Nomadic 2005 ‐ Two Kinds of Flat

2005-10-01

Cristos Wilderness Area, Zapata Lake Trailhead, Colorado (37.617 N, 105.564 W, 9000 feet)Kansas did eventually get flat. But I passed the time by listening to Rider's Radio Theater, something I'm not likely to ever hear in Richmond. Then I entered Colorado and it got a little hilly and then flat again. Then I got into the mountains and then it got rally hilly and then really flat.

In my travels I've come across two kinds of flat. There's a flatness that extends to the horizon (about six miles under ideal conditions). Things in the distance eventually disappear due to the curvature of the Earth. That flat I can deal with. Then there's the flatness that never ends. This can usually be found between mountains. Basically the land isn't really flat; it's more of a giant shallow valley or bowl. From any given point you can see any other point. (It's like living on the Ring World or Halo if that means anything to you.) It leaves you feeling exposed--like all privacy has been stripped away. I AM currently camped on the side of a mountain overlooking one of these plains. I can look out the car's window and see five hundred square miles of land, if my calculations are good. Conceivably, the thousands of people living down there could look up at me if they had a telescope.

Anyway, today I visited Bent's Old Fort, a replica of a trading post that existed on that spot in the 1800s. It was actually very cool. In its day, this little pile of wood and clay was the only representative of civilization (good or bad) for hundreds of miles.

From the fort I drove down Highway 10, a stretch of road so long and desolate that it has its own permanent "road closed" sign ready to swing into place.

Then I climbed through North La Veta Pass. This is where classic Colorado begins with its mountains and aspen and pine--very scenic, but it always is.

I'm now camped out at 9000 feet. I strongly suspect it will get cold here tonight. Now that it's dark the stars above are amazing. And the plain below shows more lights than I would have ever guessed existed.

And I think I just got bit by a mosquito. It must have been rolled away in one of my blankets. I can't win.

My head feels funny. It's the altitude. Hopefully I will acclimate quickly, for I intend to tackle a ten mile hike up to Lake Zapata in the morning--a half mile up over five miles of hiking.

I almost hit several deer this morning (real deer--not those Florida runts). I also spotted an antelope. What I'd really like to see is an elk.