hotel. Altitude sickness. Then not long after that he came back, too. Those extra 2000 ft made a big difference. BTW, the airport there is very tricky due to altitude, winds, and mountains on either side. And the runway went downhill. Exciting…sort of. We could not fly out as scheduled because there was no high-altitude crew available. So took a bus several hours to another airport to fly to Denver.

 

You are correct, in fact where I grew up the hills were a mere 1,600 feet. Maybe they just seemed a lot taller since I had to walk that distance up and down daily, often several times a day. Whereas in lower Michigan I am generally at 600 feet or slightly above it.

 

I'm at 13'6" and I'm on top of the highest hill in the neighborhood.