Altitude, altitude...

Margot says I'm not allowed to talk about bodily fluids any more, but I have to warn you about another little problem that you might encounter at 9,000 feet.

Do not bend over from the waist - which you might do if you want to take a close-up photo of a tiny plant with a lovely blue flower about the size of a pinhead which has captured your heart with its brave battle with the howling wind and lack of topsoil - because you will feel most peculiar when you bend back up again. Light-headed and not entirely of this world.

Ordinarily, if you were at sea-level (or even 6,000 feet, I discovered later) you might attempt the squat or crouch with some degree of certainty that you could hold it for long enough to focus the camera and get upright again unaided, but at 9,000 feet your knees are thighs are telling your brain 'do not even think about it. You're not going to be able to get down there, never mind get back up again...'

So if you want the photo badly enough, you will have to get down on your hands, knees and elbows, bum in the air. To get back up again without mechanical assistance you will need to do that first-knee-up, push up with hand, waggle bum around and grunt a bit thing until you get enough momentum going to get the second knee up and hope it will keep you going till you're upright, without falling over.

I think it was worth it,though.