What the Heck Are you Doing Up Here?

I lived for years along the Colorado Front Range, in the Denver/Boulder metro area. Often friends from out of state visited, and, if they had the time, we always took them into the Rocky Mountains... I've probably traveled the "Trail Ridge Road" in Rocky Mountain National Park hundreds of times, showing visitors some of the most beautiful vistas on this planet. It is simply one of the most stunning stretches of pavement in the continental U.S. It is, however, not a drive for the inexperienced, or the faint of heart. Some eleven miles of the route are above treeline, where the trees just will not grow because there is not enough oxygen to support them, and there are steep grades and what the locals call "hairpin turns." The dropoffs are breathtaking. Everyday, during the summer tourist season, staff in the Park have to go up and rescue folks who get themselves up there and then freak out and can't get themselves down...

The park literature and signage clearly indicates that the road is steep and narrow. Travelers are advised to make sure that their vehicles (including tires) should be in good condition. People are also cautioned about the altitude and warned that those with respiratory and cardiac issues should consider carefully. Still, on a daily basis, they get themselves up and can't get back down without help...

There are some things that you shouldn't try if you don't know what the fuck you are getting yourself into. It is a recipe for disaster. Why can't you explain that to people?

You see it all the time:

Regularly, Ski patrol staffers have to haul marginal skiers off of "Double Diamond Black" ski runs where they don't have any business being. Any fool knows that maybe 10% of skiers have the skills to actually handle that terrain well. The rest are just looking to get themselves stranded at best, hurt or killed at worst...

I once watched a guy put his 6 year old son on the head of a full grown wild buffalo in Yellowstone Park so that his wife could "get a picture." WTF!?!?

There was a new kid that came to work at the company I worked with in Wyoming years ago... We used to all go to lunch on Fridays, at the local Mexican food eatery, where there was a menu item called "The Death Wish Burrito." It was not misnamed. It was so freaking hot that it would leave blisters on lips, tongue, and throat. We all warned him that it just wasn't a smart choice, but he was so damn "macho" that there was just no talking to him... Idiot!

People would show up at the old Labyrinth BDSM club in Denver -- usually newbies without much experience in the scene. Every now and then some hot to trot "submissive" with a big mouth and not an ounce of good sense would come waltzing in looking to play with the biggest, baddest sadist in the place. That, friends, could be pretty darn "bad." I watched it happen over and over -- cooler heads would, invariably try and take the poor fool aside and talk some sense into the fantasy addled brain. No dice. People would warn, "If you negotiate a high end scene with a high end player, they will take you at your word... Don't go where you can't handle it. Hang out. Watch. Learn." Usually, that well intentioned advice would fall on the deafest of deaf ears...

My point? Some territory is risky. Not everyplace is safe. There are dragons out here. Grow up. Take responsibility. Do your homework. Read the warning signs. Listen to people who know something about it. Know what the hell you are doing if you go there. If you get yourself in over your head, don't blame anybody else.

swan