Destination Lone Eagle Peak

I've always wanted to visit this 11,900 foot mountain. Waking in the morning and watching as the sunlight ever so tenderly kissed its tip and then gradually flowed over it like honey...the awe in my heart kept asking...can this be real?

Searching for solitude

Bathed in the late evening sun. Lost Creek Wilderness.

This area was almost deserted on a Sunday evening but 20+ people on Monday before 9am. Mostly nice but where are they coming from and why aren't they working?

Time to search for more solitude.

Out for some Sunday evening solitude on the solstice in the Lost Creek Wilderness. Check out the bottom left corner of the photo.

After the cranes

This was taken after flying in 30 mph winds trying to look at whooping cranes. Yes, despite what I had just been through I couldn't help but be blissfully happy. The lesson, don't ever try to look through binoculars from a plane that is bouncing all over the sky. It will make you sick! Yes, if you are going to "live" you might as well experience as many senses as possible. All I can say is you haven't truly "lived" until you've been in an antique, 2-seater plane in 30mph winds, watching whooping cranes with your dog (and a very cute pilot), puking your guts out into a bag...It gets wierder!!! There was no tissue to be had through the whole plane so I had to use bread to wipe up any excess and blow my nose...yes, bread.

...Fall right into place

After making a few phone calls and getting nowhere, I finally got ahold of this gentleman, Dan. I explained that I wanted to be dropped off in the middle of nowhere so I could simply "be" in a pristine part of the world where nature is still in tact AND I wanted to see the whooping cranes AND the dog had to come. Without even a hestitation, he came up with plan for making all this happen. And just to add a lovely adornment to my bliss, I got to fly around in this very-cool plane from 1954.

GET READY!

Rain and I flying into Wood Buffalo tomorrow and being dropped off on a lake at a cabin in the middle of nowhere for 4 days and 3 nights!!! I would have been terrified to do this by myself a year ago. Now I am just sucking up the bliss of not choosing to let fear be in charge of my life.

I also have a plane coming to pick me up on day 2 to go see the Whooping Cranes....Oh my gosh, I am so excited I hope I can sleep...I have to leave at 5am.

Here's a great pic of Jasper...yes the water really is that color.

Into bliss and light (lots of light)!

Love, Karen

Signing off and backpacking comment

I got a GSI backcountry coffee press. It works great other than the fact that the pour spout results in dribbling all over itself and it's spongy material...very dissapointing.

Talk in a few days. Will give Terry my whereabouts. Love Love

WHERE IS EVERYBODY?

The only person I've heard from on the blog is Ann who I have actually never met but feel like I've know my entire life. HI ANN! It's so nice to know you're out there. Thank you for your kind comments. :)

You guys don't have to give me that much solitude. Feel free to make comments!

I think I'll backpack in Jasper for two or three nights then have a nice counterpoint by ending it at either the Fairmont or the Four Seasons...good culture shock.

Mom, don't worry. I have to get a permit to camp in the backcountry here, so they will know where I am. I also have a satellite phone which I can use as long as a bear doesn't eat BOTH of my hands...sorry for the sick joke. Besides, there are lots of Europeans here (these people actually go more than 500 feet from the road) I am very likely to see other people where I am going. Love you!

This picture was taken about 45 seconds after Rain and I had a war over who was sleeping on the thermarest. She was very dissatified with her choice of bedding, but hey, I'm the one carrying everything.

I LOVE THIS COUNTRY!

Instead of using scare tactics that work on small children like "where your seatbelt or pay the price", this country actually attempts to empower its citizens. It works! These people are great drivers. They all seem to actually know what it going on around them and their actions seem aimed at making the whole system work better. They let one another pass if a driver is going slower than the rest, they don't tailgate and they're happy. Even the road construction guys who hold the "Slow" sign smiles and wave as you pass.

Border Crossing. Let the profiling begin!

OK, so I thought that I went through the standard proceedure for passing through the border. After talking to a lady later that night (who was coincidentally from Crested Butte) I found out that, aside from having my car torn apart, I got to have the more deluxe experience. A nice gentleman (border guard) grilled me with questions for 15-20 minutes. When I told him of my final destination he asked me if I had yet realized that I am crazy. As the questioning went on and I told him what I did for a living we ended up having a great discussion about medical paradigms in the US and Canada. By the end of it we were exchanging email addresses! Yes, I made friends with a Canadian border guard.

Look close

This was taken around 22:45 as i was pulling into Canmore, Alberta looking west. The light in the sky is residue from sunset which had occured around 21:30 It was still quite light at 22:15.
When you watch the sun hesitantly set over several hours and then watch the source of the light move further and further into the northern sky, you really get a awesome sense our place in our solar system.

I hadn't slept enough the night before because the sunrise wakes you up around 5:30. You would think a 10-hour drive from Yellowstone through Montana and into Canmore would be exhausting...but no. As each day of this trip passes I feel more and more awake and alive. It's as if I'm merging into the beingness of the universe and every little moment I experience becomes more and more full of life.

Yellowstone in Spring

One more Yellowstone photo. Northern Yellowstone is amazing. It's off the path of all the tourista marvels and so gives rise to true nature and wildlife enthusiasts. There was hardly a soul in site...as in, you could stop your car in the middle of the road for ten minutes without obstructing any traffic. some of the pullouts had people who had brought scopes and spent time looking for wildlife. That is how I got to see the bears. Where ever there was a scope there were usually a few people gathered around having a scope party. A lot of the people knew one another. It was a great little community of photo-sharing, birding discussions, where people had seen the alpha female wolf of this or that pack, etc. Yes, these people actually know all the individual wolves and which packs they belong to!
It was like Bright Kite but in a much more beautiful, experiential setting. This is the way to experience an interactive community!

This is at the top of Dead Indian Pass in Shoshone National Forest approaching Yellowstone. I had camped out a few miles up the road the previous night where I heard no fewer than 5 different owl calls. WOW!!!! This is THE most beautiful place I have seen in America...and it's not even in Yellowstone. I saw only 3 cars the entire drive! This place is truly amazing and since it's in the national forest there are very few regulations...heaven. You can have guns, you can camp almost anywhere you want, the dog doesn't need to be on a leash and it's legal to beat your children :)

Petroglyph site

This was so cool! I stopped in Thermopolis, WY after my two nights of camping to soak in the hot springs and, more importantly, take a shower. When I was leaving I asked the the lady at the front desk if she knew a good place to have a picnic and let the dog run amuck. There was an off-duty forest ranger there. He told me about this petroglyph site (in the middle of nowhere) and told me, if I promised not to vandalize it, he would give me the gate keys to access it...it's not really open to the public. I know, I know, best not to take keys from strangers but check it out! There were hundreds of these drawings all along this cliff that faced a lazy creek. If I were an indian, I would have sat with my back against those warm cliffs, taken in the view, shot arrows at passing game and would have drawn on the walls to pass the time. :)

Raging Popo Agie River

Each night while I was camping it rained...hard. (By the way, Shamwows are amazing for drying your tent if you have to pack it before it has time to dry.)

For three days and two nights I watched this river rise 5-6 inches per day. The morning I packed up to leave it was coming down so violently that I was grateful to not sleep by that beautiful river another night.

Camping on Popo Agie

Here is where my home was for a couple of nights on the raging Popo Agie River.
I backpacked in a little ways and the biggest thing I realized was that I brought way too much crap on my trip. Once out in the wilderness, I realized how little I really need.

I now see why people invented counters and tables. If you don't have these things, you end up bending over a lot...I leave this open to interpretation.

My body is sore and tired from camping but my mind is quiet enough that I can finally hear my soul again.

This is the Popo Agie River swallowing aspen trees outside of Lander, WY.

Pine Martin Outside of Yellowstone

Today was the first day of my trip that I experienced my fear melting away and giving rise to a lovely flow of serenity and bliss. I saw so many amazing things including a black bear with two cubs.

I made it out of the rain!

Welcome to Wyoming! Just over the border.

More flooding. Cowdrey on CR125 north of Walden.

Road flooded at bottom of Cameron Pass. Did I mention there was lots of water?

Cameron Pass (CR 14) in the Medicine Bow Range. Spectacular drive. I think this is Mt. Richthofen.

More raging torrents. Cache La Poudre.

Cache La Poudre swollen to its banks.

Driving a Volvo (non-truck) in Wyoming is like walking around with a little man growing out of the back of your head. Driving back from my campsite this morning, I encountered exactly two vehicles...an ATV and an F150. Both times they stopped and asked me if something was wrong. Granted, it was kind of out of the way but really?

To my surprise, the road back out had flooded overnight so I was very grateful for the guys in the F150...they just drove across first to make sure it was OK. :)