Our Attitude on Our New Altitude

After taking a month off to visit family in Oklahoma, we found out that we are out of shape and our lungs have gotten used to the extra oxygen that low-landers enjoy.  We found that walking uphill at 10,000 feet can be a challenge for us now, so we are trying to get acclimated to our new home altitude.

It takes some time to make the 19 mile trip to the little town of Westcliffe, because the first 8 miles are on pasture roads.  But we often have some interesting scenery as we make this journey.

We made the trip to go to the post office, grocery store, and ranger station.  We got some advice on trails to visit, and found that the unusually large amount of snow this winter means that most of the mountain lakes are still frozen, and the trails to them are still snowed over.

Our first hike was north of Westcliffe from the Gibson Trailhead.  We hiked along the Rainbow Trail that runs for almost 100 miles along the foothills of the Sangre De Cristo Mountains.  There are a myriad of mountain trails that go straight up the mountain from Rainbow Trail, usually toward a mountain lake.  But on our first hike, we tried to stay on the lower elevation of Rainbow Trail.  It was good to be back to hiking in the mountains!

We have been used to seeing lots of lizards on our desert hikes, but today's hike had a different scaly creature.  We saw three different snakes.  All had pointy tails, and this one even stayed on the trail for a picture.

We had planned a 5 mile hike, but couldn't help ourselves when the scenery was so beautiful.  We ended up with 6.5 miles--a good start at getting used to the altitude.  Our feet must be out of shape too, as they were begging for a dip in the cool water of the Gibson Creek.  What they got was ice cold water melted straight from the mountain snow pack.  It was so cold that it almost gave us instant frost bite!

We were back home in time to do a little fishing in the lake right outside our motorhome.

Denisa has mixed emotions about catching and eating some of her pet fish.  This trout is big enough to make a meal for two.

After catching supper, it was time to feed the survivor fish.  Instead of single pieces of fish food, today we threw a cup at a time in an arch across the pond.  The fish boiled to the top of the water in a frenzy when the food hit the top.

We're enjoying the cooler temperatures and our beautiful surroundings.  Since we don't have electrical hook-ups, we are having to run the generator twice each day for about an hour.  We don't have any television reception but we haven't missed it.  We normally turn the passenger seat towards the back of the motorhome, to make it an additional chair for television viewing.  But the best view is facing forward, out our large windshield.  This is our view during the day, and we've enjoyed watching deer cut across that meadow.

And this is our view in the evening as we watch the sun set behind the mountains.

 We're not missing the cable networks at all!