FJ60Cam an' Fam Get High AF (3 Viewers)

[FJ60Cam]

Back on the Incline, things are starting to get tough. We've been at this thing for about an hour and, it you look down, it looks like you should be at the top...

If you look up, however, there's still a ways to go.

By now, it is pretty fawkin' steep. And getting steeper...

 

[FJ60Cam]

There are people of all types out here. Size zero skimpily dressed young ladies, hot dudes, fat people, old people, kids... so whatever you need to look up to for motivation, it is constantly passing you up the hill. Olympians and military (there's a lot of both in town) frequently use this for training.

At one point, some girl passes us by pretty quickly, then stops about ten steps up to puke her guts out, then takes off again. Then some old, overweight guy that sounds like he only has one bad lung passes us. A 70+ year old guy has already gone up once and is passing us again on his second ascent.

We try to keep up, but have to stop every ten steps to breathe for a few minutes. After one particularly steep point, where you are using your hands to help climb, I start to see stars and get dizzy. For a moment, I have a mini panic attack, because if I pass out, I will roll back down like a bowling ball.

I collect myself and come up with a new strategy. To try and keep my flatlander heart and lungs under control, I will only take 3 steps at a time, then stop to regain my composure.

Here's the view looking straight ahead:

Another hour has now passed, and the view up is pretty much unchanged. It turns out there is a false summit, so you can't see all the way up from the bottom.

Jeebus.

 

[FJ60Cam]

It is about this point that me and my son both run out of water. Then I get a leg cramp, and my son is getting a headache.

It is pretty dry up here, we're at 8000' and climbing, and there's not a cloud in the sky. We are high and getting baked, and the effects are taking their toll on us.

We push on, and before we know it, we have made it to the top.

The views up here are killer. There are no clouds in the sky, the sun is warm, and the breeze feels like it is coming from the refrigerator. Sweat evaporates instantly.

Pure Heaven.

 

[FJ60Cam]

Interactive Google View <----- click here

 

[wngrog]

Nope.

 

[FJ60Cam]

Nope.

It's only a mile

 

[FJ60Cam]

You can walk back down the steps, or take the Barr Trail down (or take the Barr Trail up another 6000' to Pikes Peak ).

We pick the Barr Trail down. It's a super easy, very scenic, 4 mile switchback trail down. The kids were wiped out and almost died about halfway down, but a rest in the shade brought them back to life.

On the way home, we stopped for well-deserved ice creams & Gatorades and then crashed for several hours.

 

[FJ60Cam]

We head back to Manitou in the evening for burgers. The streets are lined with small shops, one of which is the @Land Speeder Sex Mask Emporium...

My son wants to take some sunrise pictures the next day, so we go scope out some possible locations, thinking we found the place up on a gravel road that runs behind GotG.

 

[MEMCruiser]

I'd of called UberCopter. No efing way I'd do that with my family.

 

[jfz80]

Awesome job man. But get that dude some water stat! Looks like your losing him.

 

[FJ60Cam]

My and my son wake up early the next day (his 11th birthday, btw) and book it to our hopeful sunrise spot.

Things don't line up quite like we hoped (we found a pic online and thought this might be the spot), so we keep driving around.

We don't have a tripod, and don't know/can't figure out how to make PawPaw's loaner camera do what we want. So, we did not get any National Geographic quality prints like we dreamed.

Regardless, it was a beautiful morning to be out.

 

[FJ60Cam]

We head down to GotG, where my son catches some zzz's in the car while I drive & walk around.

Just amazing.

 

[FJ60Cam]

It is just an awesome morning to be outside and not in a cubicle.

I see several deer, tons of birds, and a rabbit from the paved walking path...

There are stunning views in every direction.

The Kissing Camels...

 

[FJ60Cam]

So far, we'd gotten pretty high, and a more than little baked, but you can do that anywhere. We came to Colorado to get high AF.

Everybody knows you can't do that in Colorado Springs, you have to head to Manitou. So head to Manitou we did...










... to board the Cog Railway to Pikes Peak!

 

[FJ60Cam]

The "cog" is the railroad's version of the cut bogger, giving it traction up the very steep rails...

 

[FJ60Cam]

The ride to the top takes a little over an hour. We jump out to head to the Pikes Peak Summit House for their famous donuts (meh).

As soon as I stand up to get off, I nearly succumb to the lack of oxygen. I can feel the gentle, persistent tug of unconsciousness; only by sheer willpower was I able to keep the light on at the end of the tunnel. We are nearly three miles up, and there is simply no oxygen to breathe.

I literally walk at a snail's pace to keep my oxygen use at the bare minimum. My daughter, on the other hand, is running around doing cartwheels

We go to the edge, have a snowball fight with the dirty snow, and admire the views.

After a while, the train sounds the warning whistle, and we jump back on for the ride down.

 

[FJ60Cam]

The next day, we loaded up the Ford and headed North to see @beno at his new gig in Boulder.

 

[FJ60Cam]

We followed him up into the mountains to Nederland, where he treated us to beers and lunch at Salto Coffee Works.

This is a really cool coffee/beer/food/bike shop with some bitchin' food. I had some tacos that were out of this world.

Even had a latte for dessert.

He took us up to his house/cabin after. The views off the porch are pretty fuggin' sweet.

After that, we said adios, and took the lower leg of the very scenic Peak to Peak highway to Blackhawk before jumping on 70 to Denver.

 

[FJ60Cam]

My cousin in Denver offered to let us spend the night, which would put us a lot closer to the airport in the morning than if we stayed in Colorado Springs.

It was good to catch up and watch the kids, who had never met before, become instant friends.

The evening was beautiful and the weather perfect for sitting outside.

 

[FJ60Cam]

Phase II: California