A picture with Myah

This is what happens when you want a simple photo with your dog.......
and your friend has the camera!

Okay Myah SIT.....Stay Myah Stay.

Oops

Crap, I'm down.

Got you now.

Say Cheese!

The last for the year....

I have a feeling with winter weather coming on this may be the last peak of the year. Guess I will have to start scouting out some lakes to hike into. Although a little sore from summiting this beauty yesterday it was great to be on top of the world again.

Twin peaks (elev 9673) this was the big twin.

(Let me clarify, you climb up beside the peaks, not on top of them. The rock is rotten and unstable so climbing on them is not recommended.)

Scrambling up to the top. Besides the wind, it couldn't have been a more perfect day, unless Tob was able to come too of course.

But, Tob was busy. I came home to a little smoke and a little ash yesterday afternoon. Hopefully with the cooler temps, decreased winds, possibly a little rain and of course Tob's expertise this will be out in no time!

Blah, Blah, Blah, blah blah............

We haven't been up to much lately, which honestly has been kind of nice. Since my Joseph trips I have been having right foot pain and have been trying to give it a break, so no runs, no hikes, no playing = some sadness. It's the perfect time of year to be up in the mountains and I can't. Oh well, there is next year right :-(

Kids started soccer. I am assisting with coaching Alexyss's team again. She is definitely more into it then t-ball and having a blast. Nojah is also playing soccer and doing exceptionally well. They started a football program here after we had already signed up for soccer this year. Little man was quite bummed, but since he has been practicing with the "older kids" and improving his skills he is really starting to LOVE soccer and may have a hard time deciding between the two next year.

Other then soccer, work, school, homework, etc not much has changed in our world. I will post some pictures when I finally take some.......

A NeW Do

This week I was finally disgusted with my overwhelming large hairball and had 13+ inches chopped off. Much to Nojah's dismay those tails will be sent to locks of love, not added as his own personal extensions. Secretly what I love the most (at least right now) is the fact I CAN'T put it in a ball :0)

Chief Joseph Round 2

Made it up Joseph again today to get my sunglasses I left behind on Monday. They were sitting right where I left them so I am glad I went back. Still 5200 ft of climbing in 3 miles but a much gentler route (if you can call it that) and 1/2 the time.

This is the route we went up this time

Which was much nicer, safer, and less scary then this.

All thanks to my hero Fred who showed me the "correct" route to go. I had so much fun. No goats this trip, only a fox. Great hike up. Fun run down. A little windy on top if you couldn't tell by the hair :0) Loved it, Loved it, Loved it! I don't think I would have appreciated it as much as I did though if I hadn't taken the hellacious route the first time. No more peaks this week. Mnt biking tomorrow and then back to work :-(

Chief Joseph El 9616

Late Sunday night Kristen and I decided that we were going to tackle Chief Joseph peak before she headed back to Brooklyn for the year. It was quite the adventure. I was told that the trail was hard to find and it was recommended to me to go with someone who had been there before. Well, we did not heed this advice. We opted to go anyway. Seriously how hard could it be?

This happens to be midway up a climb through scree, and an avalanche chute with a potential fall/tumble/slide (all of the above) of 1000-2000 ft. Now being scared of heights, this wasn't a route I would have taken had I known what I was getting myself into. However, I refused to go down so the only way to go was up. I told Kristen we would find another way down later. I just wanted to get up to the ridge line alive. As I explained to Kristen. I was the little kid who would climb up into the tree house but wouldn't get back down. My aunt Maxine probably recalls this problem.

Because of the danger of dislodging boulders we had to take turns climbing until we got to a safe spot and then the next one would go. This is Kristen making her way to the top. By the way that isn't the top you see in the picture either. After about 2.5 miles from the trail head and a 4500 ft elevation gain we made it to the ridge. After making it to the ridge we saw this guy.......

He was amazing. I have seen lots of sheep but I don't recall if I have ever seen goats especially not this close. Beautiful eh?

We reached the summit at 3.48 miles. It apparently takes the average joe 6-7 miles to reach the summit but since we "accidentally" took the rock climbing route we reached the summit a much slower and more difficult way. Then we saw 7 goats and 2 kidds. I even retrieved some of their hair and told the kids I had to chase one down and wrestle to to get the goat fur for them. Gosh, the things I do for my kids......

I think they followed us around as we headed back trying to find a way down because they came around the peak and ran down the mountain side. If it was only that easy for us. We chose another avalanche chute to go down on our way back but it wasn't much better then the first. I watched the goats down below grazing and then they finished an headed back up the mountain before we were even 3/4 of the way down. The worst part of the whole trip was I left my favorite sunglasses at the summit.
It even gets better. I plan on returning tomorrow morning ( with a friend who knows the route ) to retrieve them. Yikes. I am not sure how I got talked into this. Call me crazy and wish me luck!

1st riding lesson

On Sunday Lex felt like the luckiest girl in the world riding Sissyella around the arena. She got some great tips from our friends and most importantly had a blast. We are considering starting her in pony club in January for a year to see if it's something she truly has an intrest in and wants to continue riding.