A view of the Continental Divide at Loveland Pass. (iStockphoto.com/srodgers)

This may or may not be a good place to confess that a fear of heights has kept me from truly appreciating some amazing views. You probably wouldn’t, for example, ever find me climbing up the side of a steep cliff or dangling from one of those zip-line thingies. Even riding in an enclosed vehicle on mountainous terrain puts me on edge. As I learned last year, though, sometimes all you need to overcome your fear is this: a bigger fear. In my case, that über-scary thing was an adorable, too-expensive handbag, and it sent me straight into Colorado’s Loveland Pass.

Yes, the danger of making an unwise purchase spurred me to face my phobia — a kind of logic that, unless you’ve ever had buyer’s remorse, you might not fully grasp. To me it made perfect sense: Avoid I-70, the usual route my husband and I drive between Breckenridge and Denver (and the one with easy access to the outlet stores), and instead take the more scenic U.S. Route 6, which takes you over the 11,990-foot-high summit of Loveland Pass before meeting back up with the interstate. I figured, hey, even if we plummeted down the side of the mountain, at least I wouldn’t go broke.

And I have to admit, I was a little bit curious. Loveland Pass sits on the Continental Divide — that invisible line that separates the Atlantic and Pacific oceans — and, according to Allsummitcounty.com , it’s the highest road in the United States that stays open pretty much year-round. It’s been around since 1879, and gets its name from William A. H. Loveland, who was president of the Colorado Central Railroad Company in the 19th century.

Back in the day, Loveland Pass may have been part of a grandiose railroad extension plan (which never materialized), but today it’s a place where both Colorado natives and travelers come to snap pictures, and adrenaline junkies come to hike, bike and if they dare, ski. Apparently, the terrain around the pass is quite prone to avalanches, so you really need to know what you’re doing to take to those slopes.

Admittedly, I covered my eyes as we wound our way up Loveland Pass Road, which has plenty of curves — and alarmingly few guardrails. But, getting up the nerve to peek through my fingers, I could see what the fuss was about: a front row seat to the Rocky Mountain’s Front Range, patches of snow (even though it was summer), and blue, blue sky for miles. And it didn’t cost me a dime.

Follow Coolest Stuff on Twitter at http://twitter.com/CoolestStuffHSW and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CoolestStuff.