Ten thousand feet is no joke. It's beautiful but its high-your body knows it too. And so does Portia! Altitude was never a big deal but I sure feel it now. If you're ever going to camp at this elevation I suggest easing your way up to it by camping at 5,000, 7,000, 8,000 then 10,000. I went from zero to about 3,000 then 5,000 to 10,000. The shortness of breath, dehydration-you have to drink lots of water or you get a nasty headache, light-headed... Here at Cripple Creek, you can explore the town of Victor and Cripple Creek, Mueller State Park, and Newmont Gold's huge mining operation here among other sites including Pikes Peak if you feel like going up to 14,000. But I was surprised to see that the town of Cripple Creek is one big casino. It appears to be an old mining town but when you walk around you see almost every building is connected to a couple of the large casinos in town. Kind of sad really. Victor on the other hand still has maintained a lot of its heritage.
Ten Thousand Feet reminds me of the Tao Te Ching by the poet Lao Tzu and the impermanence of this world. All of the ten thousand things appear as the world and then fall away into God or the source. Anyway...below are a few pics of Cripple Creek and a few pics from a visit with a friend of mine, Mary's brother Mike. His place is just outside of Fort Collins. Just a beautiful place and his 2 beautiful little girls enjoyed an impromptu hail storm I managed to get a couple of great pics of Piper with one of her and the rainbow.
The photos of the early morning mist on the water are great!