Into Thin Air *People Notes* - Part 1

Heading west on I-70...'hey, let's take this exit to Mt. Evans'. I think it was my voice, or maybe the voice in my head, but Paul made the turn and we were headed up...and up...and up... This will be a fun little adventure, right?! Mt. Evans is the highest paved automobile route in North America, cresting at 14,264', nearly 3 times that of Denver's 5,280' elevation. Fun! the guidebook said 'The trip is an unforgettable experience'.

The first 15 miles were great - much like any mountain pass. When we reached the Mt. Evans entrance station we received our 'informational brochure' and continued up. I began reading the brochure, 'Your Guide to Mt. Evans' and Paul continued driving.

1. Drive up in low gear. Your speed should be 20 - 25 miles per hour.

(Ok, this was funny at first, especially for those of you who know Paul's driving habits. This is normal driving mode. It became less funny later in the drive, and I learned to appreciate his low-gear driving ability - even more so on the downhill trek.)

2. Sudden weather changes are common on the alpine tundra.

(No problem, we have our backpacking gear in the car, haha...it is a drive - not a hike into the unknown.)

3. Above treeline, there is only 40% of the oxygen available at sea level. Shortness of breath and fatigue are common effects.
(We are hearty mountain folk...oh wait, does the Texas hillcountry count?)

This is the point at which I stopped reading because this is also the point at which I remembered that I get extremely car sick on windy roads, especially if I try to read. The road was approximately 1-1/2 lanes wide, except for the parts where the outside lane had crumbled and fallen off the mountain. There were no guard rails. There was 2-way traffic.

We stayed very quiet in the car for the next 15 miles. Very quiet. Until the point at which I looked over at Paul, his knuckles white on the steering wheel, sweating profusely...I very quietly asked him if he was doing ok, to which he replied "My toes are sweating!". Completely understandable. His toes had a death grip on the brake.

This is the point at which I remembered that he is very afraid of heights. Very afraid. So this might have been a poor decision to do this little excursion with a driver afraid of heights, a passenger prone to car-sickness and a dog who can't drive. Genius.

Just as we were reaching the summit, there was a crowd of people stopped, cameras pointed up and sure enough, there were two massive big horn sheep standing on the rocks looking down at the tourists. Gorgeous! Unbelievable! Now, I don't have an acutal photo of the big horn sheep to share, although I did have my camera ready. However, the thought of even asking Paul to slow down, pull over, fall off the mountain...well, none of those requests seemed like a good idea at the time. So, just use your imaginations.

And yes, it was an unforgettable experience. To be continued...