Load Up the ATVs, We're Going Hiking
A few days ago mom, dad and I went up to the mine for a day trip. Some people's fathers get a sports car, or a boat or pool table to treat themselves; to have something that is just theirs that they love. Mine bought a mine. It's an old defunct mine, but a mine none the less. It's in the middle of nowhere. From Cody you drive two hours into Sunlight Basin and then take four-wheelers for two hours more once the road gets too bad. You eventually have to stop once you hit the glacier. Those things can be hard to cross in any vehicle.
Years ago, before mom and dad got the ATVs, we would hike into the mine. That was an all day project that left us exhausted by the time we got home. Now, with our forest assault vehicles, getting to the mine is much easier, but I feel that something is lost in the speed in which we expedite our mine adventures now. Now there's less danger of being caught in catastrophic downpours at 11,000 feet. Now we can out drive the grizzly bears instead of trying to out run them. Now the approach to the mine feels more like an assault and less like an accomplishment. Something seems lost.
However, I know if I would have hiked in I would have bitched to mom and dad about the need to get some ATVs. If nothing else I can comfort myself with the thought of another Nathan in an alternate reality hiking his ass off to the mine and complaining about it the whole way. Now I don't feel so bad.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Wanker and Lake in the Background
One the opposing mountain is a glacier lake tucked way up high. On a previous trip I made it up to the lake. I didn't feel so adventurous or energized on this trip. I was content just to point it out.
Mom and Dad's Glacier
This is my dad's nemesis. The glacier behind my mom, not my mom. As you can see the glacier blocks the road and stops all vehicular traffic. Every year my dad declares war on the glacier and every year the glacier wins (I mean, it's a glacier. Who do you think is going to win.) He's tried plowing it, digging it, blowing it up, and melting it. Here's to another year of war.
Pretty Flowery Things
I've seen these plants before and I know that they are some type of succulent, parasite, symbiotic sort of plant. Still, they are very pretty. (Side note: The Orris, knower of all things wise and not so wise, just told me it's a type of Sedum. )
funky Ice Stuff
This was is in the Morning Star Cave. It's ice covered by this funky, moldly, spider-webby stuff. Icky.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Boys
I was fortunate enough to be in town when Jared Whitney and his friend Rob showed up as well. We conversed, shot some pool and drank some beer. Some things never change.
Coming home used to be like a big frat party. I'd go out with my friends, we'd go to the bar, meet up with other friends and the party would get bigger and bigger. It's not so now, and the people I do meet up with have two kids, a mortgage, a wife, a husband, a divorce, whatever. The conversations aren't like what they used to be. However, it's nice that we can go out now, maintain a semblance of responsibility and manage to find our ways back home, most of the time.
Coming home used to be like a big frat party. I'd go out with my friends, we'd go to the bar, meet up with other friends and the party would get bigger and bigger. It's not so now, and the people I do meet up with have two kids, a mortgage, a wife, a husband, a divorce, whatever. The conversations aren't like what they used to be. However, it's nice that we can go out now, maintain a semblance of responsibility and manage to find our ways back home, most of the time.
Chaos and the Floating Pitcher of Beer
Wyoming nights are generally not as crazy as this picture (or pitcher) make them out to be.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Home
So Kat was here last week and I showed here all that Cody and the surrounding area had to offer. We saw the parade, the rodeo, the museum and Yellowstone National Park. I'd like to say that I did all the tourist stuff for Kat's sake, that I would never have done it on my own, but that's far from the truth. I took much longer at the museum than she did and every time there was an animal close to the road in Yellowstone, I was the first one to jump out of the car with camera in hand. I'd like to say that I'm a Wyoming boy but I think I might be too much tourist now.
I've always had some pride in being from Wyoming, even when Brokeback Mountain came out (and no, there isn't any Brokeback Mountain in Wyoming; at least not that I'm aware of. If there is the camping sites on that mountain might have changed since the release of that movie.) I still identify with Wyoming, but now I realize that it's a fragmented identification, Where I pick and choose the pieces I'm proud of. I'm not super fond of the rodeo nor am I a super patriotic, flag-waving, god-fearing cowboy, nor do I believe I ever will be.
Other times I feel I've failed Wyoming. While I have no abitions to be a cowboy, I'd still like to know how to ride a horse yet I'm terribly alergic to horses, hay, dust, sagebrush, and saddles (probably). I attempted to go horseback riding with my grandma a few years ago and all I did was sit atop of the horse and sneeze and wheeze and gasp. I actually felt sorry for the horse having to put up with this poor excuse of a cowboy. I've only shot a pistol once and while I blew my target away (an unarmed bowling pin, I was not actually bowling at the time), I also bruised my hand and damn near knocked myself in the head with the gun.
So what do I love about Wyoming? I love my family, they're part of Wyoming. I love the wildlife which in some was is very similar to my family. I love the mountains and the open spaces and how easy it is to get lost here. I guess I just don't relate to a lot of what people think Wyoming is: the cowpokes, the cows, the country music and the politics. Outdoors here feels like home and I'm going to wander around in it for as long as I can, provided I have an ample supply of allergy medicine.
So Kat was here last week and I showed here all that Cody and the surrounding area had to offer. We saw the parade, the rodeo, the museum and Yellowstone National Park. I'd like to say that I did all the tourist stuff for Kat's sake, that I would never have done it on my own, but that's far from the truth. I took much longer at the museum than she did and every time there was an animal close to the road in Yellowstone, I was the first one to jump out of the car with camera in hand. I'd like to say that I'm a Wyoming boy but I think I might be too much tourist now.
I've always had some pride in being from Wyoming, even when Brokeback Mountain came out (and no, there isn't any Brokeback Mountain in Wyoming; at least not that I'm aware of. If there is the camping sites on that mountain might have changed since the release of that movie.) I still identify with Wyoming, but now I realize that it's a fragmented identification, Where I pick and choose the pieces I'm proud of. I'm not super fond of the rodeo nor am I a super patriotic, flag-waving, god-fearing cowboy, nor do I believe I ever will be.
Other times I feel I've failed Wyoming. While I have no abitions to be a cowboy, I'd still like to know how to ride a horse yet I'm terribly alergic to horses, hay, dust, sagebrush, and saddles (probably). I attempted to go horseback riding with my grandma a few years ago and all I did was sit atop of the horse and sneeze and wheeze and gasp. I actually felt sorry for the horse having to put up with this poor excuse of a cowboy. I've only shot a pistol once and while I blew my target away (an unarmed bowling pin, I was not actually bowling at the time), I also bruised my hand and damn near knocked myself in the head with the gun.
So what do I love about Wyoming? I love my family, they're part of Wyoming. I love the wildlife which in some was is very similar to my family. I love the mountains and the open spaces and how easy it is to get lost here. I guess I just don't relate to a lot of what people think Wyoming is: the cowpokes, the cows, the country music and the politics. Outdoors here feels like home and I'm going to wander around in it for as long as I can, provided I have an ample supply of allergy medicine.
South Fork
This is the area right outside of Cody. The Buffalo Bill Reservoir is prominent in the background as is Sheep Mountain. The majestic highway is in there as well.
Grizzly
This guy was right outside of Yellowstone. There was a throng of tourists snapping pictures and I joined them. See, even though I grew up right outside of Yellowstone, I've never seen a bear in the wild. Once there was a bear on our neighbor's roof. I was downtown running around with friends. Once a black bear wandered into our camp in Arizona during the middle of the day. I was in the tent taking a nap. It took me to get away from the states and the wilderness and the bears and then come back and actually see one. I had to come back as a Korean tourist and then the bears came out and said hi.
Kat Presenting Buffalo
Let Kat be your guide to Yellowstone, "Over here we have a buffalo, and to your left you'll notice a geyse,r and behind you is a throng of tourists stuck in a traffic jam caused by the geyser and the buffalo." The great outdoors.
The Firehole River
This is one of my favorite places to go in Yellowstone. Most places in Yellowstone aren't very interactive: don't feed the bears, don't ride the buffalo, don't swim in geysers. Not so for the Firehole River. You can jump in the river right after the rapids and let the current bang you into rocks and spit you out into a large pool. Much thanks to Jeffery Clark for showing me this spot many years ago.
Lower Falls
These are the lower falls of the Yellowstone River. They fall in excess of 300 feet and are really cool to hike around but not to swim in. If ever in Yellowstone make sure you check this out.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Buffalo and Fool
Should I call the ambulance now? These people really chap my hide. Not only is this foolish but I think this is really demeaning to the animals, and I'm pretty sure this person is not a park ranger unless they drastically changed the ranger uniform since I was last in Yellowstone. If you want to get a picture this close up buy a camera with a good zoom and save yourself the expense of a medical bill. Also, I'm not a buffalo expert but it's generally not good form to sneak up behind the animal.
What Dad Almost Caught
Mom caught a fish, I caught and fish and Dad almost caught this. The rattler, contrary to his name, didn't rattle or anything. Sometimes, actually most of the time, animals want nothing more than to be left alone.
Me and Kat and Sunset
I used a funky nighttime setting on the camera for this photo. Other title: Smiling During the Armageddon.
Sunday, July 01, 2007
The Ride Up
Here's us riding the lift up to the Solitude disc golf course. I took the GPS and found some amazing details about our game. It takes us an average of 3 hours to play a round. We had an average moving speed of 1.7 MPH and a maximum speed of 15.7 MPH. That's when the bear chased me (bad joke). However, we only moved for fifty minutes of the game and had total average speed of 0.6 MPH. Scores for two days were, Me:73, 69; Jeff: 71, 71; Orris: 76, 74; and Dustin: 73. All you wanted to know about disc golf and more.
How Not to Chop
Here I display improper chopping technique. Thanks god we brought the first aid kit.
We Need More Camping Space
Jeff, the Orris, Dustin and I attempted to go camping this weekend. I figured that if we arrived by one o'clock in the afternoon on Friday we were sure to find a camping spot, but I was severely dismayed when all the campgrounds posted full signs. We talked to one attendant who informed us that if we waited around we might be able to find something. We waited, very impatiently, but it paid off. We got a group site for the night on the condition that we would be out of there by 11 in the morning when the group showed up. There were tons of families crammed into teenie, little camp sites and the four of us got a spot big enough for thirty people. Here Clint pays homage to the campsite god for smiling upon us and providing us with a spot that had four giant picnic tables, one for each of us.
Dinner?
Wildlife abounds. Dave and I lassoed these things and rode them around the disc golf course.
Batzilla
While in Flagstaff Arizona I actually did some outdoor manly work, ripping the shingles off a house that my friend is re-roofing. After outdoor manly work, I usually feel like having an outdoor manly beverage, sea-breezes; no, beer! Dave and I were drinking a beer under the carport when this thing fell down from the rafters and landed right between us. Had it landed on me I'd still be running. I imagine that our roofing exploits disturbed the little sucker. I wasn't sure if it was hurt or dazed or what so I decided that taking it's picture might help it out.
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