Almost Heaven: Brainard Lake NRA, Colorado

[RockyMtnRay]

Originally Posted by smookie

Thanks for posting those beautiful pictures!! I've never seen anything like it before.

Glad you appreciated them. Yes, the scenery in the Colorado high country is fairly unique...so you will probably never see anything like it unless you venture into a similar subarctic mountain environment...like Alaska or the very highest elevations of the Sierra Nevada. I believe that very northern Maine has some conditions like this...but the eastern mountains are much less jagged. Keep in mind that this campground is at very high altitude...to help you visualize how high...

• I was standing 2 miles (yeah, miles) above sea level.
• You would have to stack the Empire State Building on top of itself 10 times to get the topmost observation deck to about the same elevation that I was at.
• I was standing on ground that's about the same altitude as the cruising altitude of some East Coast commuter airline flights.

I'm not sure about wanting to pack a ski jacket during my summer camping trips though.... I really enjoyed reading all about your trip!
smookie

And the heavy gloves, wool hats, sweatshirts, sweaters, etc. I carrry a 4 seasons wardrobe in my TM when I go camping. Actually a "layered" approach is better than a single heavy ski type jacket due to the huge swings in temperature each day...and for the trips in and out of the high country. For instance, when I leave my home in the summer, the temperature is often in the mid 90s and the AC is going full blast. But just 2 hours later when I get to the campground, the temperature can easily be in the lower 40s (or even upper 30s) with a cold rain or light snow falling...and the heater/defroster are now what's running full blast! So even though its sweltering when I depart and I'm wearing shorts & a polo shirt, I always have a sweatshirt, Gore-Tex jacket and zip-on lowers for my shorts within quick reach inside my truck's cab. The reverse happens on departure...the sweatshirt with coat, jeans, boots, gloves, etc. feel great when packing up in the 30 degree morning temperatures...and the truck's heater is turned way up. But by the time I drive out of the mountains an hour or two later, the outside temperature is in the 90s and I've got the AC going...and a stop to strip off some clothing layers is almost mandatory.

ALTITUDE SICKNESS WARNING
For the folks who will be coming from sea level or other low elevations (under 3000 feet), you might also want to bring some oxygen. Seriously. At 10,000 feet the air has less than half the oxygen content you're used to. At a minimum, that means you will be very short of breath and just walking on level ground will be difficult. And for about a quarter to a third of lowland folks who come into the Colorado high country, it means you will suffer from some degree of altitude sickness. For most, that means a headache and possible moderate dizziness...feeling very light headed. But for some, it can be much worse...typically severe nausea and sometimes even cerebral edema (swelling of the brain inside the skull) or pulmonary edema (buildup of fluid in the lungs). Both are definitely life threatening and if not attended to, can result in death within a few hours.

For most cases of altitude sickness, the treatment is lots and lots of water and taking it very easy for a day or two. For severe cases of altitude sickness, the only cure is rapid transport of the patient to lower elevation (generally a descent to around 6000 feet or lower solves the problem).

ALL low altitude visitors to the Colorado high country should read this special report on Altitude Sickness in the Summit Daily News .