Yes it is!  I still feel the need to exercise, but my energy levels aren't nearly what they used to be and hiking some small "hills" in the Smoky Mountains brought it home to me.

I'm thinking somewhere around 9,000-10,000 would be the highest you could drive in North America and still have a road/trail to follow.

FWIW, Last year, I piloted a Samurai with the stock, Hitachi carbureted 1300cc engine over Black Bear Pass.  Black Bear Pass is 12,840 feet, and many of the mountain trail passes in Colorado have similar elevations.  Once I was above 11,000 feet I had to perform the gas, clutch, and handbrake shuffle.  That really made it interesting on the first section down, aka The Steps.   The key was to keep my foot on the gas, but the 5:1 gears and 29" tires enabled me to crawl at a snail's pace.  I'm sure that the engine output was likely less than 20hp at that elevation, but the engine kept chugging along.     Once I descended back to around 11,000 ft, the engine idled fine.

Next week I plan to pilot a Samurai with the 16-valve 1600 FI engine up Pike's Peak.  I'm sure that there will be a huge power loss at 14,000 feet, but it should idle as the FI will be able to compensate for the thin air better than a carburetor with a feedback loop.  I will report back my experience.

You guys are funny, there ought to be a way to " like " a post.

Hey Jonny,  Scott and I will be doing trails in Colorado next week. It would be good to see you again. Not sure what areas you are planning this year but we will be in the Leadville area on the July 4th weekend. We plan to move around to different areas and be in the Silverton area around July 19th.   

Dave,
We will be doing a mixture of camping/hotel lodging around the Woodland Park/Colorado Springs area.  The plan is to run the trails around the Pike National Forest Area.

http://www.zukiworld.com/forum/zukiworld-zukfari/colorado-pike-national-forest-29-june-4-july-2015/

I have no idea where the photo above came from?

Anyways, I drove my 16-valve Samurai up Pikes Peak today. I couldn't really go fast as the road contained tight switchbacks, and the speed limit was 10-25mph. However, once I was at the 14,000 foot top, I blipped the throttle a few times.  I noted that the throttle response was quite good.  It was quite the contrast from my experience with the carb engine, which would not idle at 12,000 ft.

The photo is just a random file association that has been occurring since "THE" data base crash.  None of the pics randomly posting in my comments have been from my files, so they are getting picked up from else where. Several people have experienced them, including me.  They are always surprising, although they are at least Suzuki related.  At least I haven't come across any porn yet.

You can edit your post and remove the pic.

The photo is just a random file association that has been occurring since "THE" data base crash.  None of the pics randomly posting in my comments have been from my files, so they are getting picked up from else where. Several people have experienced them, including me.  They are always surprising, although they are at least Suzuki related.  At least I haven't come across any porn yet.

You can edit your post and remove the pic.

Some of the stripped down and built up Zuk's are more stimulating that the pop-up porn I have encountered.  (Another sign of "Old Age" "creeping" up.

I'm with ya there!