A place where beauty overwhelms...

"Discovering this idyllic place,
we find ourselves filled with a yearning to linger here,
where time stands still and beauty overwhelms."
— Author Unknown

The thing that I love most about the high country, 
is that the higher you climb, the more beautiful things get. 
You wouldn't think it would be that way, but it is.  

The lower forests flowers die off by end of July, or, the first part of August, but, you don't have to be sad about that, because you just need to keep climbing higher and the flowers are there again.
The higher you climb
the more craggy rocks you see
and high mountain creeks and small lakes
and the VIEW of looking back where you started at,
becomes more amazing as well.

This is the first of four blog posts 
about our 2013 Backpacking Adventure.

These are my favorite photos showing the stunning and amazing beauty of nature that was so abundant on our adventure.

Flowers near the log where we sat and ate lunch.
I love that there is a bee AND a butterfly 
on the flower together!

A wonderful view of the Teton mountain range 
along the plateau after Devil's Stairs.
The Wildflower display...stunning along our path!

Amongst the rocky paths, were clumps of cheery yellow and lavender flowers. 
Flowers always make me happy!

Loved these cool trees and bark that we saw 
when we got into Alaska Basin.
That majestic mountain is Buck Mountain!

Room with a View!
(definitely one the top five prettiest views we've had on our backpacking adventures )

It was a little bit overcast when we awoke in the morning and headed towards Buck Mountain Pass...
The reflection of  Mount Meek and  Battleship Mountain in the water was just gorgeous!
The photos just don't do it justice!

Fields of wildflowers on our journey 
up toward Buck Mountain Pass.
The higher you climb, 
the more gorgeous everything becomes!
(at least according to Kimmie!)

The bright lime green mossy grass 
along with the hot pink flowers 
were beyond beautiful!

It almost doesn't look real, 
but I can attest that it really was!
I love this photo with my three favorite people
in such a beautiful spot! 

The sky was electric blue...
Buck Mountain was being lit up perfectly...
and there is our trail with little flowers growing along the sides of it.

This photo screams...
"The mountains are calling and I must go"!

Happiness...

The gorgeous reflection in the mountain lake
 right beneath our campsite!  

Happy flowers growing in the grass 
right where we set up our tent!  

Our last sunset we enjoyed in Alaska Basin...
The sky was bright blue...
The reflections were gorgeous...
We sat on some giant granite slabs and watched the sun go down!
"Heaven on Earth" 
is what this moment in time was!

We awoke to blue skies!!

As you can see from the four photos above...

it was hard to say good-bye!

Those rugged mountain reflections...

those gnarly trees...

the stunning beauty, 

was all there to enjoy all day long, for as long as wanted.

You sure don't have peace and solitude 

and views like that in your every day life!

One last stop at the little stream by our campsite to fill up water bottles to have enough water to hike out with!

(these little flowers, are my new favorite wildflower)

Fireweed, a giant rock

and that triangle jut-out at the top of the mountain

 is called "The Wedge".

This was the last view before we headed into the thick forest, down, down and down some more until we got to our car, 8 miles later.

So grateful for these moments in time,

 where we're able to leave behind society 

and enjoy fresh air, breath taking scenery, family time,

 and those much needed moments where we can "disconnect" from technology, 

with no interruptions at all, 

with nothing but our thoughts, conversations and adventures together...

Where if we just want to sit and chase butterflies for hours, we can do just that!

Grateful for photography...

where when I have a big LONGING and YEARNING

 to be back in the high country, 

I can at least "pause" life for a moment 

and visit the amazing beauty, by looking at photos 

and reading my thoughts and then I can say 

"all is right with the world again"!

Mt. Washburn and other Yellowstone beauty!

I never tire of vacationing in Yellowstone!
There is SO much to see, 
(so much more beyond Old Faithful and the Mud Pots)

This year we decided that we wanted to branch-out of our norm 
and see NEW and amazing things!

Mt. Washburn and Firehole swimming was on the agenda for this trip. 

Since backpacking and hiking are our passions, we wanted to mark-off a trail on our Yellowstone map.
Mt. Washburn, looked like it was something that would be right up our alley.
 Rugged high country complete with wildflowers, 
high elevation 10,243 feet,
 a fire look-out tower at the top to enjoy the view,
 and lots and lots of bighorn mountain sheep!

Beautiful wildflowers...

The view of father and son hiking along together, 
just makes me HAPPY!

There was a group of  hikers who were up in this spot 

and one of them noticed that we were snapping photos of each other and he was kind enough to ask us if he could take our photo!

Look at all of those sheep...
WOW! 
Tracy was creative with his binoculars, and snapped a photo while looking through his binoculars.
This photo is just plain AWESOME! 

Jade, just LOVED the sheep.
He kept saying,:
"I want to touch them", 
"Can we stay here all day"!

It made my heart happy to see him enjoying himself so much!

I loved the mountain side as we were almost to the top.
The way that the grass abruptly stopped and then turned to rocky ground, was so interesting!  

Ethan could have stayed in this spot forever,

 looking through the telescope at the goats 

and all of the amazing views in the fire look-out tower!

My feet 

and the US Survey Marker up on top...

The fire look-out tower was SO big!
Tracy is in the bottom right...

The views were SO stunning...

I Love this view showing the trail along the ridge...

Look at that herd...

Well hello there sweet sheep 

staring back at me...

My men were sad to say good-bye.

What a novelty to be up in the high country getting to see such wildlife!

I sure do love these guys!! 

Tracy took an amazing panorama shot...

Hello there Marmot...

I can see that my sweet little boy has outgrown his hiking pants.

(they are FLOODS on him)

This photo needs to be framed!  

Hey Jade,

 your hat matches the bright orange rocks!  

More views that I love...

My sweet son and awesome hubby, hiking along together.

(please stop growing Ethan!) 

After we got back to the car, 

my hiking hat came off and head band went on!  

(this is how summer-time is for me when we vacation...

Headband helps me deal with my hair and not having access to curling irons).

WARNING....

IF you want to camp in Yellowstone, during the busy summer season, it is pretty much impossible to find a spot as the sites fill up QUICKLY!!  

So, we drove to the north entrance, through the beautiful Roosevelt Arch and drove into Gardiner, Montana and found a place to set up camp.

The Roosevelt Arch was just spectacular!   

I had to snap lots of photos of all it's beauty!

I SPY...

My family in our cute CR-V 

(which is such a great trip car!)  

Our home for the night....

My men, working as a team to get our campsite all set up!  

Tent Sweet Tent!
Peanut Butter and Honey sandwiches...
easy and yummy after a long day of family fun!

Our Room with a View! 

I wanted to take down our camp in the morning all by myself!
(I like to know that if I had to, I could take care of myself!)

While I took down camp, 
Tracy made us Grilled Cheese Sandwiches 
for breakfast!  

The most awesome photo ever...

As we were driving into Gardiner from our campsite, we saw an old Land Cruiser and VW Bus parked right together!
TOTAL Adventure and FUN vehicles and vehicle LOVE.

We really need to get out more

 in our old '68 Land Cruiser!

The beautiful view from the bridge, 

looking up the canyon where we just got a good night's sleep!  

What a beautiful morning in Mammoth!!  

The elk didn't have a care in the world!  

LOVED this car...
we saw it several times on our journey!

Such gorgeous beauty on our drive through the park...

This car was made for tripping!!

Even fully-loaded 

(with gear on the roof rack and a hitch hauler on the back),

 it got nearly 30 mpg. 

Not too shabby!

What a perfect spot for lunch...
Sheepeater Cliff.
Ethan couldn't wait to get done with his sandwich, 
so he could go and climb and run and jump and play 
on those rocks!   

Two happy kids...

Happy Flowers...

Beautiful Butterfly...

While the kids were enjoying the cliffs...

I was chasing butterflies, 

enjoying the view of the river and 

snuggling up with the love of my life, 

savoring this most perfect moment in time!  

Kimmie + Tracy

= True Love 

FIREHOLE Swimming Hole...

This is a hidden gem in Yellowstone.

Warm water and nothing, but FUN 

to be had in this happy little spot!  

How does that happen?!?

You are at a rare place in Yellowstone

(Firehole River Swimming Hole) 

and you run into your good friends...

One set of friends lives in Rexburg, Idaho

and the other set lives in Las Vegas, Nevada! 

We love our friends the Francis's!

Roger and Sean...

Swam over to the cave.

Tracy and John enjoying catching up on life together!

Michelle and Luke (left)
Roger (middle)
Luke and Ethan (right)

Everyone from the Smith and Francis Families..
(minus Kimmie, who was taking the photo)

ROGER wanted SO badly to make it to see Old Faithful 
and was insistent that we come with them so we could talk more and also enjoy ice cream, so our stay at Firehole was brief)

Enjoying the balcony sun, waiting for the show!

Kimmie, enjoying the view as Old Faithful erupts!

Since I have the 

world's most SWEETEST husband ever, 

who never wants his sons to miss out on life, 

he took the kids back to Firehole on our drive home.

It was getting dark, 

but, the JOY as Ethan got to enjoy a 

little bit more time in the water was just 

PRICELESS!

 

Jade and I just chilled on the beach 

while Ethan splashed around!

Sad that summer has about come to an end.

Grateful for the sweet family trips that we have taken this summer together.
 We have memories that will last a life time.
Sometimes, I think I married WAY above myself
when I think about how Tracy is on a trip and how it isn't about the destination....
it truly is all about the JOURNEY!

Tracy, thanks for all that you teach me about life, 
every single day!

There's no-one I'd rather go on adventures with, or, be on the amazing adventure and journey of life with than YOU!!!

SO happy, to highlight our Yellowstone and Grand Teton map
 with two more amazing things we have enjoyed.

Happy Trails...to all of you!
Get out there and ENJOY your adventures, whatever they may be!