Last weekend was my fourth foray into the Enchantments, and it was by far the most difficult day I have ever spent up there. Maybe one of the most difficult single days I have had in the mountains, like, ever. I did the 20 mile hike with Evelyn, Addy, and Jackson and was excited to show them one of my favorite places. We had waited until fall because I had never done it at this time of year and we'd heard that the autumn colors were a special highlight. On this count, we couldn't have asked for more. For some reason, colors are more vibrant in the high alpine- and with the cool weather the air seemed to positively dance with energy. 

What we were unprepared for was the cold. Like- really cold. Like, 9 degrees cold. We were wearing t-shirts or light flannels and all of us experienced signs of hypothermia at some point. The wind was brutal, and for about four hours it was all we could do to keep moving. We would stop briefly from time to time behind wind shelters to collect ourselves before setting out again into the open, but we weren't moving very fast. I don't think it was ever dire, but it got pretty wild at times.

And then it warmed up. Not like warm warm, but like, tolerable. Like, we could spend some time looking around at the beauty around us. Like, even though this was my fourth time up there, I was still absolutely dumbfounded at the brilliance of the area. It was magical, and though the day was rough on all of us, we all agreed that it was worth it. 

What a place!

I just read this to Evelyn at the kitchen table as she is eating a late dinner after drum lessons. She pointed out that this description seems very short for what was a very long hike, and for what felt like a very significant day. But that's how these things always are, right? Super wild and crazy, and then the next day you are sitting in math class or taking out the garbage and wondering if it was all just a dream. Well, in this case, our sore legs and still-swollen fingers tell us that it really happened, and that there are just no words. 

*****

Evelyn- This was by far the prettiest, and the hardest hike I have ever done. We started with lots of energy in the morning, despite waking up at 4:30 and sleeping in a cold car at the trailhead. We made it to Colchuck Lake in about two hours, just in time for the sun to rise. Everybody was feeling great, but we didn't know what was about to come.

Aasgard was the most difficult mile I have ever done in my life. The way up was so much steeper and longer than expected. I was already struggling, then the wind started. The wind was 9 degrees and knocked me over multiple times due to the state I was in. My body was shutting down and my vision was going in and out. By the last 40 feet I could not see where I was going or where I was. We made it to the top and I thought I was going to throw up or get hypothermia. We sat down and had some sugar, and I started regaining my vision and feeling a lot better. 

We started walking and after a while the wind died down. Soon I realized how pretty the area around me was. Every corner we turned was a picturesque view, and I was constantly in awe of how beautiful nature could be. We went through the Enchantments themselves very slowly so we could all take in the area. It was gorgeous, and I would go again 100 times just for those three miles. Eventually we started making our way down from the Enchantments. We were feeling good during the steep descent, and we saw three goats. The hike was amazing and what lay ahead seemed easy.

What we thought was 3 or 4 miles was actually around 8, and we trudged through the last couple of miles to get to the second parking lot. Despite the trudge, the second we got back to the car everyone regained their energy and there was an explosion of relief and stories. It was a memorable experience for me, from the second we left the house. I loved every bit of it and I would love to do it again. 

*****

Adalie- This hike was beyond what I thought my capabilities consisted of. Yes, I knew it would be difficult, but when we started out on the four hour drive to the trailhead, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. 

We started with a good pace and with excellent weather, making us all lament the time the sun would come up. Once we got to Colchuck lake, however, it was clear a chill had begun to seep in as the altitude rose. Oh yeah- and I didn't have a jacket.

Getting to the base of Aasgard, I was already starting to wish the sun could make its way over the mountains instead of taking the sweet time we had wished upon it earlier. Starting the steep wasn't terrible, and I figured from the base it would just get warmer. I was wrong.

Violent winds, ice threatening to push you down, goosebumps covering every part of the exposed body, hands are numb, and even some signs of hypothermia. Yeah. Aasgard Pass. It took roughly 2 hours to get up the mile-long section, the sun taunting us the whole time. When at last we stumbled through its welcoming rays at the top, discouragement swept through me as quickly as the wind. We did not find the warm relief we had expected, but instead the bitter 9 degree weather kept raging on. 

The cold extended far too long, and because of it I was focused on anything but the scenery. We encountered a group of about 10 people decked out in Antarctica Expedition clothing, and we didn't blame them. 

At long last, warmth surged through me as my fingers started tingling, telling me they would work again soon. In that moment, when the wind had taken a break and the sun had cut us some slack, I saw The Enchantments. I don't even know how to describe the next few hours. It felt like I was a kid exploring the wild, without a care in the world. It felt like we were all just friends out for an adventure, and that adventure just happened to be the most gorgeous place on Earth. It felt Enchanting.

*****

Jackson- Early in the morning, I woke up to the sound of five alarms from the inside of a tunnel that I had built in the back seat of the van. We crawled out of bed and ate a camp breakfast, then we grabbed our headlamps and started hiking. We chugged Monster energy drinks at 5 am. That was something!

We hiked six miles up to Colchuk lake without stopping once for any breaks. Once we got up there, we sat down, drank gatorade and had a break. We checked out Aasgard pass from across the lake. We packed up, and continued walking. We started to hike up the pass, and at first it was pretty steep and painful, then we got used to the steepness and we were cruising up it. Then. Came. The. Wind. It felt like we were in a hurricane or a tornado. It was insane! All of us began to struggle in the frigid wind. We kept pushing even though we all wanted to stop. Dad continued to encourage us. We tried to escape the wind by going up and over the pass, by huddling up in our jackets, and by searching for sunlight. Nothing worked, so we just powered through.

The Enchantments were beautiful. The wind died down slightly, so I wanted to stop and admire the sites, but everyone else wanted to keep going. The time in The Enchantments was a bit too short for me. Eventually, we got out of the wind, and guess what??? We had miles left to hike. 

Once we left, we found a ledge and we had to search as far as we could see for the next duckie with a stick pointed skyward. Everyone hiked around the cliff, but I took the direct route down it. We hiked from Duckie to duckie. It felt like a scavenger hunt without a real trail. I enjoyed myself. We got a decent amount of time before that game ended. We had fun doing the alphabet game with ski runs. We though of ski runs that began with every letter of the alphabet except for O and V. 

I was enjoying the hike, and I looked down and was surpirsed to see Mom! She had wanted to come, but stayed behind with the other kids. I still felt cheery on the hike, and it was nice to see her. I want to mention that earlier Ev and I made a deal. If I let her get to the top of Aasgard pass first, she would let me finish the hike first. I was excited to see Mom. She told us that we still had four miles left to go. The last four miles hurt a lot. That was the only part of the hike that felt like a trudge. Dad mentioned that when we hit a certain boulder that we would have about half an hour left. I set a timer at that time. A few miles before the end we could see the parking lot. That is when I started to hurt. Google maps said we were .5 miles away, but with switchbacks it was actually a lot more. I was ready to be done, and I could see the car! Eventually, we got to a gravel road and we saw Maren! We had a short reunion, and the we finally made it to the car. Now, it actually took about an hour from the rock. We waited for the others, then we went down and ate pizza!

The next day felt like I was recovering from an intense leg day! 

TLDR- It. Was. INSANE.

J- I love this jacket. It has a detachable hood, and I legit thought it would fly off in the wind during the hike up the pass. 

E: The top of Aasgard, elevation was high, and spirits were low,
but everyone got through it
A: I had ended up with Dad's flannel and beanie at some point through the pass.
Dad: You're welcome.

A: This was It. This was the spot where all became magical. 

E: The rugged peaks mixed with the fall colors
 are just as beautiful as people say they are

A: Pictures can't even begin to do this place justice.

J- I am looking forward to coming back for more time to explore this amazing place!

About to drop out of the Enchantments

Some of the slabs we walk on are a little bit steep

Goats

E: Ten and a half hours of hiking later, warm food tasted 5x better

On a different note, here's a picture of Rach and me at the last day of the Summer Concert Series at Arbor Crest. This is our third year as "members" up there. We love it and I'm sure there will be many years ahead of outdoor relaxation and dancing.

On a different different note, here is a poem that Lindsey wrote on the drive home, in her mind, about a dream she had. Later, she wrote it down with no hesitation.

I see a man with no coat
perhaps he's waiting for a train or boat
I take a look
Is he lost, or perhaps he's found
Then his feet slowly lift off the ground
Now he's in the sky
and then a plane happens to fly by
The man grabs the plane
Is he going insane?

This is all a dream in my head
Now I must wake up from my bed
I had some thoughts about the dream
But I can't tell you everything
Like, does the man ever get cold?
And is this man very old?

These are just thoughts in my head
I'll tell you another dream when I wake from bed

In the last post, I mentioned how sometimes it's the quirky little shared things in marriage that make them so good. Then I started looking around our house, and realize that it's not just a marriage. It's our whole family. Every family has a slightly different personality that is made up of individuals, their ages, and their interests. We certainly have some things that I think are uniquely "us." Some of them I really like, like our ski trips or our reading out loud at night time. Some of them maybe highlight what we don't care so much about, like our lack of a cohesive home décor, perpetually unmade beds, or kitchen cupboards which say more about whoever the last person was who unloaded the dishwasher rather than any sort of systemic organization scheme. Either way- this is us. It's who we are. 

Here are a few other little things. For this post I simply took 10 minutes to walk around the house. I took pictures of things that we have always taken for granted, but that to a third party might make you go "huh." Enjoy!

When we moved into this house, we had no furniture. But there was some wood on the side of the house, and a "For Sale" sign on our front lawn. The day we moved in, I built this bed out of these materials. Though the mattress has been updated, this is still the bed that Rachel and I sleep in every night. That white post is from the sign.

I don't know who started this, but it has been going on for a while now. Why? I don't think anyone knows. But we have a milk carton lid collection in our refrigerator, and the lid never actually stays on the milk. But that's okay.

Lyle sits in the home gym. If you know, you know.

 Here's another little reference that has been part of our home for so long that I almost forgot to take a photo. Again, if you know, you know. And yes, there is a lighthouse on the opposite wall :)

I cringe whenever I see this stupid pile of socks, but it is working. So, our kids are constantly getting their socks mixed up. And then they were sneaking into each other's room to get "their" socks back- but since there was never clear ownership in the first place, it just caused arguments. So they had a meeting and decided that kid socks would just go in a pile on the floor of the hallway closet, and then anyone could take them at any time. I think it was supposed to be a temporary thing, but it has been...a while...and it seems to be working. It's dumb, but we don't want to mess with it.

I know that Halloween is just around the corner, so maybe you are thinking this is our seasonal decoration. Wrong. This guy has been on our roof for over a year. He changes position from time to time, but he is always there, watching over the neighborhood. His pet is a more recent acquisition that just appeared one day. I don't even know who put it there. Before long we may have a whole skeleton family up there! I'm sure our neighbors love us.

We do a lot of things, and spontaneity is something we work hard to maintain. This is the back of my car. Three climbing ropes and a climbing pack with shoes/harnesses, two concert chairs, two skateboards, four tennis rackets, a pair of rollerblades, and an emergency jump-starter/air compressor. This is where these items belong, pretty much all the time. The van and the Prius look pretty similar. The Durango has a fold-down mattress in the back for impromptu overnight trips.

I will admit to being surprised by our "smoking" toilet. At the same time, I wasn't surprised at all. Little pranks like this are the status quo. A common one is for people to take dry-erase markers and spruce up our framed photos. Or hide little cutout pieces of paper in the light fixtures for a silhouette effect. For the longest time we had the word "gullible" taped on the ceiling above the kitchen table.

This is the permanent location of the ladder. Because, you know, getting on the roof is an every-day sort of activity.

If the skeleton on the roof is perpetual Halloween, then this guy is our perpetual Christmas. These decorations have been there since last December. At this point, I think we'll just leave them alone until January at least. 

Not so exciting is the little home office we built under our stairs. The cool part is actually not seen, as it was built into the wall when we did this project. Time capsules, favorite toys not played with any more, and roughly 70 boxes of old dental office stuff are all walled in behind that little shelf. Maybe we'll open it up again one day. If not, then somebody down the line is in for a surprise. We have a similar time capsule under the floor in the attic of our Wallace house.

We're quirky in some ways. It's fun. Have a good week!

Rach and I went to see the newest revival of "Company" This week. We didn't really know what to expect beforehand. It was a "Concept Musical" dealing with contemporary relationships. Much of it had been updated (for the better) from it's original run, and it was a good watch. Early on in the play comes the song "The Little Things you Do Together." The opening lyrics:

It's the little things you do together
Do together
Do together
That make perfect relationships
The hobbies you pursue together
Savings you accrue together
Looks you misconstrue together
That make marriage a joy

At this moment, we had to "share a little wink together" (another lyric), since it was our topic of conversation just earlier that morning. We do a lot, to the point maybe, of "becoming a cliche' together," and it really is a joy. Autumn time is out in force and we are making the best of it.

Have a good week!

A little morning paddle across the lake. Those kayaks were a good buy for us.

Going to plays is an "us" thing. The local and traveling theaters around here all do a great job, but we are especially excited to be headed back to Broadway in New York next month!

Earlier this year Evelyn made a bucket list. Lake Estelle was on that list. Beautiful drive. Easy hike. Stunning lake in the high alpine. This was a great way to spend our Sunday afternoon (followed by football, of course). Just the four of us went on this one. Everyone else was occupied with friends. Have I mentioned before that I love where we live?

Catching tadpoles (and then letting them go) was more fun than any of us want to admit. They had little legs!

Still plenty of ripe berries to be found. We went home and made huckleberry shakes while finishing the book Huckleberry Finn as a family.

I mentioned it last week, but I've been impressed with the devotion of these two to band. They both leave early in the morning for jazz, and come home and practice every day. It is nice that we have a couple of detached buildings for that purpose. Here I caught them jamming together as they worked on different fills for the improv bits. I also think it is cool that they get to play together in the same band. It makes my dad heart smile.

This week has had a definite sense of "settling in." School has started, and with it some old routines have come back into our lives. Sharing the kitchen over breakfast. Balancing rides to and from different activities. Homework and friends schedules. Nighttime preparations for the following day. In addition to school, the NFL season has officially started and Sunday football games are introduced back into our weekly agenda.

Overall, it feels nice. I like the routines. I like the stability. I think that we, as a family, are good at being spontaneous and at doing things. We don't need any encouragement in these areas. But sometimes it is nice to just let "the schedule" dictate life for a while. Cruise control, if you will. It lets you focus on other things.

For Rachel and me, those other things are very career oriented right now. I am still processing and integrating some of the ideas that were presented to me recently at the Kois Institute. Rachel is prepping for an upcoming Broadway show that she agreed to interpret. For both of us, we feel that these activities fit nicely into that sweet little overlap in the Venn diagram between "work" and "hobby." It's nice. 

Some of our kids have established new routines as well. Evelyn and Adalie both leave earlier than any of us to do zero-hour Jazz band. I'm pretty sure this is taking a toll on them, judging from the groggy conversation we had this morning, and may require some adjustment in other areas of the schedule. Maren starts a theater class this Thursday, which coincides nicely with an upcoming audition for a show she wants to be in. Lindsey will also be re-starting a church youth group and a dance classes that were both put on pause for the summer vacation. 

As for specific activities this week: We watched a play "Next to Normal" with the older kids. Rach and I both got rock climbing time in, together as well as with friends. Addy and Jack went to the Freshmen tailgate party and subsequent high school football game. They also both turned 15 years old- but we'll celebrate that at a different time. I played guitar at church and we had a potluck afterwards. Rachel and I went to Wallace for a lunch date and spent a few hours working on the bonus room. 

It's been a good week. And, following a fantastic summer vacation, it's nice to be back.

Have a good week!

This play hits hard. It's a musical, but it makes sense that it won a Pulitzer instead of a Tony. I saw it for the first time about ten years ago, and it has always been one of my favorites. Maybe like top 5. Watching it again just confirmed to me how good it is.

Rachel with the try hard

Rach has found a fun group to climb with. These ladies have a good time together!

I think September will always feel like the beginning of a new year for me. It's like, overnight, it is fall. The air is cooler- the leaves a little bit more colorful- the sunsets a little sooner. And school. Yep- today was the first day for everyone. It's been a great summer.

As a family we had a BBQ last night, and talked long after the sun had gone down about highlights and expectations. We relived great memories of backpacking and family reunions and days on the lake. We talked about academic schedules and extracurricular activities. Everyone seems excited for the start of the year. It's gonna be a good one!

Lindsey (5th- last year of elementary school for our family). Jack (9th- high school!). Maren (7th- and totally coming into her own right now). Addy (9th- high school!). Evelyn (11th- A junior?! Already?!)

As the kids got ready to go back to school I felt a little bit like I was starting something new at work as well. I have been in Seattle this whole last week at Kois, which is possibly the best training center in the world for advanced dentistry. It was enlightening and motivational and gave me a newfound enthusiasm for what I do every day. I don't think I'd use the word "transformational." That would be a stretch. A lot of what I learned was actually just nice confirmation that I am already doing things at a pretty high level. Since returning I have just been trying to digest everything, but I think that when I look back in a few years I will be able to identify this time as a turning point regarding the way I approach some aspects of treatment planning. It's kind of cool.

Also while in Seattle I got some good time in at Vertical World- one of my favorite climbing gyms. I had some free time to explore the city, and in the process discovered an entire community of "van-lifers" that tend to congregate in the suburb of Ballard.  I especially relished my daily early-morning drives into the downtown area, as I watched the city slowly come to life along the way. A specific moment that will stay with me was while I was reading my book at a park down by the water and suddenly just realized how much was going on around me. All sorts of people were enjoying this area, some playing sports, or hanging out around campfires, or dancing, or playing music, or swimming, or walking their dogs, or studying for their classes. I could hear at least four languages being spoken, as well as a jazz saxophone echoing from under the bridge, and in the near distance I could see sailboats returning back as the sun started to set. It was special, and for me, the landscape of people that night was as beautiful as anything I have ever seen. Cities are cool.

This weekend, the kids mostly just relaxed the summer away, relishing the freedom of doing nothing. Some of them went to the beach with friends. Ev was in CDA all day. Rach and I escaped to an evening of dancing and music at Arbor Crest, and on Monday we got some work done on our Wallace attic project. It's been a good week.

The walls are still coming along- slowly but surely

Still dancing the night away

Let the new year begin!