July gifts: riding in the Bighorn mountains

I'm only now finally getting around to posting some things from this summer... 

Eighteen or nineteen summers ago I first came to the Bighorns Mountains in northern Wyoming and hiked the forest roads and trails going over Rt 14 and 14A, awed by the great open vistas and the carpets of wildflowers. I saw a forest ranger riding a horse, and vowed that someday I’d come back not just to hike but to ride these great broad swaths of meadow between mountains crags and fragrant spruce forests. 

652. That 18 year long dream to ride in the Bighorn Mountains is finally fulfilled! 

 The ride this morning made me joyful beyond measure, not only riding here finally at last, but with my whole family. B. rode Tuffy, I road Tia, Blaze rode Strike, Dreamer on Spring, and Starlet and Serious took turns riding Rebel with the other riding behind someone else.

653. Saving a nest of baby birds

Yesterday on our drive up from Laramie, we stopped at Sanford’s in Casper for lunch, and B. discovered that there was nest of baby birds up underneath the trailer hitch. We’d taken them away from their parents! The girls were all kinds of worried about the little birds and spent hours catching grasshoppers and grubs feeding the baby birds with a pair of tweezers. 

654. Perfect camping/riding spot

It took us a couple tries, but we found a beautiful spot with water and grass for the horses  (and trees to "high line" them; the safest way to tie horses) AND a beautiful view for us: Forest road 145 (off of 15)

655. Building a forest fort
 The girls right away found a makeshift “fort” that some other kids must have built in among the trees, and they started industriously fixing it up and adding to it

656. Discovering a stream

After riding the horses up to the top of the bald hill, right up close to a tremendous cliff, we went back to camp and then explored the forest trails behind our meadow. After just a few hundred yards we found a little stream and which is a relief as our trailer’s tank leaked out yesterday during travel. All the horses except Tia (who is spooked by running water) had a long drink. Strike gave Blaze and Starlet a scare while they were riding him.  He got stuck in the mud along the stream and actually went down on his knees for a moment but recovered quickly without freaking out (good horse!) 

657. Horses loose grazing in a mountain meadow

As I am typing this under a spruce tree at the edge of the meadow, with my magnificent view of the mountains, three of our horses are grazing near me (loose on their lead ropes) – we figure they won’t go too far from the other two horses that are still tied up. (hopefully).

658. Porcupine Falls

This was too far away to ride too, but worth the half hour drive to visit, and the steep mile hike down into a deep canyon. I have never seen a falls like this before, where a small stream breaks off from the main falls and goes through a tunnel before it comes out again!

659.  Acting like a granny

Starlet amused us by imitating "Granny" from the movie Ice Age: Continental Drift.

660. Wildflowers and sage

My poor camera doesn't do the great vistas justice, or the close up details of all the wildflowers - especially the pools of purple lupine. Even the sage is beautiful. B. grew up in Wyoming, so sagebrush is common like a weed to him, but I love it, the silver leaves and the wonderful "western" smell of crushed leaves

661. History watching over us

B. said there is a lot of history in these mountains - Indians and fur trappers and mountain men. He felt like the forest was haunted, but not in a bad way: not ghosts – more like history is watching over us.

662. Twin fawns, moose, elk

Just some of the larger animals we got to see on this trip!

663. Crossing a stream on our horses

On our second day we took another trail ride, down in a valley with a big winding stream at the bottom. The stream made so many loops the girls fancied it spelled "M O M". Of course the girls wanted to make the horses cross the stream as many times as possible... and of course I was riding the one horse (Tia) who doesn't like crossing streams! I had to get off and let B. get on her to "convince" her to finally cross, but after the first crossing she did just fine. Here's a picture I took from Tia's back as we approached the "scary" stream.

664. Horse hugs

My beloved old horse Rebel giving Serious a "horse hug" (nuzzle). Serious never leaves Rebel’s side for more than a few minutes and she has “taken over” feeding him taking care of him on this trip, though mostly he just leads him around to where she thinks he should go. 

665. My handsome man and his handsome horse (Tuffy)

a mountaintop experience

Last weekend B. gave me Saturday "off" from kid-duty so I could go on a hike with a bunch of friends from my church, Laramie Valley Chapel. Treva has started a women's outdoor ministry, informally called the "BMW's", or Burly Mountain Women (though I called it "Barely Mountain Women" - referring to myself, of course. Treva really is a mountain woman - she has climbed mulitple Fourteeners in Colorado. I affectionately call her Gear Girl).

August 8 was the day to tackle climbing Medicine Bow Peak, the highest peak in Wyoming's Snowy Range at 12,013 feet. Meeting at the church at 6:30 am on a Saturday caused some grumbling, but leaving early was soon rewarded because we saw these three moose on our drive up to the trail head. (This has definitely been the summer for moose sightings! A couple weeks ago a young moose trotted right by our church, and then two days later B. saw two moose in our backyard and followed them through our neighborhood for a while. He said they were so big they didn't jump fences, they just stepped over them.)

Here we are just starting off on the trail, hiking around Lewis Lake.

The wildflowers were magnificent. Though everyone grows columbine in their backyards in Laramie, the domesticated flowers are never as beautiful as the wild ones.

Here we are taking a break to catch our breath. The lady beside me, Sophia, is 55 years old. I hope I am still climbing mountains at that age! The trail starts out nice and flat, but it quickly gets steep. Though only 1.8 miles from the trail head to the top of the mountain, it's a 2000 foot gain. We had to stop every 10 minutes or so for a quick breather. Near the top, I started to feel light-headed. Sheila and I standing at a magnificent overlook - Lake Marie at the base of the Snowy Range.

Here is Treva scrambling over boulders, near the top. At this point the trail completely disappears - it's just a boulder field, with rock piles or cairns to mark the direction.

Bouldering is hard work! Treva and I decide to take the easy route along a ridge of snow.

At last! Despite Sophia's claim that someone kept moving the top of the mountain back, here we all are finally at the very top! I did this climb about 12 years ago with my dear friend Karen, but I had forgotten how amazing the 360 degree view was! We also lucked out this time that it wasn't even very windy.

Standing (from left to right): Treva, Michelle, Heather
Sitting: Sheila, Kim, Sophia, me, Mehrnoosh

This mountaintop experience was more than just a great view and feeling of accomplishment. Before we started, Treva had given us each a card with these verses for us to memorize and meditate on during our trek.

1 Corinthians 15:1-5

Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.

While we sat around on the boulders at the top sharing trail mix and other goodies, some of us recited these verses from memory and then Treva talked a little a bit about how important the Gospel is, but how we are tempted sometimes to try to "dress it up" to make it more appealing as we try to share it. But really it is powerful all by itself.

It started a great discussion with Sheila's friend Mehrnoosh, a Muslim from Iran who is a graduate student in Engineering here at the University of Wyoming. She is very smart, a real thinker. She shared that she has many misgivings about Islam, but she couldn't see that Christianity was all that different. She sees Christ as a prophet, and so views him the same as the Muslim prophets. We tried to explain how Christ was different from the other prophets because he was both 100% God and 100% man - basically God becoming man, just like us, so He could experience what we experience. Because He was a man like us, he encountered all the same temptations we face, but because he was God he was able to overcome these temptations and never sin. And because he never sinned, He was therefore able to a "perfect" sacrifice for our sins, so that when we believe in Him we are saved - rescued - from the penalties of our own sins.

She also asked us how we could believe that what our Bible says is 100% true, because she feels things have been added to the Quran over the years to corrupt it for specific purposes (suppression of women, for one. I was pleased to hear that Iran does allow women to vote, but of course their last election was completely bogus. Mehrnoosh was very upset about that). So then Treva gave this truly inspired description of how the Bible was written by over 40 authors over a thousand years and yet none of it contradicted and all the prophecies about Christ came true. And to top it off, the another hiker came along and overheard our conversation and then proceeded to add additional arguments. He was a believer too. (Praise You, God for sending him along too right at that moment!)

Treva also asked Mehrnoosh if she remembered the story of Abraham being asked by God to sacrifice Isaac. She said yes, this story is in the Quran too. Then Treva said, "do you remember how at the last minute God told Abraham to stop, and that God provided a ram as a sacrifice instead? and she said yes. "That's Jesus," Treva said. "the sacrifice was Jesus."

I don't know if that made any impression on Mehrnoosh, but we were all thrilled that we got to have a discussion with her about the Gospel and "plant seeds." I don't think she felt threatened by us - even though there were 7 of us Christians and only one of her - I think everyone was respectful to let her share her own beliefs and doubts. I think she is probably the first Muslim I have ever met that I've had a chance to really talk to. We had all sorts of questions for her about what life in Iran is like and it was fascinating to hear her answers. I asked what she thought was the strangest thing about Americans, and she said that we eat so much fast food! But she also said that she was surprised by how family-oriented Americans are. In her country they have spread propaganda that we are anti-family.

The hike back down was harder for me than going up, as it always is - hurts my toes and my knees something fierce. But we were well rewarded back at the trail head because Treva provided lunch for all of us! Sandwiches (garnished with fresh veggies from her own garden), hummus and chips, cookies and fresh peaches. My mouth is watering just writing about it. Simple food becomes a feast after a hard workout like that!

Photo credits all go to Heather. many thanks!

Encouragement from the strangest place

As I mentioned in my last post, B. and I have been pretty discouraged lately. He hasn't been getting enough business to keep going, and the bills keep piling up. But since last week there have been a few positive signs.

One surprising blessing was the big snowstorm this weekend- B. got called out to put his skidloader to work pushing snow. Some much needed extra cash - thank you, Lord!

He also has about 2 weeks worth of new work lined up. 2 weeks isn't much, but still, part of the Lord's Prayer is to "give thanks for your DAILY bread".

Finally, the book Open Season by C.J. Box - talk about encouragement from the strangest place. It's not even remotely a Christian book, but God can use anything to lift our hearts. I borrowed this from my friend who is an inexhaustible source of great books (H.L.) and when I started reading it, I immediately thought that B. would really, really like this.

So I started reading it out loud to him that evening and sure enough he got hooked and finished reading it himself in record time (we almost had a wrestling match at one point over the book).

What fascinated us both about this book, besides being set in Wyoming (google Crazy Woman Canyon, Wyoming), and being a really edge-of-your-seat murder mystery, is that the hero's family is basically our family - very similar situation (minus the dead body in the backyard, thank goodness). Well, it could be a lot of families, I'm not saying our situation is unique.

Joe Pickett, Wyoming Game Warden, gets a call from headquarters in Cheyenne. He makes the six hour drive, only to discover that he's fired. He drives back home in state of depression (Game wardens live in state houses and drive state trucks, so not only had he lost his job, but also his home, and his pickup truck, and for a Wyoming man, your losing your pickup truck is the lowest blow possible). He's dreading having to tell his wife what has happened. He has to stop at a bar first, to fortify himself. Then he spills the beans. His wife listens quietly. He's expecting her to pack up the kids and leave. This is kind of the last straw - they've been through all sorts of other troubles leading up to this darkest moment.

But instead of freaking out, his wife stands firmly at his side. She believes in him, and she tells him so.

Of course everything ends up working out (a few gunshots and trips to the hospital later), but that was the defining moment for B. and I. We're at a pretty dark moment here, but we believe in each other, and we also believe in the Lord, which is a pretty awesome place to be.

A few other notes. Here is the latest verse I'm working on for Beth Moore's scripture memory challenge.

Psalm 34:1-2 NIV
I will praise the Lord at all times
His praise will always be on my lips.
My soul will boast in the Lord,
Let the afflicted hear and rejoice.


I plan to memorize this whole Psalm. Verse 4 "I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears" has been a mainstay in my life for 10 years now, and the whole Psalm is worth memorizing.

Last, writing progress. I got bogged down at the end of chapter 3 with the introduction of new character who just wasn't "sounding" right. So, to keep momentum I skipped ahead. Got as far as Chapter 5 and bogged down again because I needed to reference that conversation in Chapter 3 that I had skipped because the voice wasn't right. After staring glumly at my computer screen for a while (and turning off my wireless because Facebook kept distracting me), I came to the frustrating conclusion that this particular character isn't developed enough to sound authentic, and he's an important character, so that means - research & development.

Last year I bought materials from author Holly Lisle's "Create A Character Clinic" - kind of glanced over it but didn't do anything. So yesterday I unearthed it and started shooting interview style questions at my character. She provides hundreds of different questions such as "what is the character's compelling need?" "what pain does he most fear?" and so forth. You can pick any of the questions that interest you and skip the ones that don't, though sometimes pursuing what may seem like an "n/a" question ends up leading down new and fascinating paths. Or, should I call it a rabbit trail? If it doesn't get me past the chapter 3 road block by next week, it's definitely a rabbit trail.

Wyoming

A native of Buffalo, NY, I have lived in Wyoming for 15 years now. When people find out I'm originally from New York, they always ask me what brought me out here. The short answer is, "a job" (see story below). But it was also the beauty and rugged wildness of the Rocky Mountains that drew me, and the wide open spaces. This is a picture of the Laramie River Valley, about 30 minutes from where I live.













I wanted to live in Wyoming ever since I was about 10 years old, and read Mary O'Hara's classic book, "My Friend Flicka", which is set on a ranch in Wyoming. Actually, it's a ranch just 20 minutes away from where I live now in Laramie, and they even have a website: check out the Remount Ranch. I fell in love with the adventures of ranch life, raising and riding horses, mountains lions in your backyard...

Here is a picture of me backpacking through the Wind River Mountains in Wyoming.















There are many beautiful places in the world, and there are other places I have fantasized about moving to, but after 15 years Wyoming continues to fascinate me. Here's an article I wrote for my family newsletter, back in 2002, and it captures some of the unique aspects of living in Wyoming.

What’s Different in Wyoming

I had just graduated from the University of Buffalo and was checking out the job listings on the internet (still a very new thing in 1994, and not many jobs listed yet!) when I came across a year-long research assistantship at the University of Wyoming. It didn’t pay very much (Wyoming’s pay scale is nothing to boast about) but I was intrigued by the notion of living in Wyoming for a year – a state where the antelope outnumber the people.

Wyoming has the smallest population of all the 50 states – about 500,000 (that’s less than the population of the city I grew up in). There’s about 100 towns scattered around Wyoming, and some of them have a population of only 5-10 people. You can drive for hours and never see a sign of humanity other than the road you’re on. I pictured myself dating cowboys and riding the range. Sounded like fun, for a year! Little did I know that I would end up living there much longer – and that I would end up marrying one of those cowboys I thought it would be fun to date!

Laramie is the 3rd largest city in Wyoming, at 26,000 people, and boasts an elevation of 7,200 ft. I moved there in late March, and when I left Buffalo things were already greening up for spring, but in Laramie there was still snow. My first big disappointment was that spring didn’t come until late May, and only after several snow storms. In the Rocky Mountains I soon discovered the weather can be sunny and 70 degrees one day, and snowing with a 0 degree windchill the next day.

You never know what to expect for weather here, and you never go anywhere – even in the summer – without a sweater just in case. You can expect snowfall anytime of the year (though I haven’t seen any in August yet). But, on the plus side, you can get a lot of warm days in the winter and sunny days over 300 days a year.

We also get lots of rainbows in Wyoming. Many times it’ll be raining on one side of the street but not on the other. We have very few trees, except in the mountains (another big adjustment for me). You have to actually visit here or Montana to truly appreciate the term “big sky country.” The sky is BIG. The ground in Wyoming is plain and boring – dry plains with scattered sagebrush – but the sky makes up for it with all its fantastic moods.


The sky isn't the only spectacular thing, of course. Here's a picture of Aspen Alley in the Sierra Madre Mountains.



















The mountains are pretty amazing, too. This is SquareTop Mountain, overlooking the Green River.


The high elevation and dry climate also means frequent nosebleeds and more huffing and puffing when you climb stairs (thinner air). It also means we have no fleas, chiggers, termites or other annoying pests – except for one – the mosquito, which we have in great abundance during the month of June.

For me the hardest adjustment was the thin air – it took me about three weeks to be able to climb the stairs to my office without feeling like I was going to pass out, and about a year before I could run even just a half a mile.

The climate out here may be a bit of a shock, but the culture is not that different at all. People are very friendly, laid-back, and wear blue jeans to work and church. You can tell a true cowboy from a “wanna-be” not because they have bowed legs but because they NEVER wear shorts or short-sleeved shirts, no matter how hot it gets.

Wyomingites like to play a few tricks on “outsiders” such introducing them to Rocky Mountain oysters and telling stories about hunting jack-a-lope (a mythical hare with antelope horns). Everyone knows how to drive a stick shift (I eventually learned, as well) and all true Wyoming men own a pick-up truck. Everyone keeps tire chains and a shovel in the back of their car or pickup, just in case. They like to tell swap tales about the moose or elk they saw in their backyard and the mountain lion they saw while hunting last year (these stories are usually true, unlike the jack-a-lope). I have not yet seen a mountain lion myself, but I have seen fresh tracks! The mountains here are beautiful and there are many interesting places to visit near us...


Here's a list of some of my favorite places in Wyoming:

• Vedauwoo and Happy Jack recreation areas- right outside of Laramie, our favorite place to go horseback riding, camping and rock-scrambling. Huge, house-sized boulders all jumbled together into fantastic shapes, like castles and giant turtles.
• Popo Agie falls (pronounced Poe-poe-ja). This is just outside of Lander, Wyoming, in the Wind River mountains. Most of the year there isn't enough water to make this waterfall very remarkable: but for a short time during spring snowmelt, the entire hillside is covered with cascading water.
• Pinedale, Wyoming - Fremont Lake overlook. This short drive up into the mountains gives you a spectacular view of Fremont Lake, as well as a beautiful panaroma of the high peaks of the Wind River mountains, including Gannett Peak, our tallest mountain (13,700 ft)
• Green River lakes and Square Top Mountain. A long drive on a rough road to get there, but well worth it. Square Top Mountain is as memorable a sight as Devil's Tower.
• Jenny Lake Trail and Hidden Falls, Grand Teton National Park. I saw my first bear on this trail - way too close for comfort.
• Tower Falls, Yellowstone. Just about any place in Yellowstone is amazing -it's hard to pick a favorite place.
• Aspen Alley, Sierra Madre mountains - peak aspen color is around the last week of September/first week of October
• Route 14 over the Bighorn Mountains. Wildflower heaven in June. I saw my first moose along this road, too.
• Crazy Woman Canyon - near Buffalo, Wyoming
• Chimney Rock Road - another pretty drive just outside of Laramie