spanish peaks

wow. my tailbone hurts. my whole body aches. i feel like ali's punching bag. but it was worth it for views like this.



22 miles roundtrip. approximately 4000 feet vertical climb. 10 hours.
breathtaking.



7 miles in to mirror lake...blue skies, fresh mountain air. delectable.



123. jump!


still bustling with untapped energy, we forge ahead... the freshly snowcapped peaks beckoning us to come get a closer look...



almost there, 6 hours and 11 miles into it... jerky break.



and finally, after multiple sightings of fresh bear and mountain goat scat as well as potential cat tracks.... we make it. bear canyon trail to the ridge.



and bask


view over the ridge


and now, because i feel like i had a scuffle with the mob... i am off to make like gumby and get stretched out at bikrams....

glacier park

in an ideal world, i would be actually working. but, once again, i have drifted away from that nasty 'workzone place' into my delicious little 'personal productive zone'....which right now is blogging.

i had the opportunity to visit one of the places i call home a few weekends back, the flathead valley. forest, who is my friend/boyfriend/compadre/male-counterpart/travel-buddy/muse/mystery-man..... joined me! oh and his little dog too...REX. sigh. rex and i have a very tumultuous relationship. i have never had such torrid little 'feelings' towards a dog....

glacier park.

love.



it had been several years since i had last been to glacier and it was forests first. the first day, we chose avalanche lake as our destination. we headed up through the lush forests on a groomed walkway, with rex in tow. Yes, we did see a sign babbling something along the lines of no dogs. but i think we blinked? yea, thats what happened.
the only sign we really paid attention to was this one...



halfway up the trail, we met a forest ranger. he made us walk down. with rex. damn. all of our tails between our legs.

we decided to head BACK up the trail...legal this time.

avalanche lake


it rained hard and we took cover under large pine trees...when the rain didnt let up, we decided to keep going. as forest and i spoke of more appropriate hiking apparell, we passed people slopping through the mud in flip flops and short sleeved shirts...

we continued driving up the 'road to the sun' and were tantalized by everything we saw.

saint mary's lake


we finally found a spot! in grizzly country. surrounded by service berries, which happened to be BFF with the tastebuds of grizzly bears.



we camped in the middle of around 100 campers or so....so, how many licks does it take to get to the center? enough to where we felt safe and sound in the center.
okay, thats an exaggeration. we slept on a pebbly grade and were cold all night long. forest may have gotten the brunt of it, sleeping squished in between rex, i, and a rock posing as a thermarest.



the next day brought us looming clouds and whistling breezes. but no rain. we had pancakes and eggs in the glacial mountains and chatted about prospective weather.

Logan Pass was gorgeous. there was some sort of electricity in the air, the scents playing hide and seek in our nostrils.



we saw mountain goats and big horn sheep on their perks... probably looking down at us with the same sort of wonderment. we found hidden lake too!

hidden lake


on our drive home, we both memorable endulged in this decadent huckleberry chocolate bar from the heavens. it really was only fair, seeings how our other senses had been given the star treatment that day.

i can and i will.

slug bug

sometimes i just sit and stare at my computer screen, wondering what, amidst the unanimous topics of potential interest, i should write about. so heree goes...
i sit here in my 29.99 black cushy office chair, which is very comfortable for the price i might add. I think i got a great deal on it. but, with that being said, most of my hodge podge furniture is from craigs list, which i scored at alarmingly amazing deals. like this desk i am writing on. free.
anyways, currently i am in the throes of illness. what started as a little head cold has crept its way down my throat, past my tonsils, high-fived my uvula and has made itself at home in my lungs. this bug i have, has not been invited and is really outstaying its welcome. so, bringing in the arsenal, i have been trying to wash it out of my system with teas, tinchers, theraflu, multi-vitamins, pain relievers, garlic, sudafed, hot peppers, apple cider vinegar, water, gatorade, emergenC, rest, honey, lemon, vitamin C, steam rooms, and pots of steaming water...., new toothbrush, clean sheets, fresh air, sun, sweating it out...hot baths, fresh flowers, avoidance of ALL harmful substances (ahem...does a whole box of dove coffee ice cream bars count?), incense, candles, great movies and not so great movies...chicken noodle soup, AND straight chicken broth.... yet, the bug remains. lodged.
i know my immunities have a black belt, because i haven't had so much as a head cold in 2 years.... so i suppose, i should just let this buggly run its course, while i endure the gamut of side effects. must just be due time.

highschool graduation shoot

good morning everyone!

i had the opportunity, oh wait, no, i paid for this workshop specializing in senior photography. doug loneman and his assistant, tomas, hosted the all day affair. it was amazing. we had two senior models, quinn and don. quinn was a sassy little dancer with animation exuberating out of every pore. don, her boyfriend...was a trooper. we did some studio shooting and we headed out to the east side of town, to the old mill district....
these photos have yet to be retouched... enjoy

mock wedding shoot

goooood morning everyone!

the comforting sounds of ella fitzgerald paired with an aroma of yellowstone coffee is just what the doctor ordered this friday morning.
today stretches out before me like a carefree yogi...even the sun is out. mojo all around.

i had the opportunity last week to be apart of a workshop hosted by lauren brown and larry stanley. the blubird ladies flew in, as did kelsey and I...the assistants? i wouldn't exactly say i was an assistant, truthfully. more like a sponge...just call me bob.

it was an opportunity for all of us to shoot a mock wedding. a couple volunteered as well as a makeup artist to set the stage. it was so much fun and i learned a ton.

these photos haven't been retouched in anyway, raw and real....

whistlin kettle

Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God,
And only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit around it and pluck blackberries
~Elizabeth Barrett Browning

they say that those that really piss us off are our greatest teachers.
whoever "they" is, is a mystery to me, but i think "they" are onto something.

i naturally am fiery. Fiery in that i have the propensity to heat up quickly. This fire inside of me needs to be managed regularly, so that it doesn't get out of control and cause serious damage. I am not talking about me being volatile, persay. i am not. i feel i am a levelheaded person, who weighs actions and reactions to situations with consideration. Where my flames start to flicker is when there is blatent and repeated disrespect for an undeserving person. to be so disenchanted with human emotion and feeling, to bully someone in order to feed the ego, to push down in order to feel bigger. these types of things fan my flames. to the point where i wouldn't even be suprised if steam visibly poured out of every orifice of my body.



so, with that being said, i understand the importance of bringing peace into every situation. remembering that fighting fire with fire is like a game of the egos. and nobody wins that game. egos are constantly comparing, evaluating, judging,criticizing, measuring...nobody should have to perform to anyone else's standards in order to be loved and appreciated and respected. we are all loved unconditionally, regardless if we win at the egoic chess game of life.

ego. i refuse to invest my energy and fiery passion into ego, which is a creation of our minds anyways. its not even real, unless we breathe life into it. unless we breathe on the coals...its a lose lose situation. i expend my precious energy and am depleted spiritually by giving life to a phantom creation of our minds. what sense does that make? its crazy. to interact and be co-dependent with an invented phenomenon, ego.

last nights events prompted this post. i practiced patience throughout the course of the evening, being whiplashed repeatedly by a person who is ruled by their ego. and finally, i reacted. my kettle whistled. i have been practicing patience with this person since the day i met him. it just so happens that this person is wedged in between a great friend and myself and so our meetings are inevitable. for the sake of peace, i have been very kind and very forgiving. i have went out of my way, in an attempt to somehow alleviate this tension between us. all my intentions, unfortunately have continuouly been ill recieved, with complete disregard to me, my voice, or anything representing who i am.
last night, in hindsight, i should have just left early on in the evening, not subjecting myself to cruel intentions. i should have not let my ego be offended...seings that i have tried to kick ego and all its baggage out of my life for awhile now.
i suppose that all i can do at this point is be thankful for the lessons that i am taught by this person. taught that i can bumble through life, playing these trivial mind games, throwing flames, and consequently losing myself and my spiritual connection to God. Or, i can harness my energy and maintain my glow just enough to radiate enough heat to warm hands and toast marshmellows.