Back in March, I made a list of 10 things I had learned about living over 9000ft. Well, summer is here now, so I’ve added a few more life lessons onto the list.  Here’s the original list, plus a few new additions:

1. Hydrate!! You’ll regret it if you don’t.
2. Follow the high altitude baking directions. If you don’t have any, make up your own.
3. Cooking everything takes much longer (see above) and you’re 80% likely to either undercook it or burn it.
4. Fresh fruit and veggies have a shelf life of no more than 3 days, so never stock the fridge.
5. The grocery store will always sell out of that one key ingredient, so be prepared to improvise. (See: garlic, spinach, broccoli)
6. Layer up. Be prepared for all 4 seasons on any given day. It will go from the planet Hoth to tropical to hurricane in an hour.
7. Wiper fluid. Lots of it. There’s a reason it’s at every grocery store checkout stand.
8. When running, add (at least) 1 minute to your expected mile split and rejoice if you actually finish your whole workout. (And Repeat #1)
9. Add 10 minutes onto your travel time to go anywhere in winter, because you have to dig your car out or warm it up enough to hold the steering wheel first.
10. Sunsets, sunrises and stars. They are always worth going outside.
11. Sunscreen. All the time. It doesn’t take 30 minutes to fry up here. It takes 3.
12. Forget what I said about cooking going wrong 80% of the time. It won’t come out right. Ever. Just give up on cooking anything unless it’s over a campfire.
13. Bag explosion point is around 10,500 ft. Open that bag of tortilla chips BEFORE you get in the car. Nothing like having bags explode when you drive over a pass on your road trip.
14. Even though the stars are pretty, bring a headlamp when you take the dog out at night. Nothing like a close encounter with a bear or moose, when you are stumbling around in the dark.
15. Thunderstorms. They happen pretty much every day. So get your hike/bike/paddle in early.
16. Quit looking for wildlife. You are much less likely to see them when you are actually trying to.   On the other hand, when you are trying to get the dog to pee, you have an armload of groceries and can’t get to your camera or when you are driving home at night, you will see them all over the place.
17. Colorado should actually be labeled North Texas on the map. There is a mass migration of Texans every winter and summer.
18. There are more dogs than people above 9000 ft. Make sure to take your dog everywhere, including the bar. Leash optional.
19. You must have a garage, or a room dedicated solely to storing all your toys and gear. And you must have gear for multiple sports. Motorcycle, backpacks, camping gear, bikes, fishing rods and tackle, kayaks, downhill skis, cross-country skis, snowshoes and paddleboards are all acceptable.   You will always be broke, trying to fill up said gear room.
20. People always say, “Come for the winter, but stay for the summers.”  It’s true!