day 2 bomber mountain 2012

a storm rolled through late that first night. the dogs would bark and growl every time it thundered. I started to get a little nervous when the light flashed and immediately after the thunder would shake the ground under us. I just had this vision of a boulder rolling down the hill and crushing us…we were camped right below a boulder field. it passed quickly though and we never got struck by lightening or crushed by a boulder. we slept pretty well the rest of the night. at first light I got out to check the skies. I wanted to get going fairly early to beat any threat of the afternoon thunderstorms that typically happen in late august.

when I crawled out of the tent I wasn’t excited to see the skies.

overcast. with a light mist. we both brought rain gear. it was a little chilly too. luckily we both had enough clothes to keep warm and dry. the clouds were moving fast across the sky. I was hoping it would break and the sun would come out and it would be fine. there were a couple of “sucker holes.” a sucker hole is where you can see clear blue sky and the sun beaming on the other side of the clouds and you’re a sucker and think its going to break…a sucker hole.  

we bundled up and decided to try to make the push.

then it started raining harder. I told hubby I wanted to wait. see if it was going to blow over. so we climbed back in the tent at just the right time. it decided to hail. and not just a little. we had to keep pushing the tent out so it didn’t collapse on us there was so much hail.

but once the hail stopped the skies cleared and it was gorgeous. not a single freaking cloud in the sky. I was so excited! it was going to be a great day…(apparently it was just a giant sucker hole!)

so we pushed to summit. I thought there was no way it was going to go back to how it was. we were still in our rain gear since all the foliage was wet. we wanted to stay as dry as possible.

we knew there were lakes we had to pass. so at least something to keep our minds busy on the hike. the majority of this hike was much more relaxed.

the last picture is looking back at all the lakes, fortress and gunboat lakes.  we are almost to the base of bomber mountain. the weather still looks great in this picture.

bomber mountain. the second picture is basically were we had to hike up. we lost the sun at this point. the wind picked up. it began to rain on us.

we questioned what we should do. wait out the clouds and storm. push for the summit, or just go back to camp?

we hunkered under a giant rock. made some warm food and hot cocoa to warm up a bit….

the weather shortly decided our fate after this picture was taken.

the mountain became completely socked in and I just felt like we shouldn’t be heading to the top to try to find this bomber with wet boulders. it tried to snow on us, but mostly just rained. it was cold and windy. I was ready to get off the ridge as we dipped back into the valley heading for camp.

we got down into the valley and hubby wanted to try some fishing at the lakes. even though it was still windy he got his rod and reel out and started fishing. within the first few casts he had a fish on.

golden trout. another one I can cross off my “only seen in a jar” list. the picture doesn’t do it justice. these fish were so pretty. I wish the sun had been out to bounce off their colors.

hubby fished his way back to camp catching fish left and right. nothing worth keeping…not that we would have had anywhere to cook it. the forest was under fire restrictions at this time and plus we were above tree line and no fires are allowed.

the boys were so stinky cute fishing together.

the girls just found a rock to sit on and watch the boys fish.

we got back to camp and snuggled in to warm up just a little bit. naps were taken. the puppies were pooped. but they did so good this whole trip. I couldn’t have asked for better behavior from them.

around dinner time mother nature decided we had enough rain and wind and gave us gorgeous blue skies for the evening.

going to bed with those clear skies made for a little chilly night.

thankfully we had puppies that enjoy the snuggle and need it to stay warm (at least our little girl, Twogwotee).

we thought about trying to make a push for bomber on the morning of day 3. but we decided against it. that would have put us at at least 10 miles for the day.

the bomber will be there next year.

we loaded up on the morning of day 3. again woke up to gorgeous weather!

we had a little frost on the tent, but nothing major. loaded up all of our stuff and headed downhill for the 6 miles. hubby fished a couple of the lakes on our way out. we were so excited when we finally reached the car.

so. sorry to disappoint. we didn’t get to summit the bomber. but sometimes the safety of your own well being is more important.

we are already wanting to return next year…and maybe even summit cloud peak in the same trip.

day 1 bomber mountain 2012

ever since we moved to sheridan I wanted to make a backpacking trip to bomber mountain.

this required a 6 mile hike to the camping location and then another ~2 mile hike to the bomber…straight up a boulder field.

it took a little time to get hubby interested. but when we asked for backpacking packs for christmas one year and then got them for christmas…there was no excuse. we pretty much had all the equipment. except for light sleeping bags…but we’ve fixed that problem since.

so hubby and I planned the trip finally this past summer. 3 days. we were going to hike the 6 miles to the camping spot, mistymoon lake. hike to the bomber the next day and then hike out the 3rd day.

we had the house a mess. but once we loaded our packs the house was back semi clean. initially the packs felt “light.” they sure didn’t last long once we got to hiking.

we loaded up the car and drove the 90 minutes to the trailhead. but gave ourselves plenty of time to make our camp spot by dark.

of course the puppies wasted no time climbing in the car. they do a pretty good job keeping us entertained. they were excited.

loaded up and headed up the trail. the day was perfect. I couldn’t have asked for better weather.

yes. the dogs had packs. they carried their own food going in. but then carried some of our stuff coming out. they will be carrying more the next time!

signs are always nice to find. you know you’re going the right way. and yes. I hike in chacos. I love them. and I didn’t have to worry about rock hopping at creek crossings. I took a pair of shoes because I didn’t want to boulder hop with no ankle support.

at the top of this drainage in these pictures was our destination. we were halfway there when we hit this lake. the pups were ready for a cool off swim and we needed more water so it was perfect. this trip was our first trip using our water filter pump. its all in your mind, but sometimes you feel like the water is just tasting different. I didn’t mind…I’ve done it in the past. I think it took a little while for hubby to grasp the idea. but we are both still alive today so it didn’t kill us.

the last 3 miles went by quicker than the first 3 miles. there were lakes that we passed and we knew we had to be getting closer to Mistymoon.

I feel like hubby and I were never happier to see a body of water. we immediately dropped our packs and started looking for a campsite.

the grass patch in the left picture is where we decided to pitch our tent for the night. and you can also see the lakes we passed coming up. the farthest lake was the halfway point at 3 miles. it looked so much closer than when we were actually hiking it.

camp was set up and we decided to make some dinner and explore the lake.

I absolutely love this picture. you can see our tent and you can see down valley. perfect!

trying to keep the dogs out of the water before we went to bed that night was a fun task. they did fairly well and only fell in a couple times.

we tried to take a little family photo…but it’s a lot more difficult in a little boulder field than I thought. this was the best picture we managed to get.

we snuggled into bed that night and prepared for the next day….to summit bomber mountain.

come back to get the 411 on day 2 of our trip!

the bathroom remodel

I always had this grand plan of how I wanted to do my own bathroom once we owned our own house.

I left the bathroom be for a few weeks after we moved in before I decided it was time to up grade.

first it started only as a painting project. but then it turned into new vanity, medicine cabinet, new lights, and of course the new paint.

this is what it looked like when we moved in.

we took everything out…except the toilet. and taped for everything to be painted. went to home depot to try to match colors. then we went home to try to find something with the colors on it so they could match them. went BACK to home depot only to find out we didn’t need any of it. they had the exact colors we were looking for with the perfect names.

these pictures went on facebook long ago…so if you are my friend…you know where I am going with this.

I always seem to under estimate the amount of time it is going to take to complete a project. the paint ended up needing more than one coat and of course you can’t re-paint until its dry, and you can’t move anything in until the paint is all dry.

what I thought would take a night ended up being maybe a week until the bathroom was fully functional again.

we are getting closer to the finished product. the walls were Wyoming Gold and the ceiling was Wyoming Brown.

the pups were no help. until I started paint the trim and then they thought since I was down on their level they needed to come rub up against wet paint. they had a few brown spots on them.

so much better with the upgrade. the old vanity wasn’t even attached to the wall.

I made a bucking horse and rider stencil and put them around the edge. that was the fun part. they are all different and each have their own unique touch.

all finished and finally fully functional. it was a fun project. and adds our own little touch to our house. and just in case you happen to visit on game day….you know who not to root against.