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I've been visiting friends in Flag for the past several days. I've always loved it up here ... it's so beautiful this time of year (except for the traffic!), and so many trails, so little time! The first day, my friend wanted to go for a run in Buffalo Park. "Let's do it!", I replied, thinking that since I run in the desert around my house all the time, I'd run her into the ground. Ha! Unfortunately, I forgot about the altitude. Within half-a-mile, I was gasping like a bellows.

Hey, I'm a desert girl ... a flatland girl ... a downstream girl. And I swear, there isn't enough air up here to keep a bird alive! Everyone probably has supplemental oxygen hidden in their packs ... I just know it.

I know the feeling, from the flip side. Friends come to visit me here in Cloudcroft (8600') and we head out on the trails and for once I get to enjoy staying up with or ahead of those runners who would leave me in the dust back in Tucson. Ah, the joy...

what's my excuse for sucking wind at sea level???.... :stretch:

Well, here at 7000' you've only got about 79% of the air that you do at sea level. Me, I go down below 5000' and my ears start to feel funny. I have more energy, too.

I'm one of those that really benefits from going up the night before I hike at 7000' or higher. Even when I was running high miles and marathons the higher altitudes effected me. What I remember reading is that each of us have different abilities to adjust to the altitude no matter what shape we are in.

Back in 2003 I visited the White Mountains from Florida. I remember walking up this one hillside above the San Fransisco River. I had to stop repeatedly to catch my breath and it felt like it took me for ever, even though it was probably only 200 feet of vertical, or so. I was back in the area 2 years ago. I flew up that hillside and never even thought about it. Then I remembered 2003 and I thought of how nice it was that I lived up high.

jhodlof wrote:I visited the White Mountains from Florida

Haha isnt the highest point in florida a whopping 500 feet or something like that?

rally_toad wrote:Haha isnt the highest point in florida a whopping 500 feet or something like that?

Britton Hill: 345 feet
Its the lowest highest spot of all 50 states.

chumley wrote:lowest highest spot

that begs the question. What is the highest lowest spot in the 50 states?

It looks like it's 3,350 in Colorado.

Google: highest low point united states
First result gives some stats to go through.

rally_toad wrote:

chumley wrote:lowest highest spot

that begs the question. What is the highest lowest spot in the 50 states?

I think that's the Arikaree River in CO at 3,315.

I think we were discussing Van Buren and Miracle Mile on another thread... talk about highest lowspots...

Jim_H wrote:Well, here at 7000' you've only got about 79% of the air that you do at sea level.

I was curious for the percentage at 10k. Googled for a chart but am getting effective oxygen results with a machine for $2600 to simulate high altitude. Seems you could just pinch the tube for free.

edit: from Wally... our pollution probably cancels out the extra oxygen

All I know is that the Amount of Oxygen at 10,000 Feet isn't enough.....

http://www.altitude.org/air_pressure.php

Playing with the calculator, Humphrey's Peak at 12,633' has 64% of the available atmosphere, oxygen and other gas proportions are constant, which is pretty good since it is less than 2/3 of sea level. Makes me take that summit a little more seriously and not feel bad about being a little tired up there. Whitney has 59%. Long gone are my days of not feeling affects of altitude.

Either way, Phoenix at 1100' has 96% of sea level.

@desert spirit
Supplementing with Maca may help. Being the highest altitude crop in the world, it knows a thing or 2 about maximizing oxygen use and can also help fight off altitude sickness. It's pretty easy to find nowadays too.

Gingko biloba is often used to prevent or minimize the effects of altitude sickness.

What if you were below sea level, say at Death Valley, or at the Dead Sea? Would there be an inverse or corollary effect to being above sea level?

No, you just breathe less at resting. The pressure isn't great enough to do anything like divers get.

@Tough_Boots
So are coca leaves.

@Jim_H
How does that relate to O2 sats? When I took Micah to the Dr. up in Woodland Park 9000' feet
They took hers and out of curiosity mine. She was n 100% and I was 98%. The Dr. said it wasn't uncommon to see 90% which they considered average with the patients they see. I'm assuming older or less active people. I was curious if you noticed lower sats in Flagg? Compared to Phoenix.
I'm curious how low they are at 14000'? May have to track down a paramedic at the top of Pikes Peak next time. There are usually a bunch of bluish people in the gift shop when I go in to fill my water.