I'm planning an adventure quest to the this summer where I will backpack into the Rockies with a small group of friends. We are going to go on a self-guided tour in the Glacier National Park, and this particular adventure quest will be stunning and beautiful. It will be challenging, as well, until we get used to the elevation, which is around 8,000 to 9,000, much higher than the 1,000 feet we live at. My sister is a nurse in Taos which is about 8,000 feet, and she frequently tells me about tourists who have to be air evacuated out of these elevations because of serious elevation problems they experience, like bleeding in their lungs or severe headaches.

We are going to take it slow. The adventure quest itself will take us 10 days, but we are spending three days at camp once we reach 8,000 feet which will help our lungs adjust, so there will be no air evacuations for us. Then it is going to be a long hike into some extraordinary mountain scenery, eat some great campfire food, and sleep hard after hiking eight to nine miles a day.