Hello rain. Last night it rained for hours with the loudest thunder I have ever heard. Around 130am, we had a visitor in our campsite. Both Salamander and I heard it clear as day. Large animal that huffed. He hung out for a bit and then came back a half hour later. We both were lifeless, no sound and waited for our intruder to vacate. Honestly this is his home and we are truly the vagrants poaching on his territory. When we woke up in the morning, we both agreed it was a bear. No good respective moose or elk would huff.

We were a bit late getting moving this morning as our tents were wet and we were cold. Finally at 830am, we started the typical hunt for the trail. We were bushwhacking for a good hour or so when Salamander found the Cairns and we were back on track. Eleven miles doesn’t seem like much but when you are NOT on any sort of a trail, the miles are hard and slow!

We had another pass, North Pole Pass to navigate over and all the literature says to watch the weather and don’t go over unless it’s clear. Sure as we started getting up in elevation, the black ugly clouds rolled in and it was obvious that we were gonna need to hunker down. Salamander and I had our tents pitched in two minutes flat and as soon as we were inside, the thunder, lightning and hail came down from heaven with a vengeance!

We took advantage of our down time and had lunch then waited for the skies to clear as best as they could. We had hail on the corners of our tents, and they were soaked. After a thirty second long thunderous crackling, things appeared good enough for our summit attempt. Honestly, I think Jesus was watching over me because I was exhausted from a sleepless night and lacked any energy. I refueled, rested supine for a bit and that made all the difference for my climb.

We meandered up the trail which was covered in hail, and made it to the top without any threat of thunderstorms. But it was close. As Salamander was trekking behind me, the darkest sky was following us. Yet, I had the most incredible sighting of the Lord. As I was walking across the plateau there was the most beautiful midst in the air to the left of me. It was nothing short of the Holy Spirit protecting us as we safely continued our journey. I had tears in my eyes as I told Salamander what I just witnessed. It was nothing short of supernatural!

We made it over North Pole Pass and slowly walked to our camp for the night. The ground was wet and the rocks were slick from all the rain so I had my slow and steady pace, even more so. Salamander kicked it into overdrive and I could only attempt to keep up with her. I hate to admit it but 15 years junior is a big gap that I cannot overcome. I have to agree that she is faster and I am wiser.

The Lord has been humbling me much on this trail. There are things that I need to succumb to. God has a reason for my journey and He knows that it will make me a better person and gain a closer relationship with Him. There was a reason that Jesus had twelve disciples and not 20 or more. He knew that He could only care for so many relationships without neglecting the most important one, His Heavenly Father. I really need to focus on my tribe, my family and my dear friends. And then I will have the closer relationship I desire to have with Jesus. Time out here is so precious and it allows me to see what is truly important.

Show me your ways Lord, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me. For you are my God and Savior, my hope is in you all day long. Psalm 25:4-5

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One of the best things about backpacking is when you get a good nights sleep. I was exhausted and went to my tent at 8pm and woke up at 5am. Glorious night of rest and recuperation.

Today was the day I had my closest friends pray for extra safety, stamina and solid footing. It was a 15 mile hike with 2400’ elevation gain and 2400’ descent. Typically you want to climb and stay above tree line but evidently that’s not the case today. I took off early hoping to get much of the climb out of the way. Once I had a couple of miles underfoot, the trees diminished and the mountains were the main attraction. My first spotting was a marmot, obviously trying to ward me away from his family. They are clever little creatures and truly the protectors of their loved ones. As I traveled up the mountain, I saw what appeared to be the biggest deer I’ve ever set eyes on. He was looking at me, not sure if I was friend or foe and then walked off. A few 100’ further, I get another look and to my amazement, these two are no deers at all. They are elks. Once again they are trying to determine what is approaching and just as I snap a picture, they run off and so does the entire herd that was hiding behind the trees! My first up and close encounter of these magnificent mammals on this trail. What a wonderful day this is going to be.

I climbed to the top of a barren plateau and then looked down on the many lakes and meadows below. Salamander catches up and we take a break planning the rest of our day. We have two passes to get over and they are both 11800’ or so. Hiking above tree line is comparable to walking on the Alaskan Tundra. The ground is squishy and soft with no discernible trail. What cracks me up is the sign they post “Stay on Trails.” Seriously, there’s no trail to stay on. The only clue we have are rock Karin’s and our GPS. It’s a treasure hunt up here. The miles are slow going and by lunch, we have only made it to Deadman’s Lake. Odd name, I thought.

We have our lunch and figure out our plan of attack for the next climb. There’s two routes, both just as steep as the other but one is .1 mile shorter. I’m thinking let’s take the shorter route which is undefinable and so I stick with the longer path. Once on top of our final pass, we still have over six miles to camp. I’m already exhausted and get into granny gear and slowly make my way down. Salamander not much faster as she has a stress fracture in her foot which is causing her pain. No doubt! She’s such an incredible athlete and I guess she is used to pain and wasn’t planning to give up on this backpacking trip for some inconvenient stress fracture.

As I make it down the trail, yes, we finally have a trail, I am thinking about all the prayers both answered and unanswered. I starting journaling many years ago but I can’t say I journal daily. But I do look back on occasion and Jesus reminds me of all the answered prayers. I try to focus on His mercies but there are many times I ask why He hasn’t answered my petitions? Then I am reminded of who He is, almighty and omnipresent. God knows and hears all of my prayers and my hope is that when the time is His time, many of my unanswered prayers will come to be. But my prayer tonight was for rest and possible time to soak my feet, and that prayer was perfectly answered. Thank you Lord!

Lord, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy, in your faithfulness and righteousness, come to my relief. Psalm 143:1

Woke up early to what sounded like a dog barking?!? We are the only people out here and we haven’t seen a soul since we left Sunday morning. So either the dog belongs to a ghostly person or it was a wolf acting like a dog. No elk but both Salamander and I saw deers on our outing today.

The early morning chore was filling up with water from the elusive spring that was hiding in the meadow. We packed up then hiked out, gathered 3 liters each, which adds 6 pounds to our already burdened packs. But from all the intel that was gathered, this was the last water source till the end of the day.

Once loaded up, we started route finding. That seems to be a common theme on our past two days. Both Salamander and I have downloaded maps on our phones. It’s not typically the way I travel but great experience on using GPS. I’m sure God is teaching me something regarding finding my way without a trail.

We climbed 1800’ today, not as much as yesterday but it felt just as tough. I’m quite a bit slower than my partner, this seems to be the story of my life when I travel long distance. There were many times I didn’t see Salamander for a couple of hours but then she’d sit and wait till I caught up. She is very patient and seems to enjoy the extra rest time. But once we’re up and moving, she bolts!

We had a variety of terrain today. Starting back in the trees but quickly made it to a high knoll. There was plenty of shale and low brushy trees. Then we headed back into desert terrain with the red rocks and not much shade. But the highlight was walking through a grassy meadow that went on for at least a mile. We climbed more towards the end of the day. But just short of our destination, there was a surprise creek running across the trail. We both had run short of water so this was a no-brainer. We stopped, looked at the map and decided to hunker down for the evening. We were only .3 miles from our original planned destination. If we kept moving, we would’ve had to huff it another .4 miles to water one way. This is splendid and it’s always an added bonus to have water flowing next to the tent. A little added ambience.

Today was filled with special moments. The Lord pushes me outside my comfort zone just long enough that I truly depend on Him to get me through. This was one of those days. I had many points that I wondered, why am I wandering through this wilderness that no one else seems to know about? Why am I carrying this backpack that is much to heavy for its maximum load capacity? Why can’t I keep up with my hiking partner? Then God shows up and reminds me that if I truly want to see him and hear him, I need to get away from all the distractions that I tend to put in front of Him. This is where He gets my undivided attention. Thank you Jesus for waiting for me, asking me and knowing that I will go so that we can spend these special moments together.

“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “who shall I send and who shall go for us” And I said, “here I am and I shall go.” Isaiah 6:8

Last night, we pulled into our camp at 930pm. It was a long, long drive from Idaho to Utah covering three states, Wyoming too. I drove Salamander’s car to the western terminus and then we all jumped into the lead truck and drove another three hours to our starting point. All in all, it took us 12 hours to get to the eastern terminus or in our case, the beginning. Once parked, we pitched out tents, drank my last IPA Beer for the next week or so, and quickly went to sleep.

Salamander, aka Sally & I were up early in the morning getting all our gear situated, packs loaded and water filled. Her wonderful husband Roy, made us a send off breakfast that kept us moving on trail all morning. We had breakfast burritos with eggs, bacon, potatoes, peppers, cheese, salsa, sour cream and avocado. it was our final home cooked meal, or in this case tailgate, for the next ten days.

Once our belly’s were fat and full, we headed out onto the 110 mile Uinta Highline Trail. This is an obscure trail that some 100-200 people a year hike. It has no resupply options and is a long way from anywhere. But the mountains are huge, the valleys are deep and the wildlife is prolific, so off we went.

The first day with packs topping off near 40 pounds, we hiked 2400’ in elevation. That’s ridiculous climb for first day on the trail. The one reprieve was the trail was mostly in the shade covering of trees, but the loose rocks and red shale were murderous on the newly planted feet. It was hot! We’ll I guess there are extremes of hot like California heat which is in the 110’s, but this felt like a furnace. I think I was producing as much heat as the ambient temperature. We made it five miles to a small lake and found some water.

After our snack, we headed back into the trees. When I say that, there truly, is not a heavily marked trail out here. Most of my hiking and backpacking have been on trails that are clearly posted, maintained and fairly free if debris. Highline Trail is so infrequently used that the trail or lack of it, is overgrown or just not there. Prior to leaving Idaho, Salamander had me download the GPS coordinates so I could navigate with my phone if I was unable to find a rock Cairn or trail. I’m gonna be using it a lot.

We did lots of climbing today. Saw some cattle in the distance, and heard elk from far away. This is a wild and scenic place and by the end of the day, we had covered some miles, gained quite a bit of elevation and were ready to bed down. Our last venture of the day was crossing an unmarked meadow and finding water.

We dropped our packs. Salamander had talked to a group from Backcountry Horsemen who were adamant that there is a spring flowing in the meadow. We grabbed our empty water bottles, a few items to attempt to clean our filthy bodies and went hunting for this unmarked unnamed spring. We walked for a half mile and sure enough, found a trickle that flowed down meadow and had some decent sized pools. Hallelujah, we were blessed with water, bathing holes and sunshine.

Day one was mentally and physically exhausting. Our packs were heavy, the altitude was already close to 10000’ and I was wondering what I was doing in this extreme wilderness? I do believe that the Lord was laughing a bit with me. Sweetheart, this is just the beginning. We have much to talk about, much to address and this is exactly where I need you. Uinta Wilderness has no cell towers, no real way out but walking, and is about as far away as one can go to get disconnected. This is exactly where I need you to be.

As a deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. Psalm 42:1

I am furiously looking for Day one of my blog but for whatever reason, it has vanished. Once I retrieve it, or rewrite it, I’ll post it. Salamander and I made it out alive last night at 730pm. I’ll update each day with our journey. It was a walk in love, acceptance and much humility! God was indeed pushing me daily, just as I expected. Much love and appreciation to all that prayed for our safe trek. It was a walk with the Lord that I will never forget.

It has been long overdue but this wandering heart is getting ready to venture back into Gods creation. Every year I meet up with a very dear friend “Salamander” and we explore nature together. There is much we catch up on, life, friends and world issues, we’ll not so much of that.

This year we head to Uinta Wilderness in Utah seeking solitude and majesty that can only be found, as far as I know, in the mountains. Our journey this year will be 100 miles from east to west. This area is somewhat obscure and isolated as very few seek this piece of wonder. Exceptions to that rule: elk, moose, deer and maybe a bear or two. But two legged hikers like yours truly, only 100-200 consider the remoteness of Highline Trail.

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