Greetings from 13,000 feet

This is the 100th post of Timsblogfest. It has been a pleasure to share my journeys, artwork, and opinions. I never thought that I would have, by this time, gotten over 160,000 views! I guess you all like me! Please click on the first photo to get the full detail of this, my most amazing journey so far.

Our hero kickin' it at 13,000 feet.

After business meetings in Denver I took a few days off to ski in Arapaho Basin, which is on the continental divide 6 miles east of the town of Keystone. First let me tell you that a flat lander such as myself should NEVER go from sea level to this altitude without at least spending a day or two in Denver. Even though I did spend 3 days there before coming up here I was sick as a dog the following morning. Altitude sickness is nothing to fool around with. I had two beers with dinner the night I got here and had a SEVERE hangover (felt like I drank a fifth of Jim Beam on an empty stomach!). I took much Ibuprofen and drank over a gallon of water during the course of the day which only slightly helped. Loss of appetite is another symptom. I DID NOT, however, let that stop me from skiing (but let me tell you, I was not at my best). Exhausted, with a splitting headache, I finally gave it up after 3 hours. I got back to my hotel and proceeded to flake out on the bed (again, drinking copious amounts of H2O ). After about 30 minutes I had enough energy to take a shower and get something to eat. Dinner really helped (eat CARBS!). I actually felt human by bedtime and almost normal by morning. I skied again today and was feeling more like my old self (except that my legs were ON FIRE) , I swear, I'm bringing an O2 bottle next time. I stuck to the blue runs (which are like black ones back east) because man, my legs just don't work as good up here. It was all finesse and little power. Still, I skied well enough that I didn't embarrass myself. I'm skiing one more day so maybe I'll finally acclimate and get back to my usual crazy self. The weather has been spectacular! Highs approaching 60 degrees by noon. The only trouble is that it's like mashed potatoes by 3:30 in the afternoon. I'll be rising early to get there by 8:00 tomorrow.
This place is EPIC! first time in my life that I ever saw bighorn sheep standing by the road (sorry, too busy driving to take a picture).

This is A-Basin after hours. This is only the first chairlift. After you get off of this one you take a second one to the summit, where my first picture is taken from.

This is a little better shot of the Montezuma Bowl area. Way off to the left past the lake is the Breckenridge resort, which is closed for the season. A-Basin faces north, and therefore usually is skiable until June. You can ski here in the morning and golf in Keystone in the afternoon. What and amazing place. If you can see this and not believe in God then you just have no spirit. Simple as that. I thanked Him many times for the privilege of seeing, experiencing, and skiing this magnificent place.

This is the Black Mountain Lodge. It is at the top of the first lift, or just under 12,000 ft. You're only half way there! one more lift ride to the top.

Exhausted after three hours, I sunned my old bones on the patio of the Lodge, staring at the slow moving clouds. The serenity of the moment was shattered by an Air Force F-16 buzzing the resort. It was cool to see it. I bet the pilot was having as much fun as we were.

A-basin trailmap frontside.

Montezuma bowl, backside of resort.