J-Hole Digging

I am back from Jackson Hole! That place is so beautiful. And one of its most thrilling attractions is the lovely Laura Cooke.



I had such a wonderful time laughing, cooking, eating, backpacking, going for walks, seeing buffalo, going to the music festival, buying "friendship rings," making s'mores, going to a terrible bar with terrible bands and terrible drunk people, and basically tearing up the town. She's pretty much my favorite.
Our backpacking trip was so great. It had been awhile since I had hiked some serious elevation. Curiously enough, the only thing it affected was the number of times I had to use the "Poop Shovel." Let's just say I left behind lots of little "mementos" of my stay in the Tetons.



We started one morning and hiked uphill for the first 7 miles. We only had a permit to camp in Upper Paintbrush, which we reached at around 1pm or so... so we got to play, nap, cook, and make s'mores for the rest of the day! Yay!











The next day we hiked the Pass and topped out at about 10,700 ft. It was so cold up there! But incredibly beautiful. After the Pass, the last 12 miles passed by Lake Solitude and some really gorgeous wildflowers.











We saw the cutest bear EVER and an unhappy moose. Apparently, if a moose is mad he grunts, sticks out his tongue, and pins back his ears. Laura snapped the photo and we got out of there as fast as we could. We would rather meet a nice bear than a grouchy moose anyday.





We also went to the Jackson Hole Music Festival. There was lots of peace, love, noodling, and "organic partying" going on. The best of the festival were these guys:



and Kaki King:



So now it's back to real life, I guess! I started training for work this week. The kids don't come until Sept. 2, but there is alot of work to do! Also, Garrett and I are looking forward to a visit from his parents. They are always so much fun!

Let us know how you're doing! We miss you all.