Days 133 to 140 - Stockton

Hanging out with my sister, brother-in-law and their three kids was a perfect change of pace from solo adventuring!

Our days were filled with relaxing at home, playing school and catch and fort, watching movies, drawing, driving to kids appointments, more playing. Uncle Lee became a member of the family for the last two weeks of summer.

Here are the kiddos, starting with the youngest Grayson, 2. He loves climbing up tables and jumping (no fear), squawking like a bird, and his mommy. Grayson is at his ultimate cuteness when he dances up and down next to you when holding something in his mouth.

Carrington, 6. She loves playing games where she can assume the persona of other girls (with lovely creativity). She is a very good decorator of forts. Carrington and her friend Bella loved dressing up Uncle Lee as a princess.

Anderson, 7. He is, in his own words, "obsessed" with baseball. Close followers of the Washington Nationals, father Shaw and son Anderson share a fanaticism for the Nats. Anderson is always thinking about Nats baseball: watching every game, playing manager and super player on Xbox, and playing out fantasy games in his head always. He knows every Nats player's home runs and rbi stats by heart and knows all the major players in the entire league. His obsession is incredibly adorable.

One favorite moment was bike riding with Carrington:

Another was inciting crazy child behavior early one morning when mom was looking way too composed...

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Day 57 - Rocky Mountain National Park

Ever since I decided to go west for my big trip, I had dreamed of high mountain lakes with snowy peaks arching in every direction, with chilly air making every moment crisp, and with clear skies bringing all into perfect focus-- pure bliss. Today was the first of many great mountain lake days to come. Hiking here was far easier here than in the San Juans because the snow was packed down on the trail, but I brought my mini crampons for the downhill. I made it safely past a narrow ridge with narly black peaks across the gorge (pic 1), then up to Mills Lake (pic 2) then Jewel Lake then the Loch (pic 3) then down before the afternoon rain started falling. I hiked around some lower, more accessible lakes but the sky was now overcast and pictures no good. I drove up the open portion of the Ridge road amid a very light dusting of snow before heading back to camp for dinner and bedtime. I did manage to capture some fine Elk grazing in a meadows on the return trip and a g...

Day 93 - Calgary to Banff

After a very pleasant morning at Dave's house spent photocopying trail and scramble guide routes, enjoying a great breakfast and coffee, meeting some of Dave's extremely kind family members and chatting more about adventures, I set out for downtown Calgary. I thought a walk around a museum would be a nice change of pace, so I toured the Glenbow Museum. Two highlights were a Blackfoot Indian describing the meaning of their Tipi decorations and the Gun Scupture. The history of Alberta section was also quite interesting: fur trappers then cowboys then railroad builders then oil drillers. I then walked down to a nearby waterfront park, along a pedestrian only shopping street where a Christian pride rally was taking place, and then down quiet side streets to the park. Seeing people out jogging and playing on this Sunday afternoon reminded me of the real life I must one day return to. But not yet! Hungry and ready for mountains, I walked back to my van and left Calgary heading wes...

Day 43 - Capitol Reef

Capitol Reef, a national park centered around a 90 mile ancient seabed reef was next on my list. A sensationally scenic three hour drive from Bryce, back through Escalante, and then through a national forest led me to the park. A stop by the visitor center to get the lay of the land and insider info on local free BLM campsites complete, I set out on Chimney Rock trail up the the top of the first reef to get a view. Yes sir!! The weather was ideal for hiking and the views completely blissful, but I was frankly tired today. I set out along the scenic road down the west side of the reef and remember wanting to take a nap-- but still having a sense of urgency to complete the desert portion of my trip-- I pushed on and set out to hike down the Capitol Gorge and Grand Wash canyons. The Capitol Gorge had a "Pioneer Wall" with inscriptions from the early 1900s and the Grand Wash had a nice narrow section with towering canyon cliffs all around. I took a photo of the surrounding reef...

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