It's been awhile...

(Flowers from Colorado this June)

Pocatello Birthdays

Two months later I'm finally getting to the end of our Idaho travels.  Perhaps the motivation was prompted by the departing from Alicia just an hour ago in a bus station in Ithaca.  Pocatello was interesting.  We didn't care much for the town and ended up finding solace in the trees of Scout Mountain.  It also ended up being Alicia's 24th birthday.  We celebrated with Idaho wildflowers, sun dried tomato risotto, new jean vests,  and diva photo shoots.

Fly Fishin'

Learning how to fly fish was one of the most magical days of the entire trip.  Putting on the waders, your toes freezing in the chilly water, the flow and flicker of the reel and rod.  I remember sitting there in awe of the beautiful mountainscape, willing myself to take in every little thing and feeling from that moment.  Both Alicia and I left wanting to learn and do it more. 

Happy Cows

Sawtooths

Sleepy mountains with blurred green foreground. Welcoming us to the Sawtooths. Alicia and I both sensed that we needed the day off when we pulled up to the Sawtooths. We just had way too much fun in Sun Valley in the days prior: breweries, fire places, epic hikes, backpacking, new Idaho friends, and brew fests to be exact. Our bodies and spirits needed rest so that is what we did. Alicia pulled out the makeshift work station consisting of homemade scrap wood table. I putzed around with my camera in hand, sitting on the damp banks of Little Redfish Lake, this moment captured in the first picture.  

But don't worry, our love for finding the small town hippie bakeries stayed strong. We quickly fell in love with Stanley Bakery (pictured above) and ate there as many times as possible. My favorite meal was called the "Wookie Bowl" featuring: yams, brussel sprouts, red onions, seasonal summer vegetables, arugula, quinoa, 2 beautifully poached eggs, grass fed beef sausage patty, almond cream and some crusty delicious sourdough toast. We did several day hikes, careful to balance our days with hiking, adventure, eating, cooking, dreaming, reflecting, and sister talk.
 *****

*****

Up to Pioneer Cabin

***** *****

The hike up was brutal, but beautiful.  Pioneer Cabin is a long day hike known to the locals of Idaho consisting of switchbacks through forests, epic mountain ridge views, and a beloved cabin that hosts weary hikers in the summer and cold skiers in the winter.  The cabin is completely supported by the community, the people that love the cabin and what it stands for.  After hours of steep trails with packs we giddily smiled when we finally glimpsed the cabin, "The higher you get, the higher you get".  Yes, ma'am.

We were spoiled that we were the only ones up there.  We camped where we wanted, we dragged chairs out of the cabin down by the ridge to enjoy a dinner with views, and we watched the sunset steep the mountain in color, then in grays and blues.  There is a wildness, unregulated about Idaho that is mirrored in this trip.  The experience of the land at times more supported by the people than government.  I believe that being alone in the breathtaking wilderness is one of the most reflective, reverential, soul satisfying things in this world.

The hike down was just as rigorous.  Alicia and I joked that we were experiencing "the seven plagues" as after completing one challenge (sliding down a steep boulder field) another one smacked us in the face (non-stop bugs that made you pray for wind). But at you reach your car, you feel this self-satisfied high.  You did that, you felt that, and it was incredible. 

Perfect Morning

Steps for The Perfect Morning: 

1) Hike up a wildflower hill 

2) Take a sip of your sister's aeropress coffee 

3) Read some David Whyte and enjoy his prose on procrastination 

4) Journal a reflection on the above prose 

5) Start getting silly with sister 

6) Realize your blessings in life for being able to combine all of the above in one moment