A fork in the Trail

We are nearing the end of March, spring is slowly being painted onto the hills, and we’re thinking about where to go next. Very soon, our digs here at Taylor Ranch will be needed for the University. That means becoming somewhat vagrant again, and the thought is bittersweet. We look forward to getting back to a more “in touch” existence, quite literally, without the conveniences of the cabin, internet, and running water (“running” being a loose term, mostly meaning running in the creek fifty feet away, but just recently, actually running through the thawed pipes and out of our faucets in the cabin-whoa!). We also look forward to being “out” all the time, and not struggling with the temptation to stay in the cozy cabin next to the woodstove on a snotty day. But on the other hand, basing out of Taylor Ranch has allowed us to be out here throughout the winter. For a couple reasons, mainly our electrical power needs, and my current health difficulties, we wouldn’t have been able to be out here all winter otherwise.
We are thinking that we will move our gear up river to Cabin Creek, a wide open bowl-type area with a look almost more like Yellowstone. It would be a great place to watch spring green-up, maybe see some wolf activity, and just have new scenery as spring sets in for real. However, the flip side of the coin is that I need to get out to the front country for a while and do some more work to try and sort out my Rheumatoid Arthritis. I have long been off conventional medication for it (it didn’t feel right, and wasn’t helping enough anyhow), and while it has been a long and very bumpy road, I know I am going in the right direction. I truly think I am turning a corner and making (very slow, but) steady progress. There are a lot of amazing things you can learn about your body just by truly paying attention.
So it looks like we may move our base up to Cabin Creek, then take a little time off so I can work some kinks out. After that who knows. I really hope we will be able to get back to the wilderness before the spring is up. Maybe Isaac will come out on his own for a couple weeks. At this point we don’t know and it is just going to have to be taken day by day. I will keep the blog updated from the front country, in hopes that we can come back and finish out our last couple months strong. This is frustrating timing for me, but sometimes you just have to give up how you thought things were going to be, and accept how they are.
Thanks for being patient with this blog. It has definitely had its ups and downs…