Day Nine

Tonight I write next to a roaring campfire after a dinner of grilled cheese and turkey sandwiches toasted on my fire. Because of the temperature, I am sitting literally one foot away from the fire in full winter gear, luckily I brought some. today I read in the newspaper that Yellowstone had the coldest temperatures in the nation this weekend. I guess someone forgot to turn on summer down here. This morning I visited the geysers with some friends I made last night around the campfire. They had been to Yellowstone before and served as both guides and transportation throughout the park. Old Faithful was faithful as always and our group disbanded after lunch. The geysers were an incredible mixture of color and power. There are tons of them within the park and they are all unique. Some are burping mudpits, some are boiling perfect cyans, and others are just plain showing off for the tourists. I retreated from the weather for a few hours in my tent to nap and catch up on the newspaper. Tonight looks like an opportunity to start a new book Jan Praxel in Spokane let me borrow. The skies are now clear and I have a couple hours left in my campfire to put a good dent in Montana 1948. Tomorrow I will venture to the other side of the park where I will spend the remainder of my Yellowstone visit.

Day Eight

Friends, I write tonight at peace knowing that in the snowy wilderness I was able to light a fire successfully and most likely will survive Yellowstone, as I write, it is currently snowing on my tent. Today was absolutely amazing. I have never encountered such beauty at such magnitude. The colors, the mountains, the heavens-- the sheer expansiveness is both stunning and overwhelming at times. As I drove through the park, it seemed every turn had some fantastic feature: geysers, hot springs, rock faces, green valleys, herds of animals, even a lone bear trudging up a mountain side. In this place I have felt true joy, the kind that makes you smile uncontrollably and hyperventilate from the depths of your stomach. God’s creation is good in Wyoming. I think everyone should visit this place alone to experience and ponder the grandness of the land, and then again later with loved ones to share. Tonight the temperature is bone chillingly cold and my spirits are high. The weather hid the mountain peaks today. Feeling somewhat disappointed did not last long as a calmness rolled through me. There was a strange satisfaction with not knowing how high the mountains really went, like nature was giving me a tease through the grey sheets of clouds saying, “ If you really want to know, you’ll have to come up and find out for yourself.” If there wasn’t any mystery in this, we would probably stop looking. Perhaps when I return.

Day Seven

Well Friday was a fun one. Me and my closest UW med school friends that I met the other day went on a mountain bike ride where I got to test out my new bike. We rode some steep terrain and 3/5's of our group made it to the top where we could see the entire valley and an ominous storm approaching. A short June hail storm, a bear sighting, and a rapid decline through stormy weather later, we arrived back at the cabin caked in mud and sat by a fire to warm things up. Tonight looks like burgers and BBQ chicken and planning tomorrow's trek to Wyoming where I will leave civilization for a few days. The blog will be quiet for a bit but I will continue to take photos and log my adventure. I'll catch you all up when I reach internet access again. Thanks for all the comments and friendly notes, they are much appreciated.

Day Six

Dear Friends,

Today I learned a little something about Montana manliness... shooting guns, big trucks, pizza, swearing, and Canadian whiskey. I have arrived at the Westermann cabin on Swan Lake and am hanging out with Robby and his med school buddies John, David, and Kevin who are on summer break looking for some fresh air. Today we went shooting up in the mountains with Robby's buddy who is a CHP officer in Northern California. He naively brought his personal arsenal and gave free range to a bunch of city slickers, who probably had more fun taking ridiculous gangsta photos after the ammo ran out. Below you see a photo of one of your possible future health care professionals. Don't let the photo fool you, he has a terrible shot. Who says surgeons need steady hands anyway?

Day Five

Today was a successful day in Big Fork, MT. I read about 100 pages of Kerouak, ate too much, met up with my buddy Robby for a brewery tour at the Flathead Lake Brewery, failed at kayak fishing, and finished my evening at a podunk bar where cowboys swung cowgirls. Remarkably the highlight of the day was fishing and not catching a single thing. The saving grace was a family of beavers I met on Swan Lake who were as curious as I was. There were two that I followed a ways as I watched them fish and gather wood from a paddle length away. I wished that I had my camera but I am not 100% confident in my kayaking skills, especially after Tuesday's close brushes with almost being upside down in a very cold lake upon poorly judging the strength of the waves in a lake 30 miles long.

I am growing anxious to press onto lone time in unknown territory but I balance with the understanding that I am with friends who I may not see again for some time. So these days are privileged as the next journey will arrive in short time, and I must be content and thankful for today. Tomorrow I will move all my gear 10 miles down the road from Big Fork to Swan Lake where I will stay a few days with Robby Westermann and three of his UW med school buddies. Saturday morning I leave for Wyoming where I will camp for four days in Yellowstone National Park.

Day Four

Monday morning I left the Praxel's and drove the five gorgeous hours to Big Fork, Montana where I am staying in some staff housing at Flathead Lake Lodge owned by the Averill family. I am staying in a dorm/boat house type of building with my college buddy Mark. There is a kayak downstairs which I plan to steal soon and spend the remainder of the morning on, after a short bike ride to the gas station to get some caffeine of course. I think God spends his free time in Montana.

The lesson of the Billy Goat: To all of Montana you may just be billy goat eating trash on the side of the road. But to a Southern Californian you are the most fascinating of God's creatures and I will "bah" at you until you pay attention to me so I can take your photo. Value is relative.

Day Three

Well it was another rough day in Spokane... Today I spent the majority of day lounging at the Praxel's lake cabin affectionately nicknamed the Butterfly, a place full of family history, uniqueness, and character. My Sunday started with Kaarin's nieces Ella and Maddy jumping on my bed begging to go swimming in the lake, church for me in it's own unique way. We waited out a storm and full stomachs and eventually got in the water where Maddy at 5 was able to swim over 70 feet all by herself. Just the day before she was only willing to go about 6 feet. We celebrated the joy of her accomplishment. In all of the grandness of the world, Maddy's swim was grandly insignificant, but to her she was on top of the world. Her excitement and determination was amazingly refreshing and I felt true joy in watching her kick her small legs, coughing and swallowing water all the way across.

Here are Maddy and Ella with Billy the Bass which was delightfully entertaining. *WARNING* This video might just cute you to death.