My Adventures

27 Nov Wind River High Route – Day 9 – Hiking Out

Posted at 19:28h in My Adventures 9 Comments

“Here is my secret. It is very simple. It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; What is essential is invisible to the eye.” — The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint Exupery I started thinking about writing this final Wind River High Route entry into my blog on our very first day of hiking the route - in fact, I started thinking about it within the very first mile of setting foot on the trail. Honestly, it tormented me a little bit - there...

23 Nov Wind River High Route – Day 8 – On the Divide

Posted at 05:05h in My Adventures 8 Comments

“Live your questions now, and perhaps even without knowing it, you will live along some distant day into your answers. ” — Rainier Maria Rilke The Wind River High Route does not "let you out" without a fight. As rocky and strenuous as day 7 had been, day 8 would prove to be just as challenging. We woke in our tent to a bitterly cold morning and a spectacular sunrise. Achingly familiar with our daily routine, we loaded up our packs (which were now, mercifully, much lighter), and...

30 Oct Wind River High Route – Day 7 – Did I mention the rocks?

Posted at 23:21h in My Adventures 6 Comments

“Adieu to disappointment and spleen. What are men to rocks and mountains?” — Jane Austen After a half-day rest and a good night's sleep, we woke up on day 7 feeling (somewhat) refreshed and rejuvenated - well, as much as one can feel rejuvenated on the High Route, at least. We were awake, I was able to eat my breakfast bar, and all of our limbs were functioning - the benchmark of a successful morning. We started early in the morning, so that we could ascend Blaurock Pass...

24 Oct Wind River High Route – Day 6 – Exhausted

Posted at 20:07h in My Adventures 2 Comments

“He found himself understanding the wearisomeness of this life, where every path was an improvisation and a considerable part of one’s waking life was spent watching one’s feet. ” — William Golding, Lord of the Flies The morning of day 6 dawned clear and frigid. We were sleeping in every single layer of clothing, so waking up posed a slight challenge - namely, it was way too cold. Over the years, I've come to realize that one of the hardest parts of climbing a mountain is getting out...

18 Oct Wind River High Route – Day 5 – Mountains Don’t Care

Posted at 07:36h in My Adventures 7 Comments

“No matter how sophisticated you may be, a large granite mountain cannot be denied – it speaks in silence to the very core of your being.” — Ansel Adams We woke on day 5 and quickly moved into the familiarity of our daily routine - eat, pack the tent, and depart. Our annotated mapset merely showed us moving from page 4 to page 5 ...

30 Sep Wind River High Route – Day 4 – Out of the Fog

Posted at 23:33h in My Adventures 4 Comments

“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?” —...

22 Sep Wind River High Route – Day 3 – Rhythm

Posted at 02:00h in My Adventures 3 Comments

“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...

14 Sep Wind River High Route – Day 2 – Leaving the Trail Behind

Posted at 23:26h in My Adventures 5 Comments

“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...

09 Sep Wind River High Route – Day 1 – The Beginning

Posted at 20:00h in My Adventures 9 Comments

“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...

31 Jul Ptarmigan redux days 4-6

Posted at 22:25h in My Adventures 0 Comments

This is part two of my Ptarmigan-versary story. Five years ago this week, my friend Brenda and I completed the Ptarmigan Traverse in the North Cascades, after much dreaming and planning. This entry into my blog details days 4-6 of our adventure. Click here to read about the first three days. “People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every...