big belly

Peter Linn asked me what my favorite mile of the trip was so far.  I don't have an answer, but I will assure you that I've been thinking about it for at least a week now.  A  mile of horse travel takes us somewhere between 20 minutes and 45 minutes.  It's a mighty slow mode of travel and often times in one mile I can be having the best moment of my life and then the worst.  I'm pretty sure that there were some incredible miles that went by that I barely even noticed, except for the ten feet in front of us on which my eyes were fixed as I swam around in my head with day dreams.  But it's to be expected when you spend eight hours perched up in a saddle with a giant beast swaying underneath you almost rocking you to sleep with each step and each hoof crunching against the dirt and gravel in a gritty serenading kind of way.  But I do remember one day of horse travel and one part of a mile that I thought exceptionally beautiful, the kind of earthly beautiful that you would want your mother to see- that's perhaps how I might measure something wondrous- I think if it would amaze and enrapture my mother and if so then it is something of beauty.  In August I joined Peter and Tyson and Anders- "Lion Chasers", I mean Teton Outfitters for a pack trip in the Gros Ventres, a wilderness area on the east side of Jackson Hole.  Literally Gros Ventres is French for "big belly" which comes from the native American signing gesture of "always hungry", which I have not found information of how that developed but while I was in the Gros Ventres I most definitely felt like I was in a "big belly" and I am really looking forward to returning there to visit the famed Darwin Ranch.  We spent five days there with a great family, all of whom were also "Lion Chasers" too.  We packed in 18 horses, one rolling suitcase, 12 bottles of wine and all the other stuff that makes camp work...  Well as far as I can recall, for me, for the indulgence of my eyes, the day we climbed out of Crystal Creek and over the pass to the head waters of the Gros Ventre River might just be one of my favorite miles.  But it is hard to judge when moods have an inherent tendency to favor regardless of reason.  I suppose all things must have been just right for that mile through the Gros Ventres...

keep the doggies rolling...

I've been at the Linn Ranch for three weeks now.  Three weeks that passed by like a fractured notion of time.  Perhaps that has something to do with "horse time" or the absence of it when I am working and riding horses, or it just might have something to do with finding myself amongst really good people who make all time time well spent.  But now, today I am leaving.  I have a fairly organized pile of clothes and gear stacked around me next to a smaller sized pile of clothes and gear that belong to my new riding partner- Peter Linn.  Yup, I've got a hitchhiker!  And my hitchhiker travels by horse and guides in the Tetons professionally and has for pretty much his entire life.  So that means we are hitting the high country on horseback and will be, for the most part, heading northwest towards Bellingham on probably the most scenic route available.  As it would be, it is nearly snowing here today and I won't be surprised if we find ourselves walking up the trail in an early fall blizzard.  Apparently the forecast said something like a "severe cold trough" would be sweeping through today and tonight.  Hmmm...  I don't even know what that means exactly and if I were traveling by myself you would be able to bet money on me delaying the departure.  But somehow, with company along I have developed a greater sense of invincibility!  As false as that may be it's more credible than me braving storms by myself or proposing wars with windmills without Sancho by my side.  Unfortunately I can't post any pictures of this last layover.  I am having some technical difficulties and as much as I have pleaded with my internet devices they still turn their noses up and shrug back their shoulders unsympathetically.  So  maybe in time I will be able to do some swindling and at least get a few images up of all the horse moving and dawggie chasing we've been doing while at the Linn Canyon Ranch.  Until then, Peter Linn and I will be making tracks up through Yellowstone National Park on our way to Montana!  Hi Ho!