When I left for my first trip to Denver, Colorado, I had read so much about altitude sickness. A mile high may not be much for some, but it was my first time doing anything at that altitude that I could remember, so I wanted to be prepared since I had no idea how my body would react. I was, however, pretty cocky about it in my head.

“I’ll make sure I know what to pay attention to,” I thought to myself, “but I’m sure it’ll be no big deal.”

I arrived in Denver, picked up a rental car, and headed straight into Rocky Mountain National Park to the Bear Lake trailhead. I figured I could easily hit Bear, Nymph, & Dream lakes before the sunset, and at just over 2 miles RT, that’d be a good way to get acclimated.

Since Bear Lake was super crowded, I headed straight for Nymph Lake. I did what I normally do and took off at a quicker-than-usual pace because I was overexcited, and what do you know, I was winded pretty quickly. “Well, I’m out of shape,” I told myself, “It’s not necessarily altitude.”

When I got to Nymph Lake, there was still so much snowpack that it was hard to tell where the trail ended and the lake began…until my foot was soaking wet. Oops. I backtracked, and bent down to the ground for a better photography angle. When I stood up, my vision went black & I was woozy.

“Okay, this altitude thing is might be legit…”

Instead of going higher up to Dream Lake, I decided to turn around, get a few shots at Bear Lake, and head down to the slightly lower (& flat) Sprague Lake loop where I was told was a good spot for spotting moose at sunset, and I started drinking the water from my Camelback like a mad woman. I took my time walking around the lake which had amazing mountain views & reflections, but no moose, so I headed towards the park exit.

On my way out, I noticed a line of cars pulling over and stopping. “There must be something good to see then!” I thought, so I joined them. I was so excited to see they had spotted a nearby moose!! Worried it would run off & I’d miss the photo opp, I grabbed my camera & jumped out of the car in a flash. I was in such a hurry, I left my whole backpack including my car keys—“It’s keyless. It won’t lock with the keys in the car, and I’ll just be gone a second,” I thought. Kiss of death.

Turns out the moose was in no rush at all, and I got plenty of pictures of him & his evening snack with the most spectacular sunset as a backdrop. Ahh, so peaceful.

I returned to my car, pulled on the handle, and it didn’t open. “No,” I thought to myself as I yanked a few more times, “no, no, no, no, no!” It wouldn’t open. I checked my phone – no cell service. “CRAP. No cell service to call for help. I’m gonna be stuck here forever!” (I’m quite rational when I panic, clearly.)

I walked around the car to test every door, just in case, you know, one of them went rogue (none of them did). As I got to the passenger side, I realized my backpack was not sitting on the front seat where I left it. Here comes that rational thinking again:

“OH MY GOD! Someone broke into my car and ran off with my backpack and the keys!!”

(Why wouldn’t they just take the car?) I start panicking some more, pacing back and forth, trying to figure out what to do and which innocent family to beg for help, and finally I look up one more time.

It was the wrong car.

Yes, I had just spent the last 5-10 minutes trying to break into SOMEONE ELSE’S CAR while mine sat a few feet away. I did a face palm, went up to my car, opened the door (backpack inside), and drove off, praying that whoever’s car that was did not see me break into it!

Altitude is no joke, folks.

I had a few more mishaps with altitude on this trip, but that’s all for now. Click here for part two!

Adventures with Altitude, Part One

“Okay, this altitude thing is might be legit…”

“OH MY GOD! Someone broke into my car and ran off with my backpack and the keys!!”

It was the wrong car.

Altitude is no joke, folks.