jeff/it and be there :: Titcomb Basin

Fremont Peak, Lukas Wenger {more Wyoming photos}

There just doesn't seem to be enough oxygen in the air above 10,000 feet.  The lungs burn, the head gets achy, and muscles scream over accumulations of lactic acid.  To those we were given daily hail/thunder/lightning storms.  Yet, when the orange-pink light of sunset hit the craggy peaks overhead each burning, freezing step was worth it.  To be pushed to the brink and more than ready to be home - or at least somewhere with a warm shower and clean bed - and at the same time you are so filled with wonder and amazement that you couldn't imagine being anywhere else in that moment.  We hated it and loved it all at the same time.

And that's how Lukas's buddy Jeff, f/it trip partner-in-crime, would have felt too.  Instead of getting to experience this trip with Jeff, Lukas and I took our battered hearts and over the course of 30+ miles battered our bodies as well, f-ing it in Jeff's memory.  In what will always feel so incredibly unfair, Jeff lost his battle with melanoma in early August.  He strived so hard to live life normally and not become this relentless disease.  And that's the way I choose to remember him.  Jeff would often talk about how there are so many awesome and beautiful things to see out in nature.  And truly there are so many within driving distance (even if that means 15 hours in the car).  

For now, I'll the let the images in the video do the rest of the talking.  My words escape me and my mind wonders remembering all the times we had together.