Colorado put the rig at altitude — thin air, steep passes, and the first real sense of how a turbo-diesel feels when the oxygen drops away.
A useful preview of the Andes, where we’ll spend weeks above 3,000 m on the way to Bolivia and Peru.
At a glance
- Where
- The Colorado Rockies
- Elevation
- Passes over 3,500 m
- Why
- Andes dress rehearsal
- Season
- Summer
Thin air, real lessons
Altitude is the quiet challenge of the southern half of this trip, and Colorado is the best place in the U.S. to feel it. A turbo-diesel loses power as the air thins, the cooling system works harder on long climbs, and even simple chores leave you breathing hard until you acclimate.
We ran the high passes, camped in the alpine, and watched how the van — and we — handled days spent up where the air is short. Afternoon thunderstorms rolling over the peaks were a bonus lesson in mountain weather.
Why it matters for the Andes
On Leg 4 we’ll spend weeks above 3,000 m crossing Peru, Bolivia, and Chile — Cusco, the altiplano, the Uyuni salt flats, the Atacama. Some passes top 4,000 m, and Bolivia’s thick, low-grade diesel makes the thin air even harder on the engine.
Colorado let us learn those lessons somewhere with cell signal and a parts store nearby, instead of figuring it out for the first time on a remote Bolivian pass.
Highlights
- Passes over 3,500 m
- How a turbo-diesel really feels at altitude
- Alpine camping and mountain storms
- A safe preview of the high Andes