Wyoming at theTop

Wyoming provides so many beautiful pictures it's hard to know where to focus! Here's the view from my sister and brother-in-law's front deck near Kaycee, Wyoming, where I woke up this morning.  Today I need to wander a little and find some adventure, so Chorro and I are heading to Montana.



On this trip, we are travelling west through the northern-most route of the BigHorn mountains, just south of the Montana border. In many years of living in this area, it's a road I've never travelled before.  And you know of course that it is always about taking the road less travelled.



Here's a view of the northern part of the mountain range from Sheridan, where we made a last 'civilization' stop at Starbucks.   We'll be going over the top.



Wyoming has lots of red rock, scoria, which was created eons ago by the heat from underground burning oil fields. It appears in wonderful slashes of warm color in the green forests as well as over on the plains.


I remember being entranced with the red rock the first time I saw it on a trip through the Wind River canyon with two little pre-school sweethearts.  Scoria also appears on Easter Island, where it has been carved into huge stone statues.


This two-lane highway heading west from Sheridan is a biker's dream on a hot day and although the traffic is not heavy on this road, we meet many motorcycles. The switchbacks take you higher and higher, lots of sharp curves to lean into and cooler breezes with every foot of elevation gained.


And before you know it, near the top, one of the many lakes, tarns, forming in glacial cirques, those scooped out little valleys that make great collectors of snow melt and turn into spots for tourists like us to stop for a brief break. If we were fisherwoman and fisherdog, that's what we'd be doing here!


Here we are, close to the top, around 9000 feet.  Time to get out and breathe a lot!


Still going even higher.


Another rest stop. Chorro is not really a water dog, but he does like to get his feet wet and slurped up some water from this melting-snow stream while cooling off his puppy toes.


Here we are at last -- the high plateau.


Here the tops of the mountains don't look so high, although they are probably around 12,000 feet.


Some snow has not melted yet in the very short summer season at this altitude.


Found only at altitudes of 10-12,000 feet, we see some rare pink snow, sometimes called watermelon snow. The color is from a specific algae that loves cold temperatures (silly algae!). It is being studied as a possible source of a cancer-fighting phytochemical, related to the carotenoids that give many of our tastiest fruits and vegetables their bright colors (yes, including watermelon). 


This observation point provided a great view.


Being on top of the world is so exhilirating. The air is fresh and clean and the views are astounding. The lack of oxygen encourages great deep breaths. And in that extra moment the deep breath requires comes a brief instant of seeing clearly and connecting with everything. For moments like these, we climb mountains (or drive to the top, as we get older.)


Here at the top, we are going to stop and make a trek to the Medicine Wheel, but I will save that for the next story. Right now, I will just give you a view of a Wyoming sunset so you know what to expect when evening comes to this beautiful state.


Today was a good day.

The Horses are Coming, the Horses are Coming!

Do you remember this adorable couple who were married in Las Vegas last February? Okay, I'm biased. Yes, it's my daughter Kristi and son-in-law Doug.

Do you remember this couple who have the beautiful brilliant daughter who graduated from U Dub last year? Okay, I'm biased again. Yes, it's my niece Courtney with her partner, John, and my sister and brother-in-law, Lorna and Bob.

Lorna and Bob had a very special wedding gift for Kristi and Doug. It took a while to arrange for the gift to arrive, but today was the big day. Lorna and Bob sent two horses from their ranch in Washington to Kristi and Doug's home in Montana. And I was fortunate enough to be here to photograph the occasion.

Two kids at Christmas were never more excited. Each morning I have been greeted with the countdown of how many days until the horses arrive. Frequent e-mail checks, just in case there was a change in plans, heaven forbid! Finally, yesterday was the day they were to leave Washington on an overnight trip to Montana. Yesterday afternoon we watched the web cam at the Orcas Island ferry lot to see if we could see them loading. Nope. Are they really coming?

A call this morning confirmed that Richie and Raymond had been driving all night and were only a few hours away with the horses. Both 'kids' were watching at the windows for sight of a truck and horse trailer coming up the road. When at last it came into view, Doug climbed up on the truck to get a better view. You can see him here, hopping down, as the boys with the horses came to a stop in the front yard.

Doug is snapping pictures of the new babies while Kristi steals a pick.

Oh my, I think I'm in love! Come and see!

Wow!

We can unload them now, yes?

(And isn't that a spiffy horse trailer? The trailer is also a gift from another auntie of Kristi's, Cheryl, who owned beautiful Halflinger's -- this is Lily, who used to ride in this very trailer, with Cheryl behind her, seen at the Bok Kai parade in Marysville, CA last year.)





And now, presenting, the star of the show, Miss Gypsy Rose!

And her Momma, the granddame Cajun queen!

And this picture is definitely better than a thousand words.

Now I must tell you that there is another member to this family. Her name is Zin and she has been Kristi's horse for several years. We are all wondering how she will feel about having two new sisters. She is hanging her head over the corral fence watching these goings-on with great interest and an occasional nervous whinny.

Zin and Gypsy Rose say hello.

Kristi and Doug introduce Cajun to her new Montana home. She is awed by the mountains! I think she is secretly planning her first foray up a Forest Service trail.

Gypsy Rose jumps with joy!

Everybody is excited for a while and there is much running around, showing off, and exploring.

At first, the two newcomers mostly hang together.

Cajun checks out the quality of the mud while Gypsy Rose does the same with the grass.

This shot is for Lorna and Bob so they can picture their flat-landers happy in their new mountain home.

After a while, Zin reclaims her space and includes herself in the group.

Gypsy and Cajun are my very close neighbors until they are moved from the corral to the pasture. They come over to check out my house on wheels.

Which gives me a great lead-in to show you Kristi and Doug's new home. They have a lovely house.

Where the views from the back yard are like none other.

And the rest of you will just have to cry yourself to sleep because you don't live in Montana too.

Where I watched this sunset out my window last night.

Today was a good day.

Skies over Albuquerque

I've always known that hot air ballooning truly belongs in Fantasyland somewhere, in the making of miraculous tales and enchanting storybooks. But, and this was a big but, I knew if it were ever a possibility in the real world, I'd be in line, bright and early in the morning!

Well, Albuquerque, site of the great annual fall Balloon Fiesta, is the place where fantasy becomes reality. There is something about the air currents above Albuquerque that makes it an ideal place to launch and fly -- and to land? -- hot air balloons.

I came to Albuquerque to visit my friend Kathleen and to attend the annual Radiant Recovery seminar for sugar sensitive people. That is another story, and a good one, so you may want to check out their website at radiantrecovery.com.

One morning Kathleen and I were coming back from breakfast out and I spotted a balloon sailing over Albuquerque. As I tried to get a picture of it through the windshield, she offered to help me get a really good picture. Fortunately, Kathleen knows Albuquerque well, so we zipped around, zigzagging through residential areas, keeping one eye on the balloon, until voila! she found it just as it landed.

I went closer for a good look and the enterprising young men flying it gave me their card and some friendly encouragement to call them. Hmm. It seemed a "little" encouragement was all I needed. I contacted some friends who were also coming to Albuquerque for the Radiant Recovery seminar and before I knew it we had 8 people scheduled for 2 back-to-back balloon rides on Friday morning!

Alas, it began to rain on Thursday afternoon and by evening the weather report for Friday was still bleak, so the ride was cancelled.

We were offered a Monday morning slot, and to my surprise, every single person who was interested was willing to give it another try.

The balloon guys were going to pick us up at 5:15 AM at the hotel. We packed 8 more people into their van and off we went, meeting the 'chase car' that tows the balloon trailer at the launch site.

Here's one of the balloon guys (our pilot, Hoot) filling the balloon

and sending it up.

Okay, that's the test balloon to check the air currents.

We had to build the real balloon before we could ride in it.

So we take it out.

Piece by piece.

Check that the propane tank and burner work,

Lay out the actual balloon.

That task takes a while. You can see just how huge the balloon is.

We use a little generator and a big fan to blow in the air.

Watch it inflate,

very slowly,

Will this actually happen? Yes!!!!

until finally, it rises up off the ground

And it's amazing, we have a balloon ready to go up and the long awaited trip into fantasyland is about to begin.

Here's the view up from inside the basket.

Looking down at our buddies below

Other balloons are being filled at our launch site and are soon behind us in the air.We reach an altitude of 2500 feet and a speed of 22 mph.

There is an early morning haze over Albuquerque.

Tiny boxes squished together. This made me think about how we really live. Maybe we are seeing one reason I like to roam the roads in my particular little box.

Wow, a labyrinth. Wonder if I could find this place form the ground? Walking a labyrinth is a cool meditation experience!

We are getting low on propane and it's time to descend and switch places with the other half of our group.

Oops, we have actually landed in a game preserve and are informed that we have to leave. Now things are getting just a little tense because we are low on propane and close to the Rio Grande, which would not be a good place to come down. But we missed the prickly pear cactus!

We need to cross the Rio Grande before we can find another possible landing spot -- that's because we don't want to come down IN the Rio Grande.

We travel at a low altitude looking for someone's field, pasture, or large yard to ssettle the balloon into.

Shortly, we come to some open areas and make a very soft landing onto the lush grass.

Our chase car finds us just a few a few minutes later, after one of our group goes out looking for street signs so we can direct them to our location.

We change out tanks and passengers

and they're up off the earth into the sky!

This time I'm on the ground taking pictures of them as they become airborne. What a sight to watch this gentle rise.

Now it's my chance to follow in the chase car -- the air currents are taking them back toward the Hotel Albuquerque where we were picked up this a.m.

Landing in the city is a lot trickier than landing in residential or rural areas, and when the balloon comes down, it must descend more rapidly.

They land hard and actually spill over, injuring one of our group.

Poor Trish has a broken ankle as a memento of the adventure.

As for me, here with Hoot, our pilot, I have my own memories ---- and about 281 photos!I know you're wondering about Chorro -- where is he, did he get to go? No, no dogs allowed in hot air balloons, Toto being the notable exception. Chorro consoled himself though and napped in forbidden places while I was gone.!

It was a good day.