Jason and jenn

Bonneville is the peak visible from Pinedale’s main street. In fact, it is hard to ignore. In winter, while all the surrounding peaks are snowy white, Bonneville stands out dark in contrast due to it’s steep walls. Needless to say, we wanted to get a closer look. We covered about 40 miles in 3 days. The mosquitoes were the worst we’ve seen. They even were swarming us while kicking steps in snow at 11,300 feet. Crazy. But amazing. Click the image below to see the pics. The captions tell the story:

Wind Rivers July 2009

My musical journey has been a fun. Playing violin since the 4th grade, giving it up at the end of high school to grow my hair out and be a guitar playing rock-star. Well.. that didn’t really work out.  Then I came back around to fiddle and mandolin as I got over the more testosteroney period of my youth.  Getting to play with Bill Mallonee and the Vigilantes was a definite highlight. Playing with the Union City All-Stars was likely my favorite experience, especially that original line-up and sound.

Well, recently, the band Weezer picked up a Union City All-Stars song to include on a compilation album. They’re going to press 50,000 of them. Pretty cool, but about 7 years after the fact!

Locally I’ve been playing solo shows of my own material and playing with some other local musicians in a band called the “Science Rockets”. It’s fun. We mostly play older covers (Dylan, the Band, Townes, Steve Earl) as well as some more recent (not really) Alternative Country stuff (Robert Earl Keen). We also do a few originals and it’s a lot of fun, but i find that my desire to play is waning. I still like the process, but i’m not as passionate about it as I once was. That goes for music as a whole though. Even listening to music has become something I’m not as passionate about. I rarely discover new bands I like (Fiest and Calexico stand out as recent new additions). But still, music will be a life-long pursuit, and I am grateful and feel quite blessed by the gift of it.

Here’s some pics of the Science Rockets playing recently in Pinedale. Opening for bluegrass act Missy Raines and the New Hip.

http://www.pinedaleonline.com/news/2009/07/MissyRainesperformsi.htm

I always used to marvel at trip reports i’d read of folks doing these big adventures in a day. The Grand Teton in a day. The Cirque of the Towers traverse in a day. Rim to Rim of the Grand Canyon in a day. Whitney in a day. I always thought it was a bit crazy, obsessive, and not really a good way to truly experience the places you were visiting.

Then i got a full time job in a place i used to visit on vacation. I went from having 2 weeks to explore the mountains, to having a day or two at a time. Sure, I get to live here all summer, but trips into the deeper parts of the range, beyond the crowds and popular trails are harder.

So now, in a day has become part of my vocabulary. I talk about the Grand in a day. I do long day hikes. I tried for a big traverse in a day last fall. It’s definitely work, and it’s not what i’d call relaxing. But when the legitimate need (and i do not use that word lightly here) to be in the mountains hits me, then it’s not so bad.

On Monday i had a long day.

I hit the trail at Big Sandy at 6:30am and hiked fast (to keep the mosquitos away) to Big Sandy Lake. I broke a good sweat heading up the Jackass Pass trail to North Lake, then headed off trail up the slopes of Dog-Tooth Mountain. Above treeline, the gentle slopes, slabs, and snow took me to 3000 feet above Big Sandy Lake . I took a look at the cirque of towers, and traversed the divide over to Big Sandy Mountain, kicking steps in steep snow to the quite tiny summit block.  Here the 2nd and 3rd class west side slopes give way to sheer cliffline on the east. Glacier remnants are everyhwere.  The Monolith (an arm of Big Sandy mountain) towers above silt tinted Papoose Lake.

The wind was fierce but I didn’t so much mind. It kept the mosquitos away. I looked down on Black Joe lake as I descend toward it’s eastern shore. The defile ends with an impressive view of 13,000 foot Wind River Peak, still holding a huge bowl of snow.

I arrived at Black Joe and took a nap in the wind with my boots off. There’s a rivulet of snowmelt coming down the cliffs, so i filled my camelback and  then tried to fish in the wind. The Backcast against the wind is rough, but the forward cast is marvelously long. I caught a little cutthroat and was surprised. He’s the only one i’d get.

Across the shoulder of Haystack and down to Clear Lake and there was no-one camped in this popular area. I had seen 4 people all day. A rarity here for sure. I rested a little longer, not eager to hike the 7 or 8 miles back to the trailhead. Finally though, it was time. I cruised past Big Sandy Lake, again seeing no-one, and soon I was passing the wilderness boundary and nearly back to the van.  In all, i summited two peaks, hiked 20 or so miles, caught a fish, climbed from 9000 feet to 12,500, saw part of the Winds I had not seen before, and got back to the van a short 11 hours after starting. While i am proud of this “in a day” accomplishment, it is not by any means out of a need to prove myself or my athleticism. It is simply out of necessity: to be in the mountains, a trip to church, a communing, a need for wild places.

Ahh, summer in Wyoming. My parents came out to visit, showing us that living in a van (or at least travelling in one) isn’t just for young adventurers. We have seen parts of Wyoming and the Wind Rivers we hadn’t seen before, and we’ve been hanging out with friends, teaching kids to climb, playing music, fishing, and having a generally summery time.  But don’t take my word for it… check it out: