More of the Winds

Can't stop the Winds

The always stunning and extremely rugged Wind River Mountains... I can't get enough of this mountain range. I crave these mountains. They consume my thoughts and day dreams--from exploring every trail, finding a new lake, new route to hike, sleeping in them, fishing in them and swimming in them. I'm grateful for the few times I had with them this summer but I am sad to see this season of backpacking come to a close. The short summer and even shorter fall allows just a few months to explore these hills. On this last trek, after tossing and turning all night in my sleeping bag trying to get warm I got up the next morning to my water in my camelback being frozen solid. That's when I realized I was on my final trip of the season in the Winds. So, now I have all winter and spring to plan my next Wind River adventure and hopefully I find some new recruits to join me.

Ahhhh Brooks Lake

Every time I drive over Towgotee Pass I have to take a detour up to Brooks Lake in Shoshone National Forest. Back in the summer of 2007 when I took a NOLS backpacking course, (National Outdoor Leadership School), we finished the 34 day trip by coming out at the picturesque Brooks Lake. Not only is Brooks Lake sentimental to me because of that course but the scenery is stunning in every direction. Some of the pictures look smoky from the nearby Cub Creek forest fire.

Northern Wind River

This was a nice little solo backpackin' trip with just Charlotte, and I. She is the best backpacking dog EVER!

Warm and Wonderful String Lake

Time Alone

I have a very inconvenient work schedule meaning my days off are NOT everyone elses weekend. Which, means it's fairly impossible to find someone to come backpacking with me. It's not like I can take just anyone backpacking. There are key requirements to be able to live symbiotically together in the woods and possibly during extreme circumstances (intense weather, surprise snow, blistering feet, minor injuries, low blood sugar, etc)... I live in a really beautiful place nestled in the foothills of the Teton mountain range. I'm also 2 hours away from the most (in my little traveled opinion) spectacular mountain range on the planet--- The Wind River Mountains. Go ahead and look em' up but be sure to click on" images" when you do. What I'm getting at is that the outdoor possibilities here, when it comes to backpacking and hiking, are endless. Every warm month season here it's like pulling teeth to get folks to come backpacking for 2+ days. Day hiking? No problem. Everyone and anyone is down for some fun day hikin'! Sometimes I feel lonelier in the front country than in the backcountry. 

Beartooth Mountains

There are a lot of really cool places within a 4-5 hour drive from where we live. For example, the Beartooth Mountains. This mountain range sits upon the larger Beartooth Plateau, the largest true high elevation plateau in the United States. Almost 400 species of plants have been discovered and the Beartooths are considered to be the most biologically unique mountain range in North America. The region is also one of the few remaining with sizable populations of Grizzly Bears outside of Alaska and Canada. Black Bears, mountain goats, Bighorn Sheep, elk, moose, wolverine, mountain lion, and lynx are also found here. The Beartooth's are composed of Precambrian granite and crystalline metamorphic rocks dated at approximately 4 billion years old, making these rocks some of the oldest on Earth!

South Leigh Lakes

Taylor Mountain is a BEAST!

Taylor Mountain is an ass kickin' kind of hike. Short, sweet, and straight up. The flowers and 360 degree views were the pay off.

WHY I love backpacking

Sometimes I ---- feel fat, like a loser, like a burden to my friends, like a complicated mess, ugly, annoying, selfish, out of control, hate people, hate my job, don't like my friends and all of their problems, hate the sound of my own voice, feel so insecure, talentless, not unique or special and unloved. But when I'm backpacking in the Wilderness, all of that goes away. None of that silly stuff matters anymore. Its just me and the trees. Life becomes so beautifully simple while in the woods. I know what I have to do to survive and keep my mind and body safe, and I do it. I do it well. I enjoy the pain of carrying a 40-50lb backpack for miles deep into rugged Wilderness. Those blisters on my feet are a sign of being free from societies screaming burdens and my pressing insecurities. And they feel great. I love it. I love it with a passion. The Wilderness is my church. I enter it's trails and everything becomes clear and okay again. There is nothing more true and real than being surrounded by nature and it's blanket of peace that it brings me.

Greta DOG OF THE WEEK!

Each week the local hot dog stand called "Rockin' Dogs Hot Dogs" has a dog of the week photo contest on their Facebook page. The winning photo earns the dog a hot dog flavored "pupsicle." This is Greta accepting her frozen treat. She is just too damn cute!

My Little Garden Project

It's very different growing things in a cooler, high altitude, mountain climate. I could grow anything in Tennessee. I had cantaloupe, strawberries, peppers of many varieties, cucumbers, some herbs and a ton of tomatoes. Here, in Idaho, nestled in the foothills of the Tetons, it's a challenge to grow anything without the use of a green house. The temps here can dip below freezing all summer long. The wind that accompanies a thunderstorm is usually of hurricane force. So having a garden here without protection from the elements is a gamble so I started with a small raised bed garden. The tomatoes have taken a beating but are continuing to produce. The zucchini is taking over and the beans and peas are doing great! Here are a few pictures of my garden BEFORE and AFTER.

Hot Air

At least 3x a week they do hot air balloon flights which launch from the field in front of our house.

A Rough Year

This year has been a rough one to say the least. I'm using this post as sort of therapy for myself. Like a diary or just to get "this" off my chest. On April 28th my husband went to the Emergency Room because he had breathing problems. I had just flown back to Tennessee the day before to care for my 99 year old Grandmother (who lives with my folks) while they were on vacation--otherwise I would have been with him. The Docs discovered a "mass" blocking his airway and they life flighted him by helicopter to a larger hospital an hour away. Doctors there did an emergency tracheostomy because the mass was very close to blocking his entire airway completely. After 4 days and 2 biopsies, they discovered he had an extremely rare benign tumor in his larynx. A tumor so rare that he is the 29th documented case in the WORLD. My healthy, active, non-smoking, husband. So random. So strange and so surreal. It turned our lives upside down. It also brought us closer as a couple. Strengthening our bond to each other. It opened our eyes to our own shortcomings and failures within ourselves and in our relationship. We have overcome these things and have tackled this tumor with freight train force. Together. And we won... After he left the hospital, tumor still in tow and new trache to breathe from, we began our quest and research to find a Doctor to tackle this demon. We went to Huntsman Cancer Center in Salt Lake City (even though it wasn't cancer they also treat tumors). The arrogant Doctor at Huntsman who barely had time to visit with us (a whopping 10 minutes on two different occasions) wanted to treat Matt with a full Laryngectomy with possible radiation. A full laryngectomy means Matt would go from 39 years old to an 89 years old lifestyle, overnight. He would be left with a permanent trache for the rest of his life which means, no skiing, swimming, snorkeling/diving, backpacking, hiking, cardio of any kind, and no showering without a lampshade thing over his neck, in addition to people looking at him like he got that way from being a heavy smoker. After feeling deflated from this diagnosis we didn't know where to turn other than researching the web--which is impossible when a tumor is so rare because there is little to no information out there on it. Luckily, the initial Doctor who first saw Matt in the ER here called him (I answered because Matt had no voice) out of sheer curiosity in how his treatment was coming along after discovering this tumor. I told him we were devastated after learning about his treatment options at Huntsman. Matt asked me to ask him if we could come in to the hospital here and speak to him. I explained he'd have to read Matt's lips since he had no voice. When we arrived he had printed out several articals on the web from medical journals about this particular rare tumor and the treatment that few doctors had provided. There was ONE case in the United States where the patient had been treated by having a partial laryngectomy by a doctor in Arizona at the Mayo Clinic over 10 years ago. This gave us hope. On Monday morning I called the Mayo Clinic, got him registered as a patient and explained our dire situation. After all, the tumor was still growing and threatening more damage. The secretary expedited our appointment after receiving all of the faxes and oncology reports from Huntsman and the two hospitals here. She asked if we could be there by Wednesday to see the doctor. After hanging up the phone I told Matt to pack his bags we're leaving in 2 hours to drive 16.5 hours to AZ. We drove, we saw the doctor and made the appointment for the removal. We spent nearly an hour with this doctor. He was wonderful. He couldn't believe there was "another case." Three weeks later Matt had the tumor removed by having a partial laryngectomy. He is nearly three months after surgery and is healing beautifully. He still has a trache in his neck to breathe through during the healing time. And yes, he is still healing and dealing with swelling on the inside. We hope the trache comes out next week when he flies to AZ for his 2nd post op visit. Fingers crossed. While viewing pictures on my blog you'll probably notice the trache on his neck. It's almost over. He's been amazing. His spirits have remained ridiculously high during this whole ordeal. The only time they were low was after seeing the doctor at Huntsman. I think I carry the emotions for both of us. I'm just looking at this as a mere speed bump in life.