What a difference a year makes

Jackson Lake ~ Teton National Park

Last year Erin and I couldn't wait to get into the national parks in Wyoming.  The road to yellowstone barely opened by the end of may due to the record setting amount of snow.  This year there is practically no snow and they lakes are already thawed out. Bummer.  Here are a few photos from our trip 2 weekends ago  Check out some of the photos to compare the difference in the years here.  Well im off and running back to finish this gallery hope you like the photos.

Same photo almost as the first one just in color ! Favorites anyone? Color or BW?

Found these cut down trees next to the lake pretty cool!

The Slower Pace of Life

Photo from the Deer Creek Meadow down onto the Southfork

Well after 5 months of intense vacationing and traveling,  Erin and I have returned to the Ranch.  We packed all of our stuff into two cars and caravanned from sunny California to snowy Wyoming.  It was a great trip we were like  Snowman and the Bandit from Smokey and the Bandit, however I feel like we had better handles "Gator and Sweet-Pants".  We were talking on our walkie's the whole trip up, blocking traffic for each other,  on the lookout for the Fuzz, and making great time its fun to be part of a convoy.

Back in Cody trying to get used to the slower pace of life.  Its great, no one is in a rush everyone expects your whole life story in the grocery check out lane, that one is a little tough on the ice cream and other frozen goods.  But all in all life is good.  We feel like we are finally home, in our little cabin, a place that we can call our own.  We are both trying to get our bodies back into ranch shape.  With an elevation of about 6500 and walking all over the place all day you can expect to hit 3-5 miles on the pedometer.

Washakie Wilderness sign

I am also trying to get myself ready for the pack trip in August.  Last year I had to hike it out with my horse in tow for about the last 15 miles this year I'm preparing for the worse.  I am hiking up the Deer Creek trail 3-4 times a week to get the legs ready.  The trail is pretty intense about 3 miles of switch back and a total elevation gain of about 2500 feet.  I am only doing about half of the trail to start and then going to work up to the 3 mile part in a week or two.  Right now my lungs burn from the cold and elevation.

Wolf print on the trail :-()

Here is to a good season and more photos from DEER CREEK.

Having fun in the Dark

Well it has been way too long since I have posted anything.  Not really sure why it has taken me this long but better late than never.

Erin and I have had a crazy month traveling back and forth from coast to coast.  We drove from Florida to California, I drove up to Wyoming for 2 weeks to work at the ranch.  After all of that we finally emptied our storage unit in California and packed it up into a huge 24 foot moving truck to once again drive across the united states.  I can not begin to count the number of miles I have driven this year and they just keep rolling bye.

Anywho we made a detour on this last trip to Carlsbad caverns.  I had always wanted to go and heard some really cool stories from people who had been.  All I can say is that it was amazing.  750ft deep under the earth lies formations of stalactites and stalagmites.  It reminds me alot of a coral reef and aren't really too different when you think about it. There is a 3 mile trail through out the cave that takes you around to each of the formations where they are artificially illuminated with tungsten bulbs, very nice addition of color if you are a photographer.  It was a great trip and I plan to go back again when I can get a private tour with some park rangers of some of the more remote caves, which I hear are spectacular.

Thats all for now more to come later this week.

Cruise Day 4 ~ Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas

On the final day of our cruise we went to Norwegians private island in the Bahamas. Our final day was cut short due to some rough seas and a oncoming storm.   But Erin and I still spent most of our day snorkeling and lazing on the beach.  It was a sad day because our vacation was over but we had a great time and got to experience a lot of cool things.

Cruise Day 3 ~ San Juan, Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico was a lot of fun.  We began the day with a tour of Barcardi the distillery.  Lets just say that free rum is great.  Lots of free rum before 10am is not so great but I took one for the team and had 5 rum drinks because good rum cant go to waste. 

Erin mimicking the fruit bat logo of Bacardi

Why is the rum always gone?

 So after the Bacardi tour we went to the oldest fort on US soil. It was very similar to the fort in St Augustine Fl they were built only 10 years apart and are both Spanish in origin, so there you go.

Costal View from the Fort

After exploring the fort for a little over an hour we explored Old San Juan in search of early Christmas gift as well as searching for some cool photos for me of historic Old San Juan.

Love the old spanish doors check them out !

Cruise Day 2 ~ St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

St. Thomas ~ U.S. Virgin Islands

On our second stop of our cruise we were in the beautiful island of St Thomas.  Neither of us had ever been to St Thomas, so we were both excited to get off the ship and explore.  Before cruising I had done some research on the Island. I was particularly interested in doing some diving there and heard that there were many locations under water that would not disappoint.  Well all the info I read was true, it was amazing.  The water was 86 degrees like jumping into a bathtub.  The water was super transparent an you could see 50 feet clear to the bottom.  Erin and I went on 2 dives in St Thomas off of Buck Island.  The first dive we went on was a reef dive and was lots of fun.  We spent most of our dive checking out all sorts of sea life, Sgt. Major fish, squirrel fish, skip jacks, angel fish, rays, and few hundred other fish I can't name.  It was a great dive and Erin's first dive of many to come in the Caribbean.  The second dive was a dive on a ship wreck.  The ship whose name I can neither pronounce or spell had a great history and was broken into three pieces and scattered across the sea floor.  You can read all about the ship and see some cool photos of it here http://www.divingstthomas.com/catanzasenora.htm   .   

 It was a great day and because my wife loves me soooooo much she even went to HOOTERS with me for a post dive meal of Nachos and Fries, cocktails were consumed as well. Erin befittingly had a SCUBA DIVER.  As we spent most of our day under water there arent many photos to show for it but it was a really great day.

Sunset on St Thomas

Cruise Day 1 ~ Bahamas

Picture of the Day (POD), you can substitute any beer you like in to this photo, but tropical blue waters and a cold beer equals paradise in my book

Its been awhile, so in a few sentences ill try to recap the last few weeks.  After my driving trip back to SF I spent 2 days in Wyoming and then left on a 3 day road trip to Florida.  Got sick, Got a Haircut, Got new tires and a radiator for the hummer, Got a Speeding ticket, Got a new camera, and Got better from being sick.  So yeah thats about it since San Francisco.  Erin and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary properly by going on a cruise to the Caribbean.  It was a lot of fun and ill be posting photos from each day ~ post cruise.  Here are a few Photos from our day in the Bahamas we had a great time and really enjoyed beaching it.

Rum and Pineapple made right.  Fresh cut Pineapple blended with ice and rum.

ERIN posing at Senor frogs.

Nuff Said

Well here are a few photos from the last few days from Smokey Mountain National Park.  Tomorrow its off to San Francisco.

Packtrip Pano's

Here are a few panoramic images that I have put together since I got back from the trip.  Check them out let me know what you think.

A Deafening Silence

Grazing Horses in the Wildflowers

Why Deer Creek Trail is dangerous

Recently my job took me into the backcountry.  100 miles of horse riding over five days into God's wilderness where the silence is deafening.  No audible sounds but nature were present in the wilderness.  I expected to hear birds and other forms of wildlife but during our trip it was eerily silent with only sounds of rivers and streams and the ever present wind gusts that would relocate your hat about 40 feet away.  Our trip began from the ranch  up to the deer creek trail ( aka the widow maker trail).  We made our way over deer creek pass which is 10,000 ft above sea level and were greeted with spectacular views that stretched clear to yellowstone.  We made camp on the Bourner Fork for the evening and were welcomed into the wilderness with a great storm and a spectacular rainbow.  

Real Cowboys 

Interesting history tidbit about the Bourner Fork, it is commonly referred to as the Boner Fork.  In the early 1900's Miss Bourner who owned Cassie's a local roadhouse in Cody, decided to set up a brothel back in the wilderness to service the hunters.  Hunters in this time period came from all over the world to hunt for six weeks in Wyoming, they would hunt every species Wyoming had to offer Bears, Big Horn Sheep, Elk, Deer, Wolf and Coyote.  Miss Bourner's brothel was located in a large meadow where the hunters would venture through in weeks two and four of their six week trip.  It is said that Miss Bourner and her ladies serviced high society members, Arab princes, and even one of our Presidents.  I personally thought it was a hard trip back into the wilderness 25 miles but can you imagine hauling in box springs and beds and big canvas tents by horse back into the back country that far?  The old box springs are still there, rusted out of course, but they sure make for one hell of a cool history marker.

Bourner Fork Wildflowers

On day two we moved camp farther into the back country over a few more mountain passes and made camp towards the head waters of Butte Creek.  We awoke the next morning and went for a really cool short day ride further up in to a valley with a snake like river.

Thoroughfare River

Deer Creek pass

On day four we started our two day journey back home down Butte Creek through some seriously washed out trails.  This trail had not been used this season so there were plenty of downed trees impeding our journey and we were snapping branches left and right on horses as we made our own trail through the wilderness.  The last day we proceeded back up to deer creek pass.  My poor horse Ringo got a rock stuck between his foot and his shoe and he suffered a bruised foot, really painful but not detrimental to the leg.  He was limping pretty badly and I felt bad for the horse so I got off and led him by the lead rope for 4 hours about 13 miles up and down the Deer Creek trail.  We made it back safe and sound and Ringo's foot is feeling alot better, however my feet took a serious beating and im not sure I have recovered yet.

RINGO

All I can say is that trip was epic.  I slept early and woke up with sun sometimes covered with frost and other times drenched in dew.  But it was rejuvenating to my soul I felt replenished and full in spirit.  While there, my mind was continually thinking of John Muir and the similarities we both share.  He found his peace in the wilderness and it was his connection to God.  I found this quote of his that really sums up my experience on this trip.

Deer Creek Trail with a view of the Hawkeye Ranch

"Walk away quietly in any direction and taste the freedom of the mountaineer. Camp out among the grasses and gentians of glacial meadows, in craggy garden nooks full of nature's darlings. Climb the mountains and get their good tidings, Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. As age comes on, one source of enjoyment after another is closed, but nature's sources never fail." ~ John Muir

Butte Creek Sunrise