Bishop Castle- Colorado Highway 165

This castle was a fun stop recommended by friends. When we pulled up I could see a full-grown man slowly crawling across a catwalk above us. It seemed silly. Until I was up toward to top. Suddenly it made sense.


This castle has been being built for 40-some years. The builder was there working- and ranting about something. He seems to be an eccentric anti-government type. There were hand-painted signs railing about the government. It was not an OSHA-approved environment. Seriously, one could have fallen to their death at any time. There was a sign asking visitors to sign a guestbook as a release form. Kendall didn't find the guestbook until we had already cheated death and come back down.

Something some people may not know about our family is that half of it's members do not like heights.
Hint #1: This is the same half that is less prone to emotional outbursts.
Hint #2: The following photos.



Eli wanted me to include this picture and explain that he was still feeling so shaky that he was scared to sit in this chair.


I should say that while I do not consider myself to be afraid of heights, I was very shaky at the top. Safety and random openings in the walls were the big thing. Steps were welded together from metal grate, so you could see well below you. As you got higher, the castle was not built of stone walls anymore, but of metal pieces. With openings Evan could have easily slipped out of. I wanted to walk out on the catwalk far above the world, but little openings under my feet and a missing section of railing would not permit me to do it.

Eli dropped out of the climb first. Kendall shakily made his way up to where Evan and I waited. Evan would have happily scampered up to the very top, but I sent him back with Kendall. The little squirrel just wasn't bothered by the Evan-sized openings all around him! Then I kept climbing. The effect on my brain was hard to explain. Those openings really got to me...and the swaying... Anyway, you have to experience it to understand it.

I found the bathroom at the bottom and I'll just say now that I may be a bit germaphobic. The bathroom was a disgusting pit toilet and, as shaky as I was from climbing to the top, I found myself a bit panicky in that stinky bathroom. I guess one fear exaggerates another.

Thanks to Kendall's dislike of heights, Eli seems almost proud of his acrophobia. That does not seem to be a phobia that Little Brother shares. Do you think there's a name for a fear of young children that aren't afraid of things they should be afraid of?