Summer turns to Fall

I don’t want to leave! I feel like a child throwing a tantrum because I don’t want to do my chores.

I have been so happy here in the Teton Valley this summer. It’s the first summer I’ve taken off since I started teaching. Also, it’s our first summer together in 7 years!

It’s all the wonderful things about summer here less the unbearable heat. BBQs, friends, porch sitting, bike rides until 10pm, boating the rivers, reading, music festivals, sleeping in, cold beers, and free time with no obligation.

Practicing the art of chillaxin was not easy at first. When I first got here I applied for a job. Then, I began to make lists of everything I could accomplish this summer (learn guitar, become a well-read expert in classroom management, create art, train for a triathlon, volunteer for a non-profit). There has been some guilt too, for not working while Nate maintains a full-time job.

To date (because I want to, not out of obligation) I have engaged in pottery and yoga, attended get-togethers, gone fishing (caught a cutbow!) run a half marathon, gone on many bike rides, kayaked for the first time, volunteered at and attended a music festival, made at least two friends I’d really like to keep in my life, played numerous games of Scrabulous, became a fan of watching The Wire, and I’ve read 2.5 books! I have also spent an excess amount of time in the Victor specialty foods market reading ingredient labels and sampling the deli items.

I am humbled by the beauty of this place on a daily basis: The progression of wild flowers, the Tetons, storms rolling through, the light quality, the silence, and just open space!

Gus is having a blast. It is so fun to watch Nate and him play. Last week were in Salmon. We took regular trips to the river only blocks from the branch. Nate would hold Gus' stick above a strong current and Gus would swim toward it making little headway but nonetheless totally committed. He would finally snatch it and then Nate would let go…Gus happily floating downstream until he caught an eddy. He’d eagerly swim back to us and run a few victory laps after reaching the shore. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat…Tiana said she barely recognized Gus because he looked so fit. It’s true he’s fit but he still farts all the time.

I made a list of everything I want to do before heading back. Yesterday Nate looked at me and said, "well, what should we do from your list today?" So we headed to Grand Teton National Park and ended up running around Jenny Lake (6.6 mi). It was so beautiful. The water was so clear and deep and most of the trail was lush and shaded. When we had completed our loop, we stopped to take a dip in the lake. Perfect temperature. Magical. We had been watching the thunderheads gather and we predicted that we had another 10 minutes until we saw lightning. Sure enough, the sky flashed, and I made my way out of Jenny Lake. We walked very slowly back to the car hoping to see big flashes of lightning above the Tetons. I love the image of the howling wolf (Nez Perce) that Nate pointed out. Once we reached the car, the big drops were falling and soon we could no longer see the mountain range. Huge hail like I'd never seen pelted us and I was convinced they were making huge dents in the car. Nate and I sat there giggling and he dared me to get out of the car. I did, and it resulted in a hail to the finger injury. I quickly made my way back in but then couldn't stop thinking about the old man I'd seen on the trail who was definitely still out there seeking whatever shelter he could find. After ten minutes the skies parted and we saw a clear view of the Tetons as we drove out of the park. Apparently the hailstorm was widespread. When we returned to Victor later that night, we found that 3 windows in the house had been broken due to "gobstopper" sized hail.

After the storm we headed into the J-Hole and had some dinner at the Snake River Brewing Co. followed by a superhero movie, Hancock. What a great day!

4 days and counting...

Our House....

Slim Shady Wall

Andy, Jess, and I cruised up to Slim Shady Wall yesterday to check out a newly developed crag in Teton Canyon. Lots of good climbing. It needs to get climbed a fair bit more, but at least it's not polished.

Andy was in a weird spot.  Two days ago I saw him up in the Tetons, guiding a group of clients up the Grand.  That evening, the guide he was working with, George, fell while soloing and died. Andy discovered the body the following morning.  Andy had just met him a couple days previous to that, but took an instant liking to the man.  He said that George reminded him of Pete Absolon, in a way, and that he thought maybe he had found a new mentor, the way Pete served as a mentor before his death.

It was good to climb, and talk, and enjoy each others' company.  My best to George's family. From everything I've heard, he was an incredible human being.  

Aspen Trail Mountain Biking

Kat, Jess and I went for a bike ride on the Aspen Trail today. Sweet singletrack. It was Kat's first ride on her new bike!

Cache Creek Mountain Biking

Jess and I went riding up in the Cache Creek area near Jackson Hole. We were re-routed by this moose who was standing in the middle of the trail and wouldn't budge.


But fortunately there were many other good options. Super buff singletrack everywhere!

Big Hole Mountain Biking

The Big Hole Mountains are less than 3 miles from our back door. Jess and I went mountain biking up there today, which was difficult and gorgeous. Good views of the Tetons and the Snake River Range.

Bored

Caveat Emptor

Jessie's First Trout

Jess caught her first fish!!!

Jess and I were supposed to go climbing today…we we’re going to do Irene’s Arete in the park, a classic six pitch 5.8. But after hearing that the conditions were still a little alpine-ish on the descent, we glommed onto Bruce for a little float trip on the South Fork of the Snake River.

Bruce and Kat Smithhammer are our summer roommates in Jaime Musnicki’s house. They are building a house in Victor right now, and it’s almost finished. They hope to move in sometime soon, but we really like living with them. Kat works as a program coordinator for NOLS Pro and Bruce is a fly fishing guide and author.

The South Fork of the Snake runs near Swan Valley, out on the other side of Pine Creek Pass. It’s a gorgeous river that is running quite high right now…about 12,000 cfs or so. It’s a spectacular river to float and fish. Biologists from Idaho State recently determined that there were 7,000 fish per river mile.

We floated about 12 miles, sat through a thunderstorm, fished along the banks, and drank a fair bit of cerveza. The fishing wasn’t incredible, but the company and scenery was perfect. I learned a ton about fly fishing, mostly about how to nymph, which I’d never done before.

And Jessie caught her first fish, a beautiful rainbow/cutthroat trout. She caught it while nymphing from shore. When it struck, she raised her rod up high and started yelling "What do I do, What do I do?" I was no help, but fortunately Bruce came over and made sure that the fish was treated well. At one point the trout slipped out of Jess' hands while it still had the nymph in its mouth, which resulted in this picture: