2-Fer!

I think that some of the best and most challenging things in life come in twos. Two Wheels, Two Skis, 2 People (with apologies to polygamists, would be and otherwise,) and the very yin and yang of life. Joy and Sorrow, Life and Death, Work and Play. I'm oversimplifying, but these states of being give relevance and significance to one another. On those rare (for me) occasions when you get the various parts of your life in balance, seems to me you have achieved harmony. I'm not sure it ever lasts all that long, and sometimes I don't realize I even have it til it's fading away, but I try and remember to take a few minutes and appreciate the sweetness. Just the promise of that fleeting, ethereal sense of balance and completeness helps keep me moving. 

All of which is my verbose and bloviating way of saying that this will be the first long ski trip I've taken in years without my wife. She had major knee surgery this past year and is out for the season. She's been and remains the one true constant in my life for the last 14 Years. I can almost hear her reminding me that it'll be 15 in May.

She's also one of the few people I know who is always game for adventure. Skiing, Mountain Biking, Travel, even the drudgery of house and yard work. When others are giving me the old, "Well, I'd like to go, but..." she's the one packing and grabbing the car keys before I finish the thought. She manages all this with a smile and go for it attitude, even on some of the more spectacular misadventures I've engineered over these past 14 years. In any case, she'll be back on skis next year, kicking my butt, and due a truly MAJOR ski trip after 18 months off the boards.


So, I'm solo on this mission. Meeting some friends in Jackson Hole and hope to connect with some more friends while in the Salt Lake area, but my sweetie won't be there. The other thing I'm leaving behind is the project I've been working on for the last 3 years. Had a few successes, but it's just time to shift my efforts elsewhere. Not sure what's next on that front.


So am I selfish for bailing on my wife and heading out west? Probably. Do I feel like I need to get into the mountains and snow and under that great dark blue vault of a western sky and try and find a little balance? Absolutely.

Coco at Alta

A great picture of Coco from March '09 at Alta. Went to Alta.com this morning, and there she was on the front page. Excellent! Seems to come up every now and again. Check for yourself at Alta.com. You may have to refresh the homepage a few times to get it to come up.

Getting super stoked and yet a little sad, more on that in a minute, to launch this mission. 12 roadtrippin' days and nights across the mountains of Utah, Idaho, MT, and WY, which may have you wondering why no "MT" in the title of this blog? The short answer is that I'm completely winging it and changed my plan to include Big Sky as of this morning!

Speaking of "The Plan," Here's a map of the current proposed route.

Alta>Powder Mountain>Pebble Creek>Big Sky>Grand Targhee>Jackson Hole> Alta/Solitude/ Snowbird/Wherever!




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