Tuesday 5/27

Today we departed home sweet Chamberlain House to travel to new home sweet Shadow Mountain. We somehow, miraculously, managed to pack all our gear and boots and tents and clothes and shoes and Frisbees and other random junk into Tommy’s trooper pick-up truck and Lewis’s lil car, and embarked on an epic 1.5-hour journey across the famous Trail Ridge road. Trail Ridge truly is a trail on a ridge. Actually it is more like a highway with near-vertical climbs and careening downhill switchbacks that create gut-wrenching G-forces nearly equivalent to Valleyfair’s Wild-Thing. 

I have not personally looked up this fun fact, but someone told me it’s the highest continuous road in the country. Before witnessing this magnificent road first-hand, I had the ambitious goal of roller skiing all 38 miles of the ‘Ridge’, however, I can see no possible way for a roller-skiier screaming down those switchbacks at mock-7 velocity to stop, or even slow down, and I think my wheels may heat up and melt before I make the complete descent. I am still on the lookout for a roller-ski braking parachute invention, so if you come across anything promising, please let me know. 

Shadow Mountain is beautiful with a capital B and super capital E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L. 

The crew lives in 2 houses, complete with electricity, running water, and 70s style lead paint. Gary the maintenance man made us sign agreements stating we wouldn’t ‘lick’ the walls “no matter how tasty they look”. Gary is a very unusual man. Tommy nicknamed him G-staaaannkkk in accordance to the unusual odor that tends to get left behind wherever he goes. He does not approve of visitors. He also claims the radon in the basement “won’t kill ya, but’ll jus’ give ya some cancerish thang if ya live hur long ernough.” 

It's a great place. Seriously.