The Ultimate Rocky Mountain Roadtrip Playlist: PART 1

Imagine. It’s 5 AM, your alarm goes off and you’re instantly groggy and grumpy by being awake this early. Then you remember why you’re awake—you and your friends have been planning this weekend for months. You packed up the car last night, so all you have to do is pick all passengers up, grab coffees, and hit the road straight for the mountains for a weekend jammed packed with hiking, mountain biking, and climbing. Or maybe you're skiing and snowboarding, I don’t know what time of year it is for you!

Regardless of the activities, you are packed accordingly with all the gear. You’ve got snacks to keep your car full and happy and a tank full of gas. The one thing you forgot? Your adventure playlist!

It’s okay, I’ve got you covered.

This has been my trusty mountain adventure playlist that has served me well through the last three years. Even when I’m still stuck in the city, I like to play this and kick back, close my eyes and imagine I’m headed straight for the Rocky Mountains.

“120 East” The Brothers Comatose

A quiet, folk travel tune. The rugged acoustic production of this song is the perfect background for hitting the road and galavanting through the woods. The combination of acoustic guitar and fiddle makes it a song you’ll want to watch trees pass by outside your window to. The overall tone of the song is relatively sad and sleepy, so it’s the perfect tone for a car full of tired travellers, with fitting lyrics such as “last call, we’re drinking black coffee again” and “city blocks turn to rivers and trees.” It’s the song that tells it’s listeners that they’re in for a big day, but take your time waking up.

“N/A Ok” USS

An upbeat, contemplative rock song. This is the song you listen to when you’ve got to pull out your old map that you keep in the glove box just in case your phone loses service. It’s not too loud, but it’s not too quiet; not too fast, not too slow. It’s just right for the background noise you need for your adventure road trip. This upbeat rock song will gently rock you out of your coma and get your pumped for the day ahead.

“Whistleblower” The Arkells

This is the borderline-angry song that you listen to when you don’t want anyone to talk anymore. You just spilt piping-hot coffee all over your lap when you picked it up and found out the hard way that the plastic lid didn’t completely snap onto the paper cup. At this point you’re wondering if this trip is even worth it. There’s a tension in the vehicle now, and you know it’s all your fault but you’re just going to stay angry for a while as The Arkells provide the background music for your sleepy rage. But hang tight, it’ll get better—and there’s more playlist coming!

“Dissolve Me” alt-J

The quick opening beat just makes you want to dance in your seat. Like every song on this playlist, it just sounds like background music to your own personal mountain film. This film features a montage of you and your adventure buddies sipping beers in the chalet, slaloming around trees in fresh powder, reaching a clearing in the forest on your hike and overlooking the million-dollar view with a million-dollar smile on your face. The film ends with everyone sitting around a campfire, roasting marshmallows and wrapped in cozy blankets, laughing in slow motion.

At least, that’s what you’re picturing in your head. You’re still in the car, remember?

“We’re All In This Together” Sam Roberts Band

You’re starting to cheer up after the coffee incident to the sound of this foot-stomping beat. You look at your passengers and smile dumbly as the lyrics of the chorus start to affect you and you start to feel a little bad about the names you called them in your moment of coffee-disaster anger. You realize they’re all napping so you make a mental note to buy them all beers tonight rather than wake them up to apologize.

“The Wolves” Ben Howard

Everyone’s still sleeping to the sounds of these earthy, guitar riff and atmospheric “ooo’s” and you’re getting a little snoozy yourself. You start contemplating waking everyone up to entertain you. Should or shouldn’t you? The soothing sound of Ben Howard’s voice is the only one filling the car and you start to worry it might just be enough to put you to sleep. You’re trying to decide if you’ll wake the crew or not.