Noah's Ark: The Sequel

Fellow hut friends huddled around a mountain radio in Blue Lake Hut listening for the weather forecast and hoping for good news. None, rain, rain, and more rain.

I could have swore that God promised to not destroy the earth by floods after that whole Noah's Ark deal. After this last trip I'm not sure that he isn't rethinking that decision. The forecast wasn't terrible when we started out. Some heavy rains at first and then some light showers for a couple days. Wrongo dongo my friend. It rained for six straight days. The forecasters got the heavy rains nailed but they missed the hail and snow. Long story short it rained harder than I have ever seen it rain before. The rains came down and the rivers went up. The rivers can rise one meter an hour. Yikes. So we had to abort our originial trip itinerary which required a river crossing that would have resulted in our immediate deaths. We went with Plan B which didn't involve a river crossing and therefore we got to live some more. Really wasn't a tough decision. But the last two days of the trip made up for the previous six days of torrential rain. So I guess God decided to not destroy the earth after all. On our last night on Lake Angelus there was a sweet rainbow disappearing down into the canyon we had just hiked up. We thought about releasing a dove to see what it would return but we didn't have any :)
We are off to Abel Tasman National Park for some sea kayaking and then Kahurangi National Park for some more hiking. Somewhere in between we are going to come back to Nelson to celebrate my birthday, then off to the North Island for the last bit of our trip. Enjoy the pics :)View from Robert's Ridge looking down at Lake Angelus and Lake Angelus Hut.

Our last day hiking out Robert's Ridge.

Rainbow behind lovely alpine lake. We took this as a good sign that God had found some good people again on this earth.

Living the dream above yet another alpine lake we found.

Some more of the same, but yet different.

Lake Angelus. View from Lake Angelus Hut where we stayed with 40 of our closest friends. Crazy. There might be another blog entry someday about my thoughts of placing a huge hut right by an amazing alpine lake.

The track we had just come up, and the stream coming out of Lake Angelus.

We had actually just come down from Travers Saddle when we read this sign. Maybe we weren't prepared, I guess we will never know.

Potted Plants and Door Wreaths

"Be a simple kind of man. Be something you love and understand. Be a simple kind of man."-Lynyrd Skynyrd

I don't know that Lynyrd Skynyrd should be your guiding light in life, unless you are Mark Lobsinger. But according to the lyrics his mom gave him that advice so she is probably legit. As Clay and I have spent the last two months in the backcountry our daily lives have been reduced to pure simplicity. Our only concerns are food and shelter. Occasionally thoughts of self preservation enter the priority list as well. It is a very free and simple lifestyle. Everything we have to exist for these three months we carry on our backs. Even when we are not tramping around foreign countries we aim to keep our lives simple and mobile. Everything we have fits in or on our cars. (not 100% true. We still have stuff stored in our parent's attics. We planned on returning for it after our first summer in the Tetons. That was 4 years ago.) I realize that this sort of lifestyle is not for everyone. I was recently explaining to someone how Clay and I (and many of you) move every six months. Their response was, "Well I guess you can't get much stuff." No I guess we can't. But I am not really sure I want stuff. We don't have a flat screen TV. (although I probably would not turn one away if someone offered) We don't have any potted plants. We did have a bamboo plant that moved around with us for a while though. Not really sure whatever happened to it. We don't have any wreaths for the front door that we change with the seasons. We don't even have a front door right now. Our Christmas decorations fit in a box just a bit bigger than a shoebox. We don't have any throw pillows, or throw rugs, or throw blankets. We don't really have any sort of decor item that you would throw about your house with the intent of decorating it. We don't have bookshelves filled with many leather bound books. And our house (when we have one) does not smell of rich mahogany. Unless of course that was Clay's choice of wood for his latest project. We don't really have many of the items that go along with a permanent type of lifestyle. For now we are quite content with that. I appreciate the simplicity of being able to pack up all our belongings in less time than it would take me to read the Federal Government's EEO Handbook that they give me every summer. I hope that I never measure my life by the stuff that I have. But rather by the experiences and the people in my life. The memories I make with each one of you reading this blog will be my measuring stick for a good life. If/when the day does come that I quit forwarding my mail around the United States, I will embrace it just as I do 16" of fresh powder. Smiling and loving life all the way down with minimum visibility and no idea where I am going :)

Bear got a Burley

This was a big week for Bear. He finally got his own trailer. I think the pics will speak for themselves. And, still wrestling with a broken foot, I got a new bike. It's the yellow one attached to the trailer. When life gives you lemons, switch sports. I have given up on skiing for the winter (that hurts me to say as much as you all think it does) and have decided to hit the pool and take bear on bike rides. He's made progress in the Burley. He seems to be recognizing that it means he gets to go for rides. At first I think he thought it was just a crate on wheels. It makes me laugh. Enjoy!

So, so sweet.

The Blur is from the lightning fast riding skills.

Bear Enjoying the sweet new ride.

Tiksha might be a little jealous.

Thus Far

At first I thought I was dreaming. But then I realized I was still awake and the singing voice was coming from somewhere outside our tent. We were staying at a campground in Hokitika on the west coast of the South Island. All I heard at first was, "West Virginia." Having always been proud of my West 'by god' Virginia heritage I immediately rousted (always wanted to use that word) myself from my slumber. The voice continued, "mountain mama, country roads take me home." Clay and I were in a state of shock and awe. We never could find the singers who, I can only assume are equally as proud of their 'Almost Heaven' upbringing as well. But it is always refreshing to hear some Country Roads. We had started our day off in Mt. Cook National Park where we stood in a downpour for 45 minutes trying to hitch a ride. It was not the greatest of moments. Our thumbs out, our backs to the rain, and knowing that the only dry article of clothing I possessed at that moment was a pair of running shorts. But our luck quickly changed when a Canadian from Calgary picked us up and took us all the way to the west coast (500 kilometers). Then the next day he dropped us off at the trailhead after we found out the only other way to get there was a very expensive taxi ride. But that has kind of been the trend of this trip. Clay and I have been consistenly amazed by our continuous good fortune. From our first hitch with Dean who hooked us up with a free place to stay, to the offduty bus driver who gave us a free bus ride into Christchurch. Then there was Nathan the truck driver in Queenstown. He took us from Queenstown to Cromwell on a Friday evening and then back into Queenstown the following Monday. There have been a couple suboptimal moments, standing in the rain, walking along the side of the road for two hours, etc. But these are all overshadowed by many more moments like those previously mentioned. As we reach the halfway point in our trip we cannot help but feel blessed and be thankful for the experiences we have had and the amazing people we have met. Thus far we have hitched several thousand kilometers and hiked about 450 kilometers. We started off in Fiordlands National Park (fifth largest national park in the world..just in case you need that for Trivial Pursuit) with the Kepler Track. During this hike we quickly realized our bodies were not used to packs as heavy as ours are. (I was dragging my poles Mo) But when we started our next trip, the Greenstone/Caples/Routeburn Tracks our bodies were feeling better but the weather had changed. It rained the entire seven days we were out. We then did several trips in Mt. Aspiring National Park. The Young-Wilkin circuit was a sweet trip with some side trips to some amazing alpine lakes. We were slightly starving on that trip though. We met some super cool kiwis in one of the huts that gave us some extra food. We even ate an expired Lara Bar we found in another hut. It wasn't that we didn't have food. We were carrying eight days worth of food for this seven day trip. It just wasn't enough to sustain our energy. Lesson learned. Shorter trips and more food. We then spent a couple of days in Mt. Cook National Park doing day trips. Our most recent trip we just finished up yesterday was in Arthur's Pass National Park. During the 3 Passes Route we had great weather and saw a grand total of six people on the trail. I used the word 'trail' here very loosely. There actually is no trail, hence the lack of people. Having hiked in the Tetons a fair bit, scree travel and boulder hopping are familiar terrain to us. I have never hiked on scree and rocks more in my life than on this last trip. Every form of scree you could think of we were hiking across. All very steep and all very loose. Super neat. But we made it out with only minor injuries and many more amazing vistas etched in our memory banks. So now we are in Christchurch and for the first time in 45 days we slept in a bed. It was emotional. Clay got a haircut and a beard trim. I can actually recognize him now. I found a razor. It has all been very emotional. From here we are going to take a train back to the west coast and start doing some hiking in Nelson Lakes National Park. The first half of our trip has been amazing and we feel very fortunate to be able to be here. We are stoked for all the adventures and misadventures the second half of our trip has in store for us. We hope all of your winters are full of adventures as well. Thanks for reading and stay stoked :)

View from Browning Pass. 3 Passes Route Arthur's Pass National Park.
View looking back at Browning Pass. It is the scree slope just a bit left of the center of the picture. See.
Browing Lake. 3 Passes Route.

When the clouds parted in Mt. Cook National Park. Mt. Cook is the mountain behind us.
Fox Glacier. On the West Coast of the South Island. I could walk to the Sea in just a matter of minutes from this spot. Crazy.

Clay before vist to Barber. Clay very excited after visit to Barber.

Hike up to Mueller Hut in Mt. Cook National Park. We started off in a very thick fog and then all the sudden we popped out above the clouds. It was amazing.

From the Golden Gate

I just spent a week in San Francisco, as you may have gathered from my previous post. It's a city that is fascinating to visit, but once again, I'm glad to be back in the hills. I will say though, that I did appreciate the fact that you can either walk or take public transit EVERYWHERE! And my hotel was pretty neat too. An NPS building right on the bay. Hard to beat. Unfortunately, I did far too much work and went to a few too many meetings to do much more than look at stuff and take pictures. Next time, I'll schedule an extra day or two. But here are some views from the Golden Gate. I really appreciated the green grass.

A Girl and Her Dog

No this is not about Bear, wonder dog, and I, although clearly by this blog's content and title, we think highly of both the dog and the "girl and her dog" concept. This morning, I was meandering down a bayshore sidewalk with my cup of chai and Starbucks (read: Evil Empire of the Coffee Kingdom) oatmeal really just watching the INSANE folks swimming in the San Francisco Bay in 50 degree weather, checking out the herons, and talking on the phone. Clearly. What struck me about this scene was a girl and her dog. Most people take their dogs out for walks and walk the dog as if it were a task or chore that is to be accomplished before they go do something else. Or walk the dog and talk on the phone. Or walk the dog and wish they were doing something else. This girl, in her leather cowboy boots, fringed suede skirt and neatly fitted jacket, was really in it for the dog. She carried a purple "Chuck-it" toy and a star studded leash (literally, as if it were bedazzled or something), and laughed out loud as her tiny long haired dachsund willed its little legs to beat that damn tennis ball to the the pelting waves, as if the little pooch knew those waves would swallow him up. He wrenched that ball out of the surf with much difficulty and returned it to the safety of his owners feet and proceded to sit obediently, waiting for another go. His girl was all too happy to do it again, smiling and giggling as she watched that cute little mistake of dog breeding chase that ball into the surf once again. That might be the most joy I have seen before 730 in the morning in a very long time. So here's to finding joy in simple pleasures and not taking out furry friends for granted.