White Rim Trail, Canyonlands-- 100 mile mountain bike ride in less than 12 hours. This was the first truly hard physical feat I accomplished and it convinced me that I could go on a mission. May, 2004
The Tetons are phenomenal right now; snow-covered peaks and bright green Aspens in the valley, flowers blooming, sun shining, wind blowing, beautiful. . . and it gives me the itch. On Sunday I was teaching a lesson on developing our talents and one of the girls talked about how good it feels to do hard things. We talked about the feeling of being outside all day, working really hard and accomplishing something. I LOVE that feeling. I love getting to the summit and just hanging out. . .eating M&Ms and feeling my tired muscles. I love coming home having earned the right to be exhausted. I love going for it. And I really love going for it with Brian.
When I was 18 I came to the Tetons with my family right before starting university and we hiked to Lake Solitude. When we took the boat across Jenny Lake I sat across from a bronzed blond-haired Fabio-like Exum guide, who when I expressed my desire to climb the Grand, balked and said that I could only do it if I had a guide and $500. Ten years later, I finally have a shot at it. This is one "hard thing" that I've wanted for a very long time and I can't wait to check it off my list. Here's to other some other "hard things":
Teewinot, Grand Teton NP; July, 2010
The Petit Grepon 5.8 500ft; Rocky Mountain 2009
Mt. Nebo, Wasatch Front. Feb, 2007
Long's Peak; June 2009
Blizen Ridge 5.6 1,500ft. Rocky Mountain 2009
Indian Creek x20; 2007-2011
Biking the White Rim solo with a Bob trailer; Oct 2008.
Royal Arches 1,500ft 5.7; Yosemite May 2009
Sharkstooth 800ft 5.7; Rocky Mountain 2009
Diamond 1,200ft 5.10- Rocky Mountain 2009
Dream Weaver WI2 at 13,900ft; Rocky Mountain 2009
JahMan 400ft. 5.10, June 2008
Castleton Tower; 5.8 & 5.9 routes May & Aug 2008
Kolob Canyon; 12 rappels, running water, killer hike out. Zion Oct. 2008
"May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. May your rivers flow without end, meandering through pastoral valleys tinkling with bells, past temples and castles and poets' towers into a dark primeval forest where tigers belch and monkeys howl, through miasmal and mysterious swamps and down into a desert of red rock, blue mesas, domes and pinnacles and grottoes of endless stone, and down again into a deep vast ancient unknown chasm where bars of sunlight blaze on profiled cliffs, where deer walk across the white sand beaches, where storms come and go as lightning clangs upon the high crags, where something strange and more beautiful and more full of wonder than your deepest dreams waits for you -- beyond that next turning of the canyon walls." Ed Abbey
10 comments:
I loved your post. Hard things def make life interesting with the literal ups and downs. Thanks for sharing all your fun "summits" in your life. I love following all the fun adventures you and your cute little fam are doing. I am a very random person whom you may have not met in person but we share many awesome friends. Sorry for the randomness/awkwardness. Take care.
You are my hero. Can you and Brian be my tour guides sometime, and promise not to laugh at me when I suck?
I love you, and I loved this post. It was exactly what I needed today, after an 11 hour work day painting out in the hot sun, I almost forgot why I like hard things.
You are so hard core. You forgot to add some hard things to your list, though: what about HAVING A BABY hello? that was hard...
You are accomplished. They should feature you in a book about female adventurers.
I love this! What a great reminder of the power of the burning soul. I love the quotes! I think you should add a picture of you in labor...that sounded like a pretty hard thing! PS: you even look good when you're doing hard things. That's hard in and of itself! :)
PS I'm so jealous you're gonna climb the Grand that I wanna die. I would come up and make you guide me, but I don't think I'll be ready before you leave. And, Lindsey's comments always crack me up.
Hardcore.
Definition of modesty: Not including the phrase "on a rigid bike" about your White Rim trip. I would have. You are totally awesome.
And I was already enjoying this post immensely when you went and put it over the top by wrapping it up with a great Ed Abbey quote. That man would have been utterly consumed by his crotchety and self-sabotaging nature had it not been for his ability to appreciate the world around him in such a beautiful way.
I love the quotes and the pictures! This was the first time I saw pics of all you did in Rocky. Aweseome! So impressive!
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