Rich's Place

I was raised at Robinson Bar Ranch and in the Sawtooth Mountains, Stanley Idaho. Every day I looked at those mountains, full of mystery and adventure calling me to conquer them. Filled with fear and uncertainly I heard their call.

I stayed as far away as I could from those mountains. I was content and safe viewing their splendor from a distance. Then one day my father, “Joe Leonard” told me it was time for me to go with him into those mountains to help with his business, Leonard Expeditions. He toured people from all over the world into the Sawtooths , When he said, it was time, I was afraid, but when my father told me to do something fear was not an option!

I started my journeys as a Sherpa into the mountains, usually breaking trail in snow, at times over my waist, traveling distances up to 6 miles between huts and carrying a 100lb backpack full of food or supplies for the guest. As time went on the fear lingered in the back of my head. I knew the power of these mountains and the unpredictable actions they were capable of. One moment you could be skiing in a beautiful snowfall winter day and the next in a whiteout so thick you can’t see your hand held in front of you! Or as you would approach a large snow bowl that needed to be crossed to get to the next ski hut, you might hear a distant roar of a avalanche, a eerie reminder that the mountains could take a life at any moment. To the mountains I was nothing but a speck of dust that could be blown away anytime they chose to do so!

One day we took a group of guest in. I carried the food and broke trail, it was a fresh deep snow and a long haul so when we reached the Hut I was beat, it was close to dark, the group was a full tent and I was the elected to ski back to town. I ate a quick dinner with the group and headed out. I decided to head straight to Stanley instead of going back on the trail. If I remember right the trail was about a 5 mile run but as the bird flies it was about 4 miles, so I took the shorter route.

It didn’t take long for the dark to take over and it wasn’t long after that that the snow started falling heavy! After about a mile under these conditions with no compass and no trail to follow I started worrying that the mountains, the darkness and the snow would be the last thing I saw on this earth.
I kept pushing forward. After two miles fear set in I wondered if the Mountains made their decision to remove me from their presence permanently!

I had about one more mile, to get to the last 1 mile stretch that went across a valley to Stanley. I thought to myself, if I can make it to the tree line I would see the light from town and I could get my bearings back, no matter how far off track I was, I would be ok. Darkness has a extra thickness about it in the deep woods and the heavy snow wasn’t helping any! As I pushed on, toward town or the direction I figured town might be in, I kept suppressing my fears, reminding myself that when I hit the tree line I would be able to see the town’s lights and navigate accordingly.

The third mile of fear passed and I arrived to the tree line! As I looked over the valley I couldn’t see the towns light! The Mountains did it! They beat me; they were going to take my life. My biggest fear that always lingered every time I looked at the mountains during my childhood had become a reality!

I couldn’t see the towns light, it was still a mile away and I had a open valley to cross. The snow was falling much harder than I realized when I was in the trees. It was a complete whiteout and I could not see more than 20 or 30 feet! A whiteout in a valley with no trees or land marks is a deadly combination. You could travel in circles for hours and not even know it, soon exhaustion would take over and you would have to stop moving, then freezing would take its place in line! I thought about turning around but it was out of the question. I knew the snow was falling to fast and my trail, if not already, would be gone before I made it back to the hut, besides it was way too dark to see the trail.

With only one choice I pushed forward out into my destiny. I had no idea what direction I was heading, I had no idea if I was making the dreaded circle of death or just heading aimlessly to the next mountain range. Stanley Idaho was a population of about 99 people and to aim and hit it in these conditions was like finding a needle in a haystack! At this point in my life I wasn’t a religious or godly one but I was saying any prayer I could think of! Funny how in our time of need, whether we believe in God or not we either curse him or call out to him!

It was snowing so hard I didn’t even know I was heading the right direction till was in town! I couldn’t see the light at any distance to speak of. But I didn’t miss a beat! It didn’t take any longer than it would have taken on a clear day! I survived and the fear had left me. I skied to my cabin that was in town at that time. Completely wore out I fell asleep.

The next morning I went out to get fire wood, as I looked at the mountains I noticed my lingering childhood fears were gone. The mountains were no longer something to be admired from a distance. They were now something to adventure into and be a part of! I had conquered the mountains. They were always calling me to adventure in, because, they were My Mountains… They were always, My Mountains!

I learned a lot from that ski trip. And now when I see mountains in the way of my adventures well…..

Mark 11:23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

Quote

But I ask myself the reverse question: is doing NOTHING any better than doing what we’re doing?

The answer is “No.” We MUST do what we’re doing. And, with an effort of willpower, force us not to slip into despair. Failure is not an option, as they used to say during the launches of American astronauts to the moon. And if failure is not an option, neither is despair.

Got it from James Balog 

at:  http://www.extremeicesurvey.org/blogs/field_notes/

I was on CNN.com the other day and I saw a video from Extreme Ice Survey! 
The videos about 40 minutes long you can see it here on CNN. 
Being a resident of this planet I would like to take a moment to share this video with you.

Also check out Extreme Ice Survey’s website for a lot more
video’s. “What Can You Do” page contains some info on how
you can help the environment.

They use time-lapse photography, conventional photography,
and video to document rapid changes now occurring on the
Earth's glacial ice. They have installed 27 time-lapse cameras at
15 sites in Greenland, Iceland, Alaska, Iceland, Alps, and Bolivia.

Ok I did it! I went with MS Office! I broke down and bought it! After years of looking for all types of freeware, to do all the things that Microsoft Offices does I broke down and bought it! Well actually I found it on Amazon for about 50% off so I figured I better get it! For the MS Office Student version it was only $79, it is usually $130 to $180! So now I got all this real cool stuff! 

I Found the free Windows Live software in the process of installing and using the Microsoft Office. You can get it here at “Windows Live page” its free! I am actually considering starting this BLOG! Because I created this with a cool blog editor and publisher that comes with Windows Live, its called “Windows Live Writer”! If you want a site like this for free its easy to create content, I highly recommend Windows Live! And my recommendations don't come easy! You can create online photo albums, Tags, guest books, Video and a ton more! Its a sweet editor, then to put it on your blog you just click a Publish button and Walla! I have been at this for a long time and helped many people to set up websites, the problem has always been editing the site for the new user. I have never found simple and easy software to create and upload sites until now! So have at it people you wont be sorry! Unless they start charging of course!

And be sure to check back here for more of my post. Think Ill try pointing a domain to the blog :~)

Check out  Leonard's photo gallery  and way under construction Users Only