Oceanside, Oregon
day breakdown
travel in, reunion of friends living across us. three flew, two drove up from colorado
drive in,
theme -- swimming in every lake we encounter
adopt friend (billy)
encounter other groups in the backcountry, a church group with pack horses
texas pass -- no horse can traverse, transit through the day, a rest atop
peace, emptiness, no others for quite some time
swimming in an icy lake, courage and temporary discomfort. photo here of the spikes, show also as top photo
feelings of reluctance to leave. a cold windy exit
Traveling into Wyoming’s Wind River Range with longtime friends brought excitement -- I had trained for this trip, the only activity for which I’d ever trained, by hopping on my climbing gym’s stair climber with a 60 lb kettlebell in my backpack and staying on until my NPR podcast finished. Ira Glass’s voice still makes me stand up straight and activate my quads.
Lakes, plunging. Each one colder than the last as we gained elevation -- we failed to realize how good we had it on our first swim, at the gently-named Marm’s Lake.
Photo timestamps indicate about 45 minutes of ascent on Texas Pass
when the birds paused, silence enough to hear a cloud pass overhead
We were in grizzly country, requiring each of us to carry a can of bear spray at all times. Post-swim, this made for stylish outfits -- sunning on the rocks in boxer briefs with bear spray strapped at the hip. Not pictured.