Altitude Adventures of a Sea-Lubber: Ice Lake Basin
The hard part over, we arrived at the Ice Lake that gives the basin its name. Cool, clean, and surrounded by patches of remaining snowmelt, this was what I’d always imagined an alpine lake to be.
Altitude Adventures of a Sea-Lubber: Ice Lake Basin
An ongoing series about the mountains from a man stuck in the flats By Dan Cole
When I was a few years younger, I took a 90-minute drive to the summit of Mauna Kea: the highest point in Hawai’i. And wowzers was I out of breath! You start at sea level, and there’s a brief stop to acclimate at the visitor center, but by the time you reach the observatory at the top you’re more than 13,000 feet up in about 90 minutes. The scenery is otherworldly, especially contrasted with the blue and green tropical paradise at the base. It’s like being on Mars and, if you stick around until sunset, you’ll be the last thing the sun touches for thousands of miles in any direction.
But your lungs hurt the whole way. It was my first time hiking at altitude.
Up there you’re only getting 60% as much oxygen as you are at sea-level, and the 90 minute drive is almost no time at all to acclimate. So you walk ten yards until your head pounds, you catch your breath, then you walk another ten (if you can). Hawai’i isn’t the place most people associate with altitude, and while there certainly is high, beautiful desolation in the Aloha State, I’d like to talk about journeys above the clouds back on the mainland.
One of my other favorite otherworldly places to visit is the American Southwest. In July of 2023 I took a trip to Ice Lake Basin outside Silverton, Colorado. After years of skiing in the area, this was my first time going up the San Juan mountains on foot instead of a chairlift. I didn’t know what to expect: something like my Mauna Kea experience? No. By flying in and taking a few days to acclimate, things were a bit gentler. Still hard, but gentler.
The hike began, ended, and was full of breathtaking views. We started by passing through an alpine forest overflowing with some of the most beautiful wildflowers I’d ever seen.
It was not an easy hike. Climbing 3,000 feet in 8 miles, my weak East Coast lungs were burning, but the time I’d taken to acclimate helped.I also had a secret weapon: Inspiratory Respiratory Training. Twice a day for the past few months I used this little breathing device that - like any other sort of resistance training - bulked up the mass in my breathing muscles. Super swol.
My efforts were rewarded with what I can only describe as “relentless views.” Forests gave way to pristine mountains, wildflower meadows, and so many streams and waterfalls that you couldn’t turn a single degree in any direction without seeing one.
The hard part over, we arrived at the Ice Lake that gives the basin its name. Cool, clean, and surrounded by patches of remaining snowmelt, this was what I’d always imagined an alpine lake to be.
After a short while at the top meditating on the glories of creation, we headed home. The way back down was easier, and how could it not be? I’d already had my breath taken away.
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