As much fun as it was with the big group, it was time for us to take the reigns on our own adventure. Maggie and I split off from the big crew while the rest made their way back to Santa Fe. My sister, Jena, and brother in law, Chris, run a cattle ranch 45 minutes west of Bozeman near a small town called Harrison. Winter is calving season for them, a very busy time, so coincidentally my parents were in the neighborhood as well to help watch the one-year-old granddaughter while Jena and Chris tended to the calves.
Maggie and I met Jena and Chris on the ranch, and after a quick lunch break, they were right back to work moving hay ahead of another, more potent, storm system. Us city slickers weren’t good for much else than petting dogs, so we went to the town of Pony to see my folks and niece to get settled for the evening.
Jena and Chris joined us all later for dinner, and I must say, it was nice to get some calm family time after 5 days of millennial madness. Maggie and I slept for nearly 12 hours that night, much needed rest. We stopped by the ranch the next morning on our way out of town and actually helped Jena by cutting open round hay bale nets while she prepared a pen for some new cows. A quick lunch in Ennis with the ‘rents, and we were on the road again, back to Idaho Falls.
My buddy from grad school, Clint, had moved back to Idaho after a few years in Hawai’i. That move may puzzle some people, but I think he got his fill in Hawai’i and was starting to feel the island fever. Back on the mainland, our objective was Grand Targhee, a smaller ski area just west of the Tetons.
The last time Clint was on a snowboard was about five years prior, and on his last run, his friend talked him into boarding down an icy road to get to the car. Clint fell, sprained his knee, and broke a rib! Needless to say, he had some minor PTSD from this experience, but he was stoked to get out skiing with us and get back on the proverbial horse. Clint got back in the groove and the three of us enjoyed plenty of turns together! The snow earlier in the week also hit Targhee, thank goodness. Conditions were pretty good, which made up for the holiday weekend crowds. We met people from all over the country on the chairlifts: NY, MD, MI, NC, WA, and eveyone was super nice and happy to chat.
Somewhere in all the fun, I managed to lose my walkie-talkie on the slopes. I gave up hope after retracing some runs to search for it. At the end of the day, we sat at the base for an aprés ski beer when our other radios received a transmission, “Hello this is ski patrol, someone turned in this radio. Anyone out there still listening on this frequency?” What a relief! I got my radio back thanks to some kind soul out there on the mountain.
At last, Maggie and I could take a break from skiing. We said our farewells in Idaho and headed for Moab, UT. After camping out for a night in the Crosstrek, Maggie and I went to Arches National Park. We went to Devil’s Garden, an awesome section of the park with fin canyons and a high density of arches.
The 8 mile hike felt great after being strapped into skis or in the car for so long. This is a decidedly spicy trail for the National Park Service, or “primitive” as they say. There are a few brief sections of scrambling, uneven sandstone, and a tall fin the trail crosses with exposed cliffs. Definitely a fun one!
With inclement weather approaching, we boogied over to delicate arch, you know, the one on the Utah license plates? The wind was howling at times, so bad that we had to take cover and shield our eyes from the intermittent sand storm. Near the arch, 50 mph gusts were funneling through a gap in the rock, nearly blowing us over! But the weather kept the crowds away, so we were able to snag a selfie unencumbered by others.
We hiked back down as fast as possible, smelling rain on the wind. Sure enough, the first few drops fell right when we got to the car. Then came the downpour… We intended to camp out another night and check out more of what Moab has to offer, but the cold and wet made it an easy decision to book a hotel room and get back home the next day.
Twelve days on the road. We were happy to get back to Santa Fe. Now begins the work of preparing for the PCT and relieving ourselves of as many possessions as possible.
Distance Over Time 