Magical, Mystical Mind of Trish

I had an interesting conversation in the hot tub the other night. The woman I was talking to lives here and was very interested to find out my "story." Mostly the story about how I ended up in Jackson Hole. My simple answer is always: "Broken engagement and I decided I was tired of being responsible." Both true, both also very vague. The next question is always, "but why Jackson?" That to me is the answer. Jackson Hole... it just made sense.

But WHY JACKSON?

Jackson is surrounded by mountains. Beauty on every corner. Friendly people (for the most part). Jackson is a playground year round. And when the going gets tough in Jackson, you're not too far from some other really cool playgrounds. All of these very rational reasons to choose a place to live.

The funny thing is I had never been here. I had not really even seen pictures so much... I didn't move out here with a group of friends. The only real thing I was going on was that Lola said I would love it here. Lola is a friend of the families; I barely knew her personally. It all just fit together. I was moving to Jackson Hole. I would stay with Lola for a month or so and get a job and make friends and make a life. I did.

However, tonight I started to get the impression that maybe Jackson Hole is the one doing the methodical choosing of her residents. There are some interesting stories about how people ended up in JH. I know a guy whose van broke down here twenty-five years ago. I know a woman who was planning on moving to Oregon, made a pit stop here and stayed, Uhaul in tow. I get the feeling that this area- whatever you want to name it- is a magical place that chooses its residences with careful planning.

Jackson Hole is a vacation spot for most people. Tourism is our biggest industry- Jackson brings in 3 to 4 million people a year, yet has a population of roughly 8,600 (town limits). How is it that more people don't just stay?

My only guess is that it has to to with the type of people. The people that visit range from cross-country, RV-driving retirees to families of six to young professionals to spring breakers. (I'm going to generalize and stereotype here) A lot of tourists, in the winter months especially, are über rich professionals from back east. I'm willing to bet that the money is what keeps them in their home towns. The money, the glitz, the cars, the wardrobes, the fancy restaurants (which we do not lack here, but you get my point). The "city folk" stay in the city because it's what they need to survive.

Those of us that end up in Jackson Hole, are polar opposites to the "city folk." Speaking for myself, and quite possibly the rest of the population of this valley: We need big spaces, open air, mountains, fresh air and water... we need adventure!!

I think that this valley knows that in some way... it draws people like me, and Josh and Brandi and Scherba and Steiner and.... it draws us in. There is some mystical, cosmic force. And I am GLAD it found me!

Ode to the Subbie

**this was written while still on the road, so the timeline is off**

As I lay here in a pool of gear in the back of my Subaru Outback waiting on Josh to get a few runs in on Loveland Pass, I must reflect on my vehicle's performance over the last week.

This is the first true road trip I've been on in my wagon. She's been to a couple of festivals, plenty of car camping trips and 100+ mile trips, but not until this week has she provided transportation, shelter, gear tote and overall comfort for an entire week.

Josh and I set off for an intented loop from Jackson, to Moab to Loveland Pass to Boulder and back home. We left Sunday (19th) evening with bikes, climbing gear, backpacking gear, skis, snowboard, boots, camping chairs, a cooler, clothes and a crash pad. We had the seats down and put as much gear as we could fit into the Sky Box. We left Jackson after dark and drove as far as we could. We eventually found some BLM land in Southern Wyoming and found an out-of the way spot to camp- in the car. See, as much as we love camping: setting up a tent just to sleep in, then take it down, repack it into it's tiny little bag and stuffing it back into the car can be a pain. SO, instead we just took the Backpacks and cooler out of the car, and set up camp in the back of the Subbie. With two inflated Thermarests and sleeping bags that zip together and a couple of fluffy pillows, the back is rather comfortable. Josh and I have it dialed in. In the morning, at the crack of dawn, we were semi-ready to get on the road. I had a lot more motivation to get to Salt Lake City than Josh did, so I drove while he slept in the back. After lunch in SLC, I was pooped, so Josh drove and I took a nap in the back. I woke up just as we were getting into the interesting part of Utah.

The landscape went from flat and vast to spiny, rocky and ancient. It looked like we were driving into the Jurassic period. Southern Utah is beautiful. Unfortunately we were pulling into the desert as the sun was setting, so we pulled off the Interstate on exit 131 and drove through the San Rafael Swell towards Goblin Valley. We were deep in BLM land, so it was quite simple for us to find a nice camp site and catch some shut eye. We were able to find an actual camp site with a fire pit and what seemed to be a pretty nice view, but it was dark, and we were lazy, so car camping won out again. This time around, we discovered that if we set the cooler just outside the door, we could use it as a "bedside table" and enjoy a coldbeer before going to sleep.

We woke up early the next morning, to realize that we were about to get rained on. Quicky-packed the Subaru and headed out just before the rain hit. We high-tailed it to Moab, with the Subaru all disheveled and starting to smell a little like feet. The rain slacked off when we got to Moab, so we decided to put my All-parks pass to work (For $80 a year, you can visit every National Park in the Country- a Teton-Yellowstone is $50, so it's a pretty good deal) and go to Arches. The rain held off long enough for us to see one "gaper" set of arches and explore two off the beaten path.

The bottom dropped off on us so we raced to the Subaru for shelter. Once in the haven of our campsite on wheels, we were able to dry off a tad before heading into Moab. We ate lunch at a Mexican restaurant, where the power went out on us. (Apparently Moab is not built for rain.)

While in Moab, we went to a gear shop to find out some insider information about the area. We bought a harness for Josh and a book on slot canyon exploration. We headed back up the interstate towards Robber's Roost. Just outside of Moab, but before you get into the cast Robber's Roost area, there is a little town called Green River. Green River had quite a selection of hotels, and although the Subbie has proven herself comfy and functional, the idea of being able to spread out a bit and dip in a hot tub was awfully appealing. So we stayed at the best Best Western I've ever stayed in!

After an overnight re-coop Josh and I headed out for the desert! Robber's Roost is an area located between the Colorado River, Green River and the Dirty Devil River about an hour north-west of Moab, Utah. We turned off I-80 onto Hwy 24 and drove about 20 miles west. We turned off on a ranch road and headed 55 miles back into the plateau. As we were driving, we consulted the map over and over again because it just didn't seem that there would be any kind of canyons in this vast open space. Finally, the guide book lead us to a spring, and we were supposed to look for some signatures on a wall, then we would find the mouth of the canyon.

Our first Canyoneering experience was a good one.

We got back to the car with plenty of time to travel 70 miles to the San Rafael Swell before we slept. Again, we slept in the car and woke up to a beautiful day in the desert...

We set off for Music Canyon. After traveling about two miles down Music Canyon, we realized that this canyon was not nearly as interesting as the one we had found the day before, so we turned around and headed for another spot just a few miles away. We still never found the one in the book, but we did stumble across a pretty cool drainage that we followed for about three miles before we had to turn around at 5:30 (did NOT want to get stuck in the desert away from the car after dark).

Josh was pretty upset when I made him turn around...

But when we got back to the car just in time to crack a PBR at sunset, he was pretty happy

From the San Rafael Swell we headed back to civilization. I drove well into the night while Josh slept. I pulled over at a rest stop in Rifle, CO around midnight, slept for a few hours then got up and drove to Loveland Pass.

All-in-All the Subaru has been WONDERFUL to us! She never complained when we drove her through treacherous terrain, she sipped gas when we needed her to conserve and kept up when we needed to trek on! She deserves a bath and a good detailing after her trip to the dessert!!

I don't worry, 'cause I'm sittin' on top of the world...

Last year if you asked me what I felt about summer, the response would be something along the lines of "it's the worst season, it's hot and I hate life." Well today was the first day that the temperature has reached 80. I don't have A/C at my house and it's not even a little bit warm in the house, however, I haven't really even been at home.  I haven't watched a second of television. I haven't been bored. I've been dirt baggin' it in the woods.  I do not hate life, or summer... in fact, I'm kinda in love with both.  

I've been sitting by campfires, climbing trees, chillin' with friends, making new friends, playing fetch with Elu, riding on boats, sleeping under the stars and LIVING