Anyone who knows us, knows Breanne is a planner. Like a binder with written color-coded tabs kind of planner. And for a trip like ours taking 9 months to see 25 states and 30+ national parks having a planner is great. But when having to change from the plan, being a planner can be hard.
Since the altitude sickness scare, it has been clear to us that we cannot sleep in altitudes above 5000 ft above sea level. Typically this might not be an issue but currently when traveling through Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana- it is an issue.
Our original plan was to travel from Utah (where we are now) to Denver, CO to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons, WY to Glacier, Montana. However after a lot of elevation maps, route planning, and more, we determined this route was not going to work with the new altitude parameters. We can get to outside Denver but then there is no clear route from Denver to Yellowstone to Montana.
After much hemming and hawing, we decided it was necessary to change our route for Breanne’s health, and our collective mental worry about the higher altitudes.
So our new route removes Denver from the equation. We aren’t super happy about this change as we had plans to visit friends, family and go to the Rocky Mountains but Denver feels like a place we can visit another time since we have ties to it.
Then instead of heading to the East side of Yellowstone and Grand Teton, we are heading from Utah to Grand Junction, CO then heading to Idaho (new state added on) then to Montana. We plan to stay in the Idaho Falls area and travel to/from Yellowstone and Grand Tetons. It is not ideal in terms of driving times but necessary for sleeping under our 5000 ft goal.
Overall, changing the plan is not the end of the world. We are still able to continue this trip, which we are grateful beyond belief. But it still can bring up a lot of emotions to have to change a plan that was well-thought out and decided upon.
