Photo Friday

This week has been so busy with preparations for this weekends Grand Targhee Bluegrass Festival, that the only photos I have to share are from last week's backpacking trip to Stuart Peak. It was a great trip and the pictures hardly do it justice.

I'm still on the fence about bringing my camera on this trip, as I'm not really wanting to have it with me 24/7, but also don't want to miss out of the beauty of the area...should probably get a move on if I want to leave within the hour.

Here's a shout out to my twin sister: Happy Birthday to us!! With every year, it seems that life keeps getting easier. May we both enjoy many more years on this earth, and hopefully be able to celebrate together again.

Stuart Peak

I feel blessed to live in Missoula Montana, where just a short car ride away is an awesome trail head. On Saturday morning Amy, Kim, and I left the Rattlesnake trail head for Stuart peak at 10 am. A bit late for a backpacking trip if you ask me, but it was nice to get some extra sleep and have a leisurely breakfast. I was carrying 4 liters of water and my pack weight was a total of 37 pounds. I'd guess that at the height of our hike in, the temp was around 82 degrees with a slight breeze that felt oh so good. We had all done a little searching for the length of the trip, and had found that is was around 10.5 miles to the peak. The sign at the trail head said that it was only 8 miles. I'm pretty sure our research is correct but who knows.

We set up camp at the first spot we found; about 3+ miles from the summit, right in the middle of a huckleberry patch and just a short walk away from a little trickle of a creek. The weather was perfect for just hanging out and picking berries. We laughed and told stories, and talked about our hopes for the future and the adventures we all want to go on. As the sun set and the stars came out, we gazed out into the distance at the lights of Missoula. The calm and quiet of the wilderness at night was rejuvenating and something that I must get out into more frequently.

Sunday morning we awoke to a light rain that lasted for about an hour. We attempted to make huckleberry pancakes in a nonstick pan (not recommended) and settled for eating trail mix and carrots. We left camp just after 11 am for the summit, and arrived 2 hours later, just after 1 pm. We enjoyed lunch an just hung out for an hour. We could see for miles, all the way south to Lolo, and the Mission Mountains to the north.

We took our time making it down the mountain, all of us sore and tired. By the time we reached the car at 6:30pm, we were anxious for Bridge pizza and cold beer. My feet couldn't take me any farther.

Two days later, my quads and especially my calves are extremely tight. My knee, however, is doing just fine.

Which peak around Western Montana should I conquer next?

Photo Friday

Here it is already the first Friday in August. How time does fly when the weather is wonderful and there is so much fun to be had! Missoula's farmers market has been great for fresh spinach, carrots, a various other goodies. Of course, the people watching is just as good. Montana's big sky is especially beautiful after a quick evening thunderstorm, and with willing participants, pictures are even more fun.

Enjoy your weekend. I'm off to summit Stewart Peak, just north of Missoula this weekend.

Time alone

Getting used to being single is...strange. Strange in that it is different than what I thought it would be. I've spent plenty of time with friends, and have had a blast of course, but I've also spent time alone. In fact the last two nights I have chosen to stay home alone and regroup.

After a busy weekend with Eve, Jackie, Blake and Joe, it seemed that the only thing I should want to do was to spend time alone. Monday I turned down a walk along the river with a friend and instead spent the night nesting and hanging out with myself. Tuesday was much the same; I made dinner and read for most of the evening. I also did something I haven't done in ages; went to bed shortly after 10pm.

I'm still getting used to living alone, only because I have yet to finish settling my things where I want them. What I do miss is that when I come home from work, there isn't anyone to ask how my day was. It's the little things I guess. I'm not really lonely, or depressed at all. Just reminiscent over the past two years that I've been here, most of which has been in a relationship. I'm getting to know myself all over again, and working on making being happy from the inside, which is all that really matters.

Ironically, I am reading "Happiness" by Matthieu Ricard. I haven't gotten that far into it because it seems as though I am scrutinizing it too much. Already it is making a lot of sense and I think it will help. My favorite quote so far is "To love oneself is to love life." Considering that I'll be 31 a week from Friday, it seems as though I should have quite a bit of life left, so I should start to love it...and myself, faults and all.

31 days of meditation

I've done what I set out to do 31 days ago; meditate every day in July. There was never a day that I didn't want to meditate, and I soon found that it was best for me to sit before I left the house for the day. My attention span improved, I was often in a better mood than I would have been had I not meditated, and I was able to come to terms with a lot of stuff over the past month that otherwise might have been more difficult.

I'm happy to say that this will continue on. I can't justify not keeping it up when it has been so beneficial to me, and it is so easy to find 15-25 minutes to quiet the mind. And, having come to terms with the fact that I probably have ADHD, I would rather try to control it with meditation, exercise and diet.

Anyway, it's a beautiful Saturday morning here in Missoula, so I'm off to enjoy it.

Photo Friday

The beginning of the week had much better sunsets, probably due to the small fire west of Missoula, but of course, I didn't have my camera for those. Wednesday found me hiking up the side of Mt. Sentinel, not quite to the M but I was ready for a sunset...that didn't quite do much; but it was still pretty in it's own way.

The last picture is from my garden, a green bell pepper plant that for some reason escaped a visiting deer's path. At least I'll have peppers and zucchini!

Hangin' in there...

Yesterday found me meeting up with a meditation buddy that I had met last fall, Nick. He is currently between his overseas experiences, having just returned from a two month retreat in Thailand, and is leaving for South Korea to teach English in just over two weeks.

It's kind of ironic that we were able to connect, as I didn't have any way to contact him. While meditating yesterday morning, he popped into my head, and I was a bit disappointed that I would not be able to meet up with him before he left, as he was spending the summer with his family in another town. I put that thought aside and continued with my 25 minute sit. Afterwards, I opened the front door to grab Oliver's chain so I could put him out for a bit before work, and there was a note between the doors...from Nick. He had a book of Justin's that he needed to return and left me his number. We had a nice chat and decided to meet up for a quick lunch before he headed home. Our quick lunch turned into just over an hour of catching up, and to be honest, it was just what I needed. Both of us are dealing with relationships ending, and talking about how we were feeling and how to cope with those emotions was helpful. His insight and hope for the future invigorated me as well. I came back to work sad to see him go, but in very high spirits.

Considering how sad I was at the beginning of last week, I've been pretty good, accepting that everything is as it should be...