August 9th, 2026
I had one goal at the beginning of July. That was to make it to my son’s wedding celebration in Breckenridge at the end of the month. The breathing problems I had been having at elevations above 8,000 feet were severe enough that I wondered if I’d still be around by then. Breckenridge is around 9,500 feet. When I was that high, I felt so bad that I wondered if I would ever wake up if I managed to get to sleep. I had been forced to camp near Salida for a while as it was below 8,000. Breathing was a little easier there. My hope was that the upcoming Cardiac Ablation procedure would rectify the problem, i.e. get me back on a normal sinus rhythm rather than the Atrial Fibrillation I had. Additionally, I was not positive that the AFib was what was causing the issue.
I know this probably all sounds like a bit of negative thinking. However, I guess that is kind of my personality. My family and some friends tell me that is the case. I don’t know why I am that way, other than it may perhaps have something to do with being told at age 11 that I had a rare hip disorder and would need to spend 18 months of my childhood getting around on crutches. And maybe 2 later failed marriages contributed to that negativity. I had a significant amount of negative happenings affect my life and they were not occurrences that just healed and went away. Their effects were lasting. I am traveling alone now plus have a chunk of metal and 3 large lag screws in my right hip to prove that.
Fortunately, the ablation was successful, at least for the time being. After my stay at St. Vrain State Park, I needed to find out what would happen when I went back up to a higher elevation. My next camping spot, at 8,000 feet was Olive Ridge USFS Campground. I had stayed there before when I wanted to visit and hike in Rocky Mountain National Park. The campground is just a few miles south of Estes Park, so it is an easy day trip to hike into the Park or visit the town. The elevation would give me an idea of whether the ablation procedure solved the breathing problem I had previously had at elevation. If I still had the problem, it would make the get together in Breckenridge miserable if not impossible. I spent 4 days at that elevation without issue and then moved back down to St. Vrain again, while I waited for a follow-up appointment post ablation. So far everything seemed fine and I was pretty happy.
For a second test at elevation, I decided to go near the limit. So, I drove up to Camp Hail to try camping at 10,000 feet. Again, all went well. I dropped my trailer at a friends place above Leadville and then drove down to Silverthorne for a 2 night stay at the Luxury Inn. I wanted to be rested up and run some errands before the wedding celebration started on Wednesday the 29th of July.
The celebration was awesome. We stayed at a private lodge (really big house) and ate great food, including many things I would never take the time to cook in my trailer. That was a welcome change. We even had a chef one evening who plated 8 different excellent dishes. I hiked with both my son’s along the lower Blue Lake and then to the large waterfall above. It had been many years since the three of us hiked together. It meant a lot to me, an event I will never forget. On the third day we hiked to the nearby Isak Hearthstone Sculpture. We also spent a day with rented ATVs out of Sulphur Hot Springs. We ran a number of high trails to the north and south of the Colorado River that had excellent views of the surrounding mountains and valleys. Best of all, I now have a daughter in-law.
All good things come to an end as they did on Sunday. Everybody gathered in the driveway after loading vehicles. As usual, I got too sensitive and had to keep walking away to hide tears. I don’t know when or if there will ever be another time where the three of us, my two boys and I will spend time together. I said my goodbyes and headed back up to Leadville to hook up the trailer. Of course, that post event depression hit me like a brick that evening, reminding me of all the Sunday evenings over the many years, where happy post weekend events smashed headlong into Monday morning “back to work” blues. At least this time there was no work, only setting up camp at Camp Hale.
I wasn’t sure where to go next. I was so concentrated on making it to the celebration, that I had made no plan for what came after. Truthfully, I was not sure I’d make it to Breckenridge, let alone need somewhere to be afterward. I needed to put some thought into an itinerary for the remainder of the summer and early fall before heading down south for the long winter. I needed to loiter in Colorado until after October 1st, as that was the date of my third and final follow-up appointment.
After leaving Camp Hale, I drove to Leadville, bought coffee and a breakfast burrito at City on A Hill, and then headed down the mountain to Dillon. I needed to pick up prescriptions at the Walgreens and then drove north on Route 9 to the Blue River USFS Campground. There were a few “Open” campsites, but they were all marked as “one night only”. I asked the campground host about this, as you could not reserve any sites on the recreation.gov website for 2 days. What do you do? Keep moving to an open site every day until your reservation starts? IF the site is open for 2 nights, why can’t you pay for 2. The website shows the open sites as FCFS (first come first serve). He had no explanation, but pointed me towards #22, a non-reservable site due to the fact that in a rain storm, water may be flowing through it from the highway drainage. I was able to snag the site for 6 days, taking me through Sunday, after which, my 4 day reservation at Stagecoach State Park, near Steamboat Springs goes into effect.
My site was not right on the Blue River, but very close. As usual, during the middle of the week, the campground emptied out. It was also just a few miles north of Silverthorne, so I was able run errands into town for groceries, propane, and occasional lunches. There was no cell signal, as the campground is down below the ridgeline and highway. I needed to keep my solar charger and trailer batteries topped up each day in order to make and get calls, and use the internet over StarLink.
My depression after leaving my sons’ wedding celebration the previous week was beginning to wear off. I talked to my son Tyler, my mother, two of my sisters, and friend Mark. That helped. Yesterday I texted with my friend Cheng who sent a photo from Glacier National Park of her hike up to Grinnell Glacier, a trail I hiked 2 summers ago.
Today, I plan to drive up to Kremmling where the On the Hook Fish and Chips truck is visiting for the day. Then on Monday, I will hitch up and make the drive north toward Steamboat Springs for a short stay at Stagecoach State Park. There I will hook up to electricity to fully charge all the batteries and get a fresh water refill before heading to Yampa and the Bear River for a couple of weeks. These are places I have been before, but am visiting again, as I am forced to loiter here in Colorado for my final two follow-up cardiologist appointments.
Starting All Over 