My Journey

[tgil]

Wanted to share this here, well, because I think Jerry can appreciate the accomplishment and I'm not sure anyone else I "know" can.
This is my niece, 4 years cancer free, and summited on her 30th b-day.
She hails from the state of Colorado, where she mountain bikes and does 14ers for fun.
My nephew had to bail at around 15k, due to symptoms of HAPE. He had to really persuade her to continue without him, because he knew how important this was on her survivor journey.
It took him 8 hours the following day to get to the "rescue vehicle" which transported him to the hospital in Tanzania.
After treatment and rest, he's almost back to 100%.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

 

[vintageracer]

Jerry,

With all the walking and hiking you do and have done in the past can you tell us about your choice of foot ware and why?

 

[chet6.7]

Jerry,

With all the walking and hiking you do and have done in the past can you tell us about your choice of foot ware and why?

He did, it was some time back.

 

[vintageracer]

He did, it was some time back.

Never saw it.

Thanks

 

[OverlandNA]

Never saw it.

Thanks

Boots are Here and are referenced several posts before that.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

ITTOG.....I just love to be outside and to be active.....really, I'm just like my dogs except there's no doubt that they're a bit smarter and they definitely smell a good bit better. Just yesterday I met with the surgeon and he says that he hates cutting into me cause I'm so active. I'm still getting in many 15+ mile days, no meds and that's with a shovel, pick, or great big stones in my hands.....

tgil.....that's so cool what she accomplished. Please pass on my congratulations.....for the summit and for being cancer free for 4 years.....she and I have a few things in common. HAPE is nothing to take likely.....for me altitude was not a huge problem other than headaches, loss of appetite, and nauseous. I shared a tent once with a guy that had to be evacuated by helicopter.....that guy was a mess.....he coughed and gagged so much I thought I was about to kill him.....

vintageracer / chet6.7 / OverlandNA.....I'll do it again but my presentation will be a bit different.....I love posting about boots.....and posting a few pics.....



So once upon a time I was a huge fan of a lightweight Asolo boot.....I don't recall the style / model but Asolo discontinued it's production so I had to move on.....but damn that was a great lightweight boot.....



So then I started experimenting with boots.....REI is a great place for that cause they allow you to return the boot if it doesn't work for you. I think I went through 3 or 4 brands & models before I tried the La Sportiva Nucleo High II GTX Hiking Boot.....pictured below are my current boots. I also have two more new pairs still in the box already stored in the truck camper as we're preparing to hit the road soon.....



I'm not a real technical kind of guy so when it comes to things like ankle support or how water repellant they are, etc. I can't say. I just know that they feel really good on my feet and I beat the hell out of them. I'd venture to say that I've bought at least twenty pair of these boots.....



I never realized that I'm a fan of La Sportiva boots but here's a pair of heavy duty crampon compatible leather La Sportiva boots that I own.....



And I'm not certain but I think that my ice climbing / mountaineering boots may be La Sportiva as well (shown with gaiters glued on.....just the way I liked it).....







Switching gears now, I don't recall when it was exactly but some here may remember when my BigFoot truck camper caught fire (2017 ?).....and anyhow, when that happened someone on XP said save the windows and doors.....all those memories. I know stickers are frowned upon by many overlanders but I ain't really an overlander and I just love them.....and they sure do make excellent barn decorations.....





And then there was that time that my Northern Lite truck camper door was ripped open and Tanner escaped.....oh the memories.....nearly 20 years of RVing.....that's all it is.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

September 22, 2022.....Fall Equinox.....from my backyard.....

















September 23, 2022.....First Snowfall of the Season.....from my backyard.....



Hope you have a wonderful day.....we're headed to the mountains.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

The last few weeks here at the cabin have been spent working diligently transplanting Quaking Aspen trees & building the stone entrance wall.....with only 2 days left on my stone gathering permit, the Great Wall of Montana was finally completed.....approximately 24" high x 28" wide.....and approximately 200' in length.....



Transplanted trees must number close to 200 now.....I'll do a count soon enough.....there's still a few more to plant.....





The changes of the seasons brings many changes to my thoughts and feelings.....





The internal battle has begun.....the desire to travel vs. the desire to live the easier way of the cabin life.....lately I've been thinking that we will hit the road a bit sooner.....now looking at October 15th as our departure date.....but there's still plenty more to get done.....so we will see.....







.....it's difficult to leave.....it's difficult to stay.....



"Descending from the heights we met the first blade of grass and the first flower, and finally the slopes were hairy with sage brush. Perhaps our passage from the cold upper reaches to the familiar earth had been too rapid; as I looked back at the lonely peaks, then at the huts and fields below where people groped their whole lives away. Torn between contentment and longing, caught between two worlds, one that possessed me, yet could never be more than a passing phase, and that other which is a part of human existence, I yearned to retain my dual identity."

George B. Schaller.....Stones of Silence, Journeys In The Himalayas.....

 

[ITTOG]

You have made the place so nice it is no wonder you struggle with "should I stay or should I go now". It looks great!

 

[ghostdancer]

Winter is coming!

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

ITTOG.....thanks so much.....it's certainly become a labor of love. I think I'm at (or near) the point where I'll transition from making improvements to just plain maintenance.....but like so much of life, we shall see.....

ghostdancer.....yep, it sure is and it's just around the corner here in the mountains.....next week high's in the lower 40's and low's in the upper 20's.....



Most of my planned projects at the cabin are now complete and I find myself walking around the property thinking to myself what more could I do to improve the place (& to keep myself busy) ? Well, I was pleased with that stone wall that I'd just built, but when I drove into the property I still felt like something was missing.....



I volunteered to make a trip to the landfill for one of my neighbors and in her trash pile I found this old wood wheel....."one man's trash is another man's treasure" the saying goes.....I think it was then that "the wheels began to turn in my head".....



I brought that old wood wheel home with me and I mounted it on the front side of the barn.....here it has to be secured pretty darn good.....the winds coming from the west are sometimes brutal.....



Next up was a visit to the hoarders' property to see what I could find to upgrade the fence that ran along that newly constructed stone wall.....I got to digging around and underneath a newly found pile of stuff (there's a never ending supply of stuff to be found here) I found a new source of building materials and so it was that I got to work.....



Adding the horizontal wood rails as well as the vertical boards to the fence posts seemed to be the finishing touch that I was looking for.....





The climber kid was a big help on this project as he'd just returned to the property after going home to recover from a positive Covid-19 test and 2 weeks of Covid-19 symptoms.....





With the entrance now completed, it was time to destroy some of those beautiful naturalizing stumps that I'd brought back from the national forest.....



.....and to take a few minutes to relax and to be grateful for all the wonderful things in my life.....

 

[ITTOG]

Amazing the difference the boards made on the fence. I think you missed your calling as an interior and exterior decorator!

Love that last picture. What a beautiful view by the fire. Where does the trail to the right go?

 

[longhorn1]

Back home after a month with two days of 101° on Waco, TX. Too hot in the fall down there. I'm better suited for the mountain states. The house looks great. I love the wall and the fence highlights.

 

[longhorn1]

A new addition to the family. Meet Fiona. She turned 5 on October 13th. She had two litters of puppies, 5 & 6. She is built like a tank. Thank you everyone for your kind words. Our trip to Texas was fun, but it felt empty without our camping companion Sarah. Let the new adventures begin.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

It's been awhile so.....

JD.....thanks and congratulations.....beautiful.....

ITTOG.....thanks so much.....the trail ? Just a short distance to a water spigot. This was once horse pasture (and before that probably elk & bison free range) so i suppose there was once a water trough there. Now, unfortunately, like so much of the lands in Montana, it's occupied by man (me). Awhile back you asked about some statistics, so here you go.....as you know not so proud of miles driven but very proud of miles crawled, walked, hiked & climbed.....

2015.....4,000.00+ miles not including Nepal

2016.....4,007.26 miles

2017.....4,342.26 miles

2018.....4,336.65 miles

2019.....5,003.93 miles

2020.....5,059.63 miles

2021.....4,321.09 miles

2022.....3,101.67 miles as of October 24, 2022

Grand Total.....33,654.16+ miles traveled.....

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