Becky and I met in Yellowstone National Park in 2008. Having lived all over the country and traveled all over the world together since then, it seems like five lifetimes ago that we called this vast beautiful park our home. But it truly does feel like home. Living this transient lifestyle, on occasion when someone asks me where I am from, as complicated a question as this is being that in the past decade I have called nine different states home, sometimes I still say Wyoming. |
Due to a misfortunate fall off a bicycle a few months back my brother’s summer has been less than active. Nursing this ankle injury has kept him sidelined from the backcountry trails and mountain peaks that he thrives on. It also dictated our visit with him and restricted us to a leisurely auto tour of the park instead of a two legged trek through the wilderness that we’d all prefer. But occasionally I forget how vast of an area this is and exploring unseen areas sometimes takes four wheels. On the first day of our circumnavigation of the Greater Yellowstone area we spend close to nine hours in the car and ended our journey on the Eastern side of the famed 11,000 foot Bear Tooth Highway in Red Lodge Montana. Smoke from the fires burning in the parched Northwestern forests hung in the isolated valleys and tarnished our views. The next day on the return tour we stopped in the small touristy town of West Yellowstone before returning to Wydaho. This place will always feel like home to me and although I proclaim Southern Utah to be my favorite place in the whole world, Wydaho is a close second. | Another big reason that this area of the country feels like home is that my big brother has lived here for over twelve years and even when I haven’t resided in the area I find a way to pass through and visit him at least once a year. He technically lives on the Western side of the Teton Mountain Range in Idaho but commutes over Teton Pass to Jackson Wyoming or up the Western slope to Grand Targhee Wyoming for work. Therefore according to him he lives in Wydaho! |