Heart on Fire in the Devil's Playground

 

I can't promise a full wall of text about this topic, but I will share some thoughts and some pretty pictures with you.

I had a few hours to kill one night in the Springs. I didn't want to go.shopping, and I wanted to do something mountainy.

I've been to Pikes Peak before when I was little. Like, maybe 5 years old. Why not go again? I just got new tires on my car, my battery is brand spanking new, and I am an excellent driver. 

Also, that was a very bad decision on my part. 

I did not make it to the summit, and I am not sorry about it. I made it to the Devil's Playground, which is mile 16 of the 19 mile journey. The elevation of that point is not easily Google-able, as I spent about five seconds trying to figure it out, but let's just say that it's between 12,000 and 13,000 feet.

It occurred to me driving up this damn mountain that although my tires are brand new, they are from a store that rhymes with smallmart. And when sheer death is a few inches away on the right side of me, I thought that maybe entrusting my life to smallmart maybe wasn't the best decision I've ever made. 

I do stupid things on vacation all the time. Parasailing, a private plane tour over New Orleans, swimming in an underground cave in Mexico. 

I can officially add attempting Pikes Peak to that list. 

And I'm never doing it again.

Never never never.

Also, I would be the worst person in the world to travel with. I can't tell you what I can tolerate and what I can't tolerate, danger-wise, until I'm there in person and I can feel the vibe of the place.

And it turns out that my tipping point is a place called Devil's Playground.

Not today, Satan.  

Not today. 

And not ever again. 

I took that screen shot of the sing that I was listening to when I officially made the decision to chicken out. I was listening to Eric Church's Heart on Fire, BECAUSE MY HEART WAS LITERALLY ON FIRE.

The only other thing I will add is that it was 100 degrees in town that day. When I turned around, it was 54 degrees. 

Rolling down my windows and getting that sweet mountain air is about the only good thing that came from that trip. 

I went to a craft store awards, because dammit, I deserved it.