Too Soft for Serious Use

Inspirational song: Gold (Fairport Convention)

I learned many things today. I learned what a placer hole is, in mining terms. I learned that there are such plants as limber pines and kinnikinnick, and our mountain is covered in it. I learned what it looks like when snow blows over the next ridge over from where I was perched. I learned that I need a new cell phone battery. I learned that elk poop is much smaller than I imagined it would be. And most importantly, I learned that I am a way bigger bad ass than I ever gave myself credit for being.

Today was a big day. We drove up to view the new property. I started with a good mani-pedi, and had the techs paint all of my nails alternating silver and gold in honor of our new mining claim. Then in borrowed boots and layered clothes, put my faith in the man's scary driving skills. We definitely had to use four wheel low to make it the last couple miles once the county maintained improved dirt road ended. We were surprised to find a gate across the road where the neighboring claims intersect the road. Not sure that was a legitimate barrier. The neighbor definitely uses his property for hunting, not mining. We drove past the gate, found a space to park our buddy's jeep, and prepared to hike. And that's about the point where the plans evaporated.

The terrain was much steeper than we imagined from the pictures on the internet. I went into this prepared for some uphill climbing, but this was way worse than either of us thought. My eagle scout failed to bring water, a cutting implement of any kind, or any sort of flashlight other than his phone. As for me, a foolish, well-rounded, middle-aged woman, I was in way over my head. My phone battery was drained, and off most of the climb. I climbed for about two and a half hours before I was so used up and shaky I had to stop. I turned my phone on for one picture and it died completely. The man had been promising for thirty minutes that we were just 300 feet from the corner of the property, but I just couldn't gain those last 150 feet of elevation to reach it. I sat to wait while the man went all the way to his land, to pee on it to claim it he said, and I knew he had made it when a "woot" echoed across the ridge. The sun was down by the time he returned, but we have lived most of our lives by the axiom, "god watches out for kittens and fools." We were very fortunate to have a full moon to guide us down off the mountain in the dark. That, and a GPS. It took an hour and a half to get down, and I went at least a third of it sliding down on my butt, across said kinnikinnick plants, stickerbushes, and frozen elk poop.

All things considered, it was difficult yes, but I survived it with my good humor intact. It was an amazing day, and I feel bulletproof. I am a thousand times stronger than I ever imagined. And now, I need to see which pictures my man emailed me to share with you. I can't wait to see them.