From Zero to Twelve Thousand in Four Days

On the ship,( supposedly,) while we were surrounded by mountains, one of the passengers asked what our altitude was !!!??? Well, going from Sea Level to Rocky Mountain highs in 4 days isn't necessarily the easiest trip. We flew into the Mile High City and after a day of partial acclimation, Paul headed up to the Mile High City All 4 Fun Jeep event at over 7000 ft. Mike is well equipped for this type of event with his Rubicon jeep, outfitted by Jenna's brother Chris to be able to climb tall boulders. Our motorhome spends the summer out there so that is base camp for assorted family that chose to go on this ride. All this scenic beauty is only 55 minutes from their doorstep. Over 200 jeeps join in the event and it is quite a gathering. They go on daily trail rides over unimaginable terrain. I blogged about this last year if you care to go back and look. (August 08, different locale)
I received an invite to join this rugged adventure and Mike promised me a scenic and terror-free ride. We started off on deeply rutted roads. With tires very deflated the jeep sort of sways over the gullys.

We passed abandoned mines. People still sort thru the rubble for a chance to find a nugget or two.

The climb becomes steeper, narrower and bumpier. This picture doesn't capture the texture and when it really got rough and tumble, I was hanging on and couldn't take a picture.
These are serious back roads, merely a mule trail in spots and the chance of breaking something and getting stranded are pretty real. Mike had to go down for repairs on Tuesday. This truck had a serious problem, and according to the writing in the dust on it, had been there since mid-July. The injury looked fatal and not sure how or if it will ever get off the mtn.

Once we were high up, we were able to look across to another mtn trail. Mike and Lizzie took that zig-zag ride the day before. It always feels like I'm the only one around when we go up into these mtns and then suddenly, 2 more vehicles show up or are already there. These trails are clearly mapped and Mike just plugs them into the sophisticated GPS and off we go. The GPS also allows him to leave "breadcrumbs" on the display if he goes off trail so he can find his way back.

This is a view of the camp site from up high.

We still had a ways to go to our destination. Surprisingly, I had a cell signal and was able to send out a picture, labeled 11,717 ft. Jon responded with a picture of the boys labeled 300 ft.

We are above tree line at this point.
There are many things to see besides the views. The pine and juniper are wind swept and form interesting shapes. Even the dried and dessicated are beautiful.

It seemed to be peak season for wild flowers. I used to know the names of the mountain flowers but now I just remember the Indian paintbrush which is very prolific.

Almost 1200 feet at this lovely alpine lake off in the distance.

It has been several years since we have been "in" the mountains and I have missed them. There is a saying that "time spent in the mountains is not deducted from your life" We believe it and plan to do more of it. It is truly a special place.