In 2003 I drove from Boston, in
the north-eastern corner of the US, to LA, in the south-west, to attend and
speak at the national animal rights conference there. It took five days and cost
under USD 150. I slept in the car (no air-conditioning), eating canned and
Chinese restaurant food. I did the same thing in reverse about a year previously
in temperatures up to 43 C being tortured by right wing radio stations across
the midwestern Bible Belt - it's not fun. Good thing I'm Australian and a
spiritual master of patience and pain :)
On the way I passed through the
Colorado Rockies. At around 14,000 feet, Mt Evans has the highest sealed road of
any mountain in the US. I climbed for ages through deep coniferous forests
containing the occasional traffic-stopping moose, and then wound ever-higher
above the tree line, along spectacular ridges and past stunning reflective
alpine lakes. The animals changed to super-shy picas and very bold mountain
goats. A half hour by car from the tree line the road ended near the summit.
Outside, it was 10 C cooler than ground level, and a 200 m scramble to the rocky
summit above.
Colorado mountains 1.
Colorado mountains 2.
Old goldmine.
Goat and car.
Goat feeding.
Mountain goat.
Alpine lake 1.
Alpine lake 2.
Alpine lake from scree slope.
Alpine lake 3.
Mirror lake.
Mountain ridge.
High cliff.
Mt. Evans shoulder 1.
Mt. Evans shoulder 2.
Chilling out on the summit.
The mountains are full of old gold mines.
A very bold mountain goat on the road to the summit of Mt. Evans.
Feeding wild animals looks very cute, but disturbs the natural ecology, exposes them to unhealthy food, and habituates them to humans, not all of who are friendly.
Views from the summit.
There were actually ski-trails down that narrow, near vertical strip of snow in the middle!!!
The best place to ponder things is the top of the world :)
