I Travel And Stuff

We stopped by the ranch for breakfast which was really nice. I enjoy Luke’s grandparents and Rock made some awesome omelettes. It was a feast.

We got on the road a little after 11 o’clock and drove for roughly six hours to the Jackson area. We made a few stops throughout the day and we even passed through Rock Springs. Long time no see.

We found a National Forest area just south of town and that made a good campsite for the night. We heard some animals extremely close to the van just after settling in. They might have been a group of elk or deer – it was really difficult to make it out. And I wasn’t going out there to check least I frighten them and have a bigger issue on my hands.

The next morning we got settled into town and I went with my parents into Teton Village while Amanda worked. Dad was really excited to get on the tram to the top of the Jackson Hole ski resort. The ride was really awesome to the top. I’m excited to go back in the winter and get some skiing done up there.

We probably spent an hour or so up there and then we made our way back to town for lunch. We ate, picked up Amanda when she was done with work, and then we moved toward the national park.

Then we drove the scenic loop road through the park, which is about a 40-mile trip back to the visitors center in Moose Junction. Made a few stops along the way at some scenic overlooks, got caught in a bison-induced traffic jam, and we saw a bull elk with a fantastic rack on it.

The visibility of the mountains wasn’t so great, unfortunately. It’s amazing that the smoke and haze from the forest fires in California can affect the visibility here. We still had a good time though.

The next day Mom and Dad left for Yellowstone earlier in the day. We got a start in the afternoon and tried to make it into the park for a hike. But the weather was total garbage at around 4 o’clock. By the time we made it to Jackson Lake, it was thunderstorming pretty hard.

It’s all good. I mean I was a little frustrated at the moment but you can’t control the weather. I’ll be back eventually for some more hiking here.

We got up to Cheyenne later in the afternoon on Friday with the intention of making it into the fair that night. But everyone else had gotten in earlier and they weren’t planning to stay much longer after we got in. So we decided to just make a full day of it on Saturday.

We met up with my family and Luke’s parents in town at this pub-type spot. It was actually fairly large to be fair. They had some cheap beer and a game room downstairs. That kept us busy while we were waiting for our table.

The next day Amanda and I got into the park fairly early – about 9 AM or so. We walked around and chatted with some of the men competing in the camp cooking competition. It was pretty cool to see. Every group had their own wagon and camp set up and everything they cooked had to be on the campfire. We even got a bit of free coffee.

After that, we went over and enjoyed some Native American dancing. It was really amazing to see. All of the singers and dancers had come to perform from Native American reservations in Wyoming and the Dakotas. The singers were probably my favorite part. They have some strong pipes man to sing like they do every day.

The dancers were great too. The traditional men’s dancing was more energetic and they covered way more ground. The women danced as well but their dances were more conservative in nature.

I think it’s really great that they put these types of performances on at the festival every year. Some people might think that it’s more of a negative thing. I mean you have a group of native people performing for a crowd that is for the most part white.

But the audience respects the traditions of the native people and it is a way to keep the culture alive. It gives the younger generation confidence that what they are learning is worthwhile and is respected not only within their own community but outside of it as well.

We met up with everyone around lunchtime and we made our way into the rodeo. It was my first rodeo ever and it certainly did not disappoint.

There were a handful of events and the entire thing lasted about three hours. The first event was bronco riding. Most of the riders stay on for the allotted eight seconds and they are each given a score based on their technique. It’s kind of like gymnastics in a way.

They had several events involving steers, which are young male cows. You had the roping events and you had the steer wrestling. I didn’t enjoy these ones as much because the animals seemed to be at risk of getting injured. Especially the wrestling. The men would twist the steer’s neck in order to tackle it to the ground. It was quite gruesome.

The last few events were the most exciting. You had the barrel racing which is a women-only event. That was exciting because the difference between qualifying for the finals and dropping out was only a few tenths of a second.

Then there was the bull riding. The most famous. Most of the men couldn’t stay on the bull for the full eight seconds. But this one man did an amazing job staying on when it seemed like he was going to get thrown off from the get-go. He got a great score.

The last event was the wild horse race which was by far the most gruesome. Not for the animals but for the people. They bring in a bunch of unbroken horses and teams of three men have to control the horse, saddle it, and then one of them has to ride it around the track.

The horses weren’t pleased to be there, to say the least. Men were being dragged across the ground, kicked, and charged at. I mean have to give these people credit. They were determined to get on these horses. But I think out of the fifteen or so teams that competed only three or four actually made it around and back.

It’s been a journey the last few months. I have to take a look at my dash but I’ve traveled well over 5,000 miles since I left in May.

Quite a few things have happened since then. I made it through five different states and two national parks. A few national monuments too. I got stuck in the mountains with a dead alternator. I started rock climbing and fly fishing. And I met someone to share all of these experiences with.

It’s been good to have some time to rest. It’s one of those things where you’re not tired until you have an opportunity to feel tired. I was feeling fine when we were in Lander and on the way back to Colorado. But I took a few solid days to rest up when I got back in Arvada. It was nice to be a couch potato for a bit.

I brought the car to the mechanic to get everything checked out. Everything is looking good. This van has been such a blessing so far. I’m really thankful that I was able to find something that has been steady and reliable. Shout out to Dad for shopping around with me last year in Florida. It was frustrating but we found a good deal.

I spent some time this last week updating a few things in the van. I changed the kitchen set up a bit and added a fold-out table to the back door. It should be very useful with the grill. There were a few other things I wanted to add but I didn’t have enough time to get to them. I will do some more work when I get back in the fall.

The time has flown by so fast this past week. But I am excited to get back on the road again. It’s my happy place.

From here we will go to Cheyenne for a few days and check out the rodeo with the fam. And then from there, we will be in the Grand Teton/Yellowstone area with Mom and Dad for a few days.

Friday was a pretty slow day to be fair. We slept in and hung out at the campsite until after lunch. I didn’t mind too much. Thursday was supposed to be a “rest day” but the trail work was actually fairly exhausting (surprise right?).

There was an expo in the main park and we spent most of the afternoon and early evening there. They had a bunch of different tents set up with different types of climbing gear. Amanda was really keen on buying a new rope but she couldn’t find anything that she liked.

They had a bunch of different events. I really enjoyed the table bouldering competition. Participants would start out on the top of the table and then would have to climb under and through the table. They drilled in a bunch of climbing holds underneath the table.

It was fun t watch how strong the competitors are. Bouldering takes a combination of strength and technique. I’m excited to learn how to use my body so I can become a more effective climber.

There were a few other competitions but they weren’t very exciting. We stayed around until 7 o’clock and made our way back to the campsite.

We got an early start on Saturday and made our way to the bouldering area twenty minutes down the road. We met up with a few of the women that we had met earlier in the week and spent about four hours doing some climbs.

We spent about an hour on each boulder and I had a really good time. Most of the boulders we were working on were way about my skill level but I still gave all of them a shot. I think I did fairly well.

The last boulder we were climbing on was a bit easier than the others. I was a bit disappointed that I wasn’t able to finish it off because I think I had the strength to do so. But yeah technique matters too. I need to be patient with myself. It will come in time.

It was our last night in Lander so we decided to go out and party a bit. There’s only one bar in the town and they had live music so we just hung out in the beer garden and did a bit of dancing. The band was playing all different sorts of covers. We got everything from Snoop Dogg to The Rolling Stones.

On Wednesday another one of Amanda’s friends joined us. Gal is actually Amanda’s rock climbing coach and damn is this girl a strong climber.

We spent the whole day at the Aspen Glades climbing area. It’s close by to where we are camping but it’s a bit more of a hike in. I don’t mind too much. It seems like hiking into some really scenic spots is a part of the climbing process which is something that I enjoy anyway.

The first part of the day was a bit boring for me because this area didn’t have many beginners level climbs. So we were more focused on getting Gal and Alex on the wall as a group. They are the strongest climbers. It was still cool watching them tackle some pretty difficult routes. You can learn by just watching. But yeah, sitting in the woods just watching other people for hours gets a bit boring.

I was able to get on a few climbs later in the afternoon. They were mostly intermediate climbs and again I wasn’t able to finish them. That was alright. I was able to apply a few of the things that I learned on day one. I took some time after my falls to study the wall and that definitely helped me get through some sections.

I also pushed myself to use some smaller foot holds and that definitely worked out well for me. I have to trust the shoes that I got. The rubber is very sticky on the underside and it will help provide some traction in the smaller foot holds. The shoes are designed to fit very tight and wow do my toes hurt after a run! Something I will have to get used to.

We spent pretty much the entire day at the crag and we didn’t get back to the campsite until close to sunset. We made a quick and simple dinner and sat around the fire for an hour or so before going to bed.

The next day we all volunteered with the forest service and helped create a hiking trail to a few of the climbing areas. It was basically clearing vegetation to form a trail, moving rocks into places that helped with water irrigation, and throwing logs around so that the machine workers could finish everything off.

It was definitely tough work but it was cool to give back. I woke up feeling a bit anxious for God knows what reason. But getting some good exercise in and giving back made me feel a whole lot better. You walk the trails sometimes and you wonder how they are kept in such good shape. Now I know what it takes.

We went into town in the late afternoon and ran some errands. Grabbed a shower, did some food shopping, and filled up the water tank. By the time we finished, it was about 5 PM and they had an event in town for the festival.

We stopped off at the climbing store and signed in, got our tickets, collected our goody bag, and got our free beer. There were a bunch of vendors along the street and we walked up and down and checked things out. Amanda and I bought a few small prints for the van. It’s a bit bare in there and I want to make it feel a bit homier.

They had a festival opening party at the local bar and we grabbed some food and hung out for a bit. They had a pull-up competition and they raffled off a few things. Alex ended up winning some fairly expensive binoculars.

From the Dubois area, it was about an hour and a half drive into Lander. We didn’t plan on getting into town until Tuesday or Wednesday but we were making good time. And a lot of the hikes we were really excited to do were on the other side of the mountain range. We couldn’t get to them from the road we were on. So we will hit them up when we move north from Cheyenne in August.

We found a short hike to a waterfall and a swimming hole just south of town. It was a fun trail. Not too much elevation gain and right along the river here. The swimming hole was a really nice temperature and we hung out there for a good while.

It was exactly what we needed but we were both feeling a little anxious and tense I think. Amanda had a few different friends that we were going to meet in Lander. It can be a bit stressful when friends that have never met each other get together for the first time. Of course, you want everyone to get along.

From there we just chilled out for the rest of the afternoon. The park in town allows camping for free so we set up shop after the hike and played on the slackline for a bit. It’s not the biggest park and a lot of the events for the festival will be there. It’s going to get very chaotic there.

In the evening Amanda’s friend Alex got into town and met us at the park. I had spoken with her a few times over the phone over the last few weeks. She was having some electrical issues in her van. So I was helping her out a bit to help fix the issues. It was really fun meeting her.

The next day we drove up to the Wild Iris climbing area and established a camp. There’s a lot of space here. We waited until later in the afternoon to go down to the climbing area. You can’t climb when it is too hot or sunny because the rock is too hot to climb.

I had all my gear and I got on the first climb. A 5.8 which is a sold climb for a beginner. I was able to complete it. I was pretty proud of myself. My first outdoor climb and I was able to “send” it.

I got on a few harder climbs but I was only able to get up halfway or so. I wasn’t discouraged or anything – I wasn’t really expecting to be able to finish them. They were two levels above the first climb I did so they were true intermediate climbs.

I learned two things. One, I can have my belayer (that’s the person the manages the rope for you while you climb) hold me up there around the more difficult parts of the climb. You can study the wall and figure out what kind of path you want to take while you’re hanging there. When I fell the first day I would just get back on the wall and try again without coming up with a game plan and that became frustrating after a while.

Second, I can put my feet in smaller holds on the wall. My first few climbs I would look for foot holds and I wouldn’t consider some because they seemed so small. But Amanda and Alex would tell me I could use them. I need to become more comfortable and gain a better understanding with what can be used.

I will say, and I don’t want to sound vain, but I am not scared of falling or of the height. I wasn’t sure how I would feel about it but it’s not a mental block for me at this point. It definitely helps when you are surrounded by experienced climbers. It makes you feel safe.

I did a fairly big drive after leaving Craters of the Moon. We hit up Idaho Falls for some coffee and a shower but we didn’t stay very long. And we were back on the road around lunchtime. The next stop is Jackson, Wyoming.

We were fairly hungry when we arrived and we stopped at a BBQ joint in town. We were in the mood for something a little greasy. It was fairly good to be fair.

Then back in the car. I found a campsite northeast of town with good views of the mountains. We have to be in Lander this upcoming weekend and this will put us on the road that will lead us there.

It was such a tease though. In order to get to the campsite, we had to drive right by Grand Teton National Park. The mountains here are so beautiful. We will be heading back here with my parents in August. So we decided to hold off on visiting for now.

The camp itself was really stunning. Thirty minutes east of the national park up in the mountains. The view was absolutely stunning and we had a fire and made smores and just had a proper camping experience out there. The mosquitoes were brutal but no campsite is perfect I guess.

We got to the Dubois area the next day but the main draw was the camping and hiking in this area. The Wind River Range is in this area of Wyoming and we decided to go to Brook’s Lake and camp there.

This area is absolutely stunning. The lake is so blue and the view from our campsite of the lake and the mountains was great value for fifteen dollars!

In the later afternoon we hiked up to another lake and I did a bit of fly fishing and Amanda chilled out in the hammock and did some reading. I didn’t have much luck until this older gentleman came along and started fishing with me.

He gave me a few tips on how to use a nymph fly. The nymph imitates a bug rising from the lake floor as it makes its way to the surface. I wasn’t giving it enough time to sink to the bottom and bringing in the fly too soon and too quickly.

I was able to catch a foot-long cutthroat trout while I was there and I changed up my fly presentation. It’s the biggest fish I have caught on the fly rod so far. I still have a lot to learn but I’m excited to continue on with it.

We left the Stanley area early and made it into Ketchum for breakfast. Ketchum is a ski resort town and it reminds me a lot of Steamboat. There’s a lot of money here and if you heard some of the conversations in the coffee shop you’d understand what I am talking about.

We didn’t spend too much time here. We did some work at the cafe, browsed around in one of the thrift stores, had some lunch, and then we were off.

Today’s destination was Craters of the Moon. It’s a national monument and it’s about one hour and a half from Ketchum.

The drive itself was pretty cool. You go from these lush green mountains and forested land to the plains and then suddenly you hit the landscape that is just covered in black volcanic rock.

About 2,000 years ago there was a volcanic eruption in this area but there has been volcanic activity in this place for over ten thousand years. There is a weak point in the earth’s crust and the tectonic plates are slowly moving over it. The geothermal activity that heats the geysers in Yellowstone also resulted in the volcanic eruptions here.

The park is more of a drive-through park. There aren’t a huge number of hiking trails. The big-ticket items are the lava tube caves and the shield volcano.

We went toward the caves first and they were really amazing to walk through. I have never done anything like that before. The walk through the tubes was about a half-mile and there were skylights throughout, the result of the tube ceiling collapsing over time.

The hike up the Inferno Cone was nice and short. Only a quarter of a mile to the top but it provided amazing views of the surrounding area. There is so much contrast between the mountains in the distance and the pitch-black rocks that make up the park.

We checked out the spatter cones nearby as well. They are the result of spurts of lava coming through the earth’s crust slowly over time. The lava solidifies and builds a cone-type structure. One of them had snow still inside of it! It doesn’t get much sunlight and it stays well insulated throughout the year. It was appropriately named Snow Cone.

We stayed at the campground near the visitors center and we went to the ranger talk in the evening. They talked about the native people’s relationship with the land and how they used it for hunting thousands of years ago. They also touched on the first American explorers to this part of Idaho and how this area ended up becoming a National Monument. It was very informative.

We left Boise in the late morning on Tuesday. We could have spent a few more days but there doesn’t seem to be anything in Boise to keep us around. There are great outdoor spaces and hiking but there isn’t something that we wouldn’t be able to see somewhere else.

We moved north. The destination is Stanley, Idaho. Population 100 people or so. About a three-hour drive.

The drive up was quite nice. You move from the Boise Basin into the mountains slowly. About an hour in we got to a nice little stopping point. Along the river, there was a natural hot spring that we took a dip in. Then we jumped into the river to cool off and we were off again.

We got into Stanley around 7 ‘clock and moved towards this camping spot that was supposed to have amazing views of the mountains. I was a little concerned we weren’t going to find a site because it is so competitive here.

But we were able to find one. It was a smaller pull-off next to the road and close by to another camper. But we asked her if it was chill for us to stay and she was about it. We hung out and had a fire that night and made a new friend.

The campsite might be the best campsite I’ve ever stayed at. Definitely in the Top 5. The sites on the Kepler Track in New Zealand and the one we found in Telluride come to mind.

The next day was a big hiking day. We got into the national forest and started off on our hike to Sawtooth Lake. A 9-mile hike to a few alpine lakes.

The hike itself wasn’t overly difficult. I mean it was fairly long and we got a fair bit of elevation but there was never a point where I felt winded or tired. It was one of those hikes where you just had amazing views the entire time. This is a special place.

We camped in the forest that night and got an early start the next morning. Amanda had one more day of work before taking a week off and she had a lot to get done.

We spent the afternoon hanging out at another hot spring. Geez, was this place epic. And we were the only people there. I was surprised – I figured it would be swarmed. The water was the perfect temperature and you had the river right there to cool off in. But I guess this is Idaho. You have all the beautiful spots to yourself.

Boise is a cute little city. It actually reminds me a lot of Denver but just a lot smaller. The Airbnb was in a good area and it was exactly what we needed. Got some laundry done, did a deep clean, and got some good sleep.

McKenzie, who is a friend I met through Luke, lives in Boise now. She moved there with her husband last year. We spent the afternoon of the 4th with them. They live in this suburban neighborhood about 15 minutes outside of Boise.

Their house is very beautiful. A really solid size but not overly huge. A good backyard and enough space for the dogs.

They were saying that the community had a reputation for having a lot of swingers. And all the swingers have colorful doors. And their door is very colorful so they might be getting a few knocks I am thinking!

The community put on a bit of a block party for the holiday. They had a band and food trucks and there was a nice green space for everyone to hang out in. The band was very good. They took requests and we did a bit of dancing.

We headed back into the city around 4 o’clock and rested until later in the evening. We went down to the main park in town for the fireworks celebration afterward. The show was actually fairly impressive. And it wasn’t so busy. Boise isn’t too large and doesn’t have too many people. If that same shin-dig was happening in NY everyone would have been on top of each other.