The road pt. 2: Free food and other gifts from the universe

I suppose I should begin where I left off concerning my summer wandering, perhaps more for catharsis and preservation purposes than entertainment. As you may remember, dear reader, the last blog post left off in South Dakota on the Rosebud Reservation. I spent a week there helping out at the Boys and Girls club, in which I played A LOT of foursquare, made friends with some awesome children, helped lead a camping trip to the Badlands, picked some wild mint, went to my first drive-in movie (getting in touch with my midder roots), and generally tried to listen and learn from those around me.

Our trip to the Badlands. Basically I'm a terrible influence and no one should ever put me in charge of children

I don't pick favorites, but this girl is an ABSOLUTE BOSS who definitely did not listen when I said she wasn't allowed to climb to the top.

So then after my week in South Dakota and another horrible round of goodbyes, I drove back to Devils Tower. Time to do some crack climbing!

I cannot even begin to express the love and gratitude I feel for the community at Devils Tower Lodge, which served as my home for the next two weeks. In exchange for bed-making, dish-washing, wood-moving, and informal climbing guiding, I was given a parking space in the yard and breakfast and dinner at the B&B. Really it was not a very fair exchange, but by this point I think Frank was so impressed with my go-karting skill that he and everyone else accepted my status as that vaguely charming and intellectual free-loader. Eventually I started being introduced to all the guests as "resident climbing bum." My ego has never felt so good.

My photography from my time there left something to be desired, but I promise I was having a lot of fun. And going on some frickin sweet morning runs.

I made a new best friend. Her name is Clara. I love her. 

On this particular day en route to the summit I exposed my booty in order to pee off of a ledge as hundreds of tourists probably watched from the base through binoculars the parks service kindly provides. Twas sick.

Tamas is a guide. I guided him up  a pitch. Therefore I am a guide's guide. It's not a big deal...

Drove five hours to Lander for a dance party and then got sporty with some alpine limestone. The man's name is JP and he's also my new best friend. 

So then, once I felt like I had sufficiently overstayed my welcome, I returned to the road and headed west to find some mountains. This round of goodbyes left me bawling to Cat Stevens as I watched the Tower recede in the distance through my rearview mirror.

Good thing the Grand Tetons are literally an enormous, high-stakes playground. I arrived at the American Alpine Club's Climbers Ranch and was greeted by my friend JP, who was a stray climber I'd befriended at Devils Tower. "We're climbing the Middle Teton tomorrow,  I've scoped out the route," he informed me as he handed me a freshly grilled brat and cold beverage. No need to rough it at the ranch!

She's got everything delightful she's got everything I need

Summit of the Middle Teton. The next day's objective in the background (The Grand!).

Summit of the Grand Teton via Exum Ridge (look ma, no ropes!). 7,000 feet of elevation gain, 6 hours from car to summit. It is quite possibly the coolest thing I've ever done. Hardest part was posing for the photo at the top. 

Infinitely cooler than me

Then, I folded up my car seat to accommodate three people, kissed my newfound adult freedom goodbye, and went to pick up my parents from the Jackson airport. Our poorly planned plan was to spend 4-6 days backpacking somewhere in the Tetons. Despite forgetting some key items (read: stove fuel and knife) and encountering both moose-in-trail and bear-in-campsite, it was an awesome and insanely gorgeous trip. 

@akjcon u jealous?

Had to show my parents the luxuries of the climbing ranch

Wild ruffians in their best swim attire

And THEN the madness continued as we all piled in the car and drove into the great state of Idaho to go visit Carmen, who had been in a hospital in Boise for way too long following emergency abdominal surgery. When I got there she and her parents were emerging from a really rough and scary few weeks of setbacks. I have nothing but love and admiration for the pure tenacity and vibrancy of that girl. Seriously. She's a badass. Also it was just really good to see her, stomach tubes and all. A really important reminder to be grateful every day for healthy bodies and all the beautiful things that are part of life. 

And NOW the madness continues as I prep for the climbing trip of my life. My friend Kira and I received a grant from the American Alpine Club to take a trip to the Bugaboo Mountains in Canada. It'll be the first trip I'm ever done with a female climbing partner and I'm pumped. It's required a little more preparation than we anticipated because you have to pack like it's a backpacking trip and then add like 40lbs of climbing gear (we definitely were supposed to have left yesterday). 

Yeah, she's pretty strong. Also check out that good good Washington smoke in the background. 

One of our objectives... Wish us luck!