September 2016

“Now is life very solid or very shifting? I am haunted by the two contradictions. This has gone on forever; goes down to the bottom of the world — this moment I stand on. Also it is transitory, flying, diaphanous. I shall pass like a cloud on the waves. Perhaps it may be that though we change, one flying after another, so quick, so quick, yet we are somehow successive and continuous we human beings, and show the light through. But what is the light?” —...

“It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson Day three dawned cool and clear with a mirror-like aspect to Bonneville Lake and, unfortunately, yet another altitude-induced headache that made me feel as though I had spent the previous night drinking tequila shots (for the record, I did not...

“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths. ” — Walt Disney When I visualized the high route in my mind before our trip, I had an image of how much I would enjoy waking up each morning - emerging from the coziness of the tent and feeling the first rays of the sun hitting my face.  Standing up and breathing in the crisp, mountain air.  Sipping my hot coffee and nibbling on my...

“A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world. ” — Oscar Wilde I started dreaming about returning to the Wind River Range within moments of finishing our 6 day loop in that locale last summer.  Still sore and un-showered, I was already scheming on something bigger and more epic.  My qualifications for an acceptable route were simple: rugged mountains, spectacular views, demoralizing physical exhaustion and formidable challenges.   As...