Rick, another anomaly I've noticed is that the air has gotten much thinner up there...Funny over the years how those mountains have actually somehow gotten steeper.
That is some beautiful country.... It's unfortunate that one of the major differences between my wife and myself is that she loves the beaches and I love the mountains... but I found out recently that the mountains no longer love my blood pressure.... unless I take a lot of time getting adjusted to the altitude change...almost a day per 1000 ft..