Animal Friends of Jasper

This past week in Jasper National Park has continued with more beautiful animal encounters, which always ends up being one of the main highlights for me, as the connection they share with me is most valuable and meaningful in my life. Medicine and messages came through a variety of souls in animal bodies including bighorn sheep, elk, golden eagle, geese, golden ducks, loons, bald eagle, coyote, butterflies, frogs, dragonflies, squirrels, trout, and deer. Again, I’m not always able to capture every moment and animal in a photo share, however I do believe those I do are the ones who have something to share for us all.

And if you missed last week’s incredible animal guides that showed up in the Lake Louise and Banff National Park area, you can see them here:

Animal Medicine Encounters

 

No Words

A New Portal Opens ~ Immersing in the Magick of Ouray & Telluride

As we integrate and shift, so too does our environment and the expressions of energy in our lives. This happens more literally these days for me, since we started living as nomads following the callings of our hearts. We continually experience dramatic changes in our surroundings, weather, and what moves in and out energetically. I love the rapid, tangible, and visible reflections that mirror how energy continuously flows.

We journeyed about 3 hours yesterday from Mesa Verde to our new home in Ouray, which took us on a beautiful transitioning drive through a snow storm and reaching 11,000 elevation at our highest ascension, coming to rest around 7800 currently.

Our new home is stunning, sitting in a valley between mountains, at the edge of a rolling river just steps from our RV, forest green all around, two waterfalls flowing from the steep rock cliffs behind us, and beautiful snow capped mountain tops to our left, which have received more white powder since our arrival.

The air is refreshing and the energy is abundant and inspiring. I love watching and listening to the sound of the water flowing through and am whisked to heights of imagination and expansion by the towering peaks around.

We arrived between seasons, which makes it serene and our time with Nature in solitude. The RV park has only just opened and even the bustling Telluride seemed like a ghost town upon our visit in the afternoon.

There are numerous ghost towns in all of these areas – Ouray, Silverton, and Telluride – nestled in between the mountains, which were old mining towns in their days, so they are rich with their own history.

After settling in and having lunch we decided to explore the popular ski resort of Telluride, which is lined with colorful Victorian homes and storefronts to include over 60 restaurants, coffee shops, and bars. The Mountain Village resort area is known for its European alpine elegance.

I loved the individual uniqueness and old-world style of architecture, including the rainbow of different colors to each house.

And the drive over was incredibly picturesque as well, with green-carpeted pastures and majestic mountains all around, rolling streams, falls, and trees in abundance.

We had done some cleaning out and happened to have our box of things to donate in the back of the car. And along the way in Ridgway we happened upon Second Chance Humane Society Thrift Store, where we dropped our donations and picked up a few items – shorts and a book for Dave, a hiking dress for me, and two DVDS all for $18. So not only did we find some cool bargains, but did so while supporting the local no-kill animal shelter.

And animals were abundant indeed, as we saw tons of cattle and horses in the pastures along the way, as well as were blessed to see some bighorn sheep and four large herds of elk – nearly 200 in total.

At one point I counted a herd over over 60 that were all laying in the same pasture with the cattle. So beautiful!

We drove through Telluride’s streets, picked up some local magazines and walked a nature trail.

It skirts around Beaver Pond where you can see a beaver lodge and geese, and then stopped in at Clark’s Grocery Store on the way out, which had a great selection of organic and vegan yums.

Our time here will be different than the ancient integration of some of our last homes, but it feels refreshing, nourishing, and inspiring to the soul to be in our element here, as we love the altitude, mountains, water, trees, and abundance of wildlife.

I have felt on hold with some of my creative projects for a while, likely due to the energy needed to be integrated at the last places and so much deep and ancient soul retrieval going on.

This feels to be more reflective of flow, softness, rest, and renewal….which sparks my creative juices to get jumping back into things with all that I’ve opened to and embraced.

Ouray and the area is laced with hot springs, which we will definitely “soak in” while here.

Today we went on a most stunning hike….my favorite yet…but I’ll save a full post for that tomorrow, which will likely just be all photos so you can fill in the experience and energy yourself…but wow!

The surroundings were everything I love and magickal through and through – so much so that it brought me to tears.

Incredible waterfalls and rock carved canyons where the water flowed, majestic snow capped peaks, rocky cliffs, lush forests, blossoms, areas that looked like the tundra in Alaska, enchanting fields….

Five bighorn sheep got our attention by knocking rocks down the cliff too. We thought it was an avalanche, but there they stood and just watched us. And after connecting with them we walked through a tunnel in the mountain at the other end of a bridge that crossed the canyon and water below us, a rare sighting of a black fox with white tipped tail happened.

It ran across our path and stopped by a tree just watching us and connecting…I learned that these are so rare and said to be a genetic flaw that dates back hundreds of years. The fox is really a red fox that stays black and never turns red.

I’d never seen a fox in the wild, let alone a black one that was so curious and oh so magickal!!! There was even a little magickal light near its tail that appears in a photo.

Anyway, I could go on and on about today, but I’ll end there with these little snippets and will let the photos do the rest of the talking tomorrow.

Needless to say we are loving it here and are definitely in our element.

But back to yesterday….

The last thing we saw on our way home last evening was this door in the side of the rock mountain.

 

Dave immediately said it reminded him of “the door to the Lonely Mountain” in The Hobbit, which was a gateway to the Dwarf kingdom.

And so it is that a new portal invites me yet again.

I felt I was entering it today on our incredulous journey along roughly 6 miles of Ouray Perimeter Trail.

New magick is afoot!

Mule Deer & Bighorn Sheep In Action

I thought these would be fun to share.

I took a very short video of both the Mule Deer and the Bighorn Sheep one day in Zion National Park so that you could get a feel of them in action.

We happened to be listening to some Trance/Electronic music when driving through the park a few of the days and that music was playing while the Mule Deer were prancing through the meadow. I couldn’t stop giggling.

Dave realized the music was on after I started the video, so he thought he should shut it to have silence…I told him it went so great with it and he should keep it on, so he put it back. LOL!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy some snippets of Nature, live in action.

I couldn’t get enough of these beautiful creatures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Climbing, Challenging, Centering & Soaring ~ Making Peace With Fear at Angels Landing, Zion

Saturday was our last day in Zion National Park and we decided to end our time there with a bang by taking on Angels Landing.

This is one of the most famous and thrilling hikes not just in Zion, but in the national park system.

It is a stunning 5.4 mile roundtrip trail with views from the top of the Virgin River and Zion Canyon below. Doesn’t sound like much, but it rises 1500 feet steeply and quite rapidly in the 2.7 miles, which for some can be quite strenuous in and of itself.

Then the last half mile is the truly gut-wrenching part, which is not for the faint of heart.

Six people have died on the trail since 2004, which indicates the need for confidence and presence.

Many will just stop at the top, where you can still enjoy wonderful views, without trekking the half mile of more challenging trail that has anchored support chains to assist you up and around the fin where you have 1000 plus foot drops on both sides of you.

In most of the literature they say the round trip hike takes 4 – 5 hours. That day I heard some people say it took them 5 1/2 hours.

Somehow we managed to do it in 3 hours, which included waiting at the congested areas along the scary parts, since only one person in a line at a time can pass safely.

To give you an idea on timing for this if you decide to do take it on as well at some point, we hiked up the switchbacks in 45 minutes to the top before the last half mile of craziness. And we hiked back down in 45 minutes after we finished the chained area.

So it took an hour and a half to do the normal trekking and an hour and a half to do the last half mile roundtrip, carefully and even with the waiting time.

But it was so worth it in so many ways for me, helping me to embrace my inner Capricorn.

I have Capricorn Rising and a Capricorn North Node, the latter indicating this is what I’m working into empowering and grounding for the next part of my life.

And that is just the energy I called upon in order to accomplish this hike, as normally it would be terribly fearful, perhaps to the point of paralyzed fear at times, and maybe not something I’d have wanted to even try.

But I have been working diligently on integrating this energy, processing and facing my fears in the way I know how to work with them, and ready to step into the next phase of my life.

The interesting thing is that my fear isn’t consistent. I have no fear of paragliding, sky diving, or flying…I go on big roller coasters and all. I love high altitudes and my desire is to live in high altitude and alpine areas.

However, when it comes to standing at the edge of a cliff or climbing something steep with drop offs, it’s a whole other thing.

I feel it boils down to self trust and feeling grounded and fully Earthbound. I’m very comfortable with flying and lightness…so for me, it has been a process to come fully into my body and ground and integrate the physical and spiritual. Something that is really balancing out more and more now for me and especially with all of the Nature time we’ve been spending and integrating the energies.

And being with the animals and deepening into the Earth experience on this adventure of ours is supporting all of that quickly.

So synchronously, every single day of the three days we were in Zion, we saw the Bighorn Sheep twice a day, which is incredible. They embody the energy of that steadfast goat/Capricorn that I have within me to embrace.

Interestingly also, at the ancient ruins in Page Springs where we stayed outside of Sedona, I had received a vision of a white Mountain Goat alongside an ancient Indian – the Rocky Mountain Goat of the alpines that is a sure-footed climber on cliffs and ice.

So I know the spirit of the goat has been with me, especially with all of the hiking and climbing we have been doing, but also because it symbolizes the energy of my new path in life.

And so, when Dave told me about this hike (he did it 26 years ago with his dad) and how challenging it was, I knew I should prepare myself.

Oddly, this day I had felt called to braid my hair, which made me feel like a Native Indian – we kept calling me Pocahontas and Sacagawea – and also seemed to connect me with my ancient roots for integrating further Earth connection to keep me grounded and call up my strengths.

I was determined to face it and so I did a lot of Reiki energy work, not only protecting myself, but strengthening myself and with intent to embody the sure-footedness of the Mountain Goat. I called upon the white Rocky Mountain Goat and the Bighorn Sheep to be with me and then worked with the fear as I have done with the skiing and the mountain biking.

I not only steadily and consistently went up the switchbacks without need to stop for a break (which has become normal now for me), but when we reached the top where the people not continuing further on to the chained steep last half mile, I was given a choice.

When we saw the amount of people trying to make their way to the top and asked how long it took some coming down, we were contemplating if it was worth going up.

Maybe since Dave already did it, he said to me that we could just as well hike the other side and see nice views without wading through that last part, or we could just do it.

He left it up to me.

That was perfect, as I got to make the empowering choice. And I said, “Let’s do it. I didn’t come up all this way and prepare myself for nothing.”

So we did.

And along the way there were a few people that did become paralyzed with fear and couldn’t move, and needed supportive help back down even from only having gone a tiny way.

I understood their fear and felt the best thing I could do for the collective pool of energy would be to work through the energy myself in order to help shift things.

And so I stayed completely focused, present, and in the moment. Once again, blocking out everything except what was only right in front of me, taking one step at a time. I didn’t focus on the drops to both of my sides, didn’t let anything around me into my experience.

But I also allowed myself to enjoy and praise myself for each part.

I didn’t try to rush. I didn’t have to stop. I kept steady, focused, centered, consistent, and present. Every step counting. Calculating the rocks in front of me and the best way my feet would securely support myself.

And yes, when there were chains, I indeed held on. But the chains were also needed to climb up and pull with your arm strength, as you pushed off with your legs. Full body workout indeed.

I really enjoyed that and got into the climbing, which took me out of thinking about the edge of the cliff I was hanging off of, or what was below.

The other thing I really appreciated was the fact that there were many others around – which also was interesting to us that so many did brave this area.

Many I’m sure had no issue with it at all. Others were likely similar to me.

There weren’t any children, as that isn’t recommended and they really can’t do it. There were mostly a younger and mid-aged group of people.

And what I loved was humanity again shining through, as everyone was working together like a team.

There wasn’t anyone to stop those coming down and up from pushing their way through.

There wasn’t anyone to coordinate anything.

And yet everyone worked together seamlessly waiting, helping, supporting, one another.

A helping hand was always outstretched to help everyone, especially in areas where you had to go around people waiting up against the stones and you were cradling the edge of the cliff to get around. There were also helping hands up and down if needed and just extended even if you didn’t. People would said you can hold on or grab on to me….no one knowing each other or afraid to be close.

So much camaraderie…so much care for one another.

That was really a gift to experience, besides the personal triumphs I was experiencing.

I won’t say I wasn’t scared, as I was, but I felt confident in my ability to do it and that I knew my process.

And I did do it. And was quite proud of myself.

Even Dave said he had fears at times with the shear drop offs and seeing people so close to at any moment falling off with one wrong move, or that others could fall off due to someone’s wrong move.

He said he remembered it being challenging, but not quite like this.

Yet, he had less fears than I to work through, so he took tons of photos of me, while I was too focused to take photos until we were at the top and once we were heading down.

I’m grateful he did, as I’ll always have these to show myself of what I’ve accomplished.

To some it may be nothing, as we all have different fears, but to me it was huge and I am very proud of myself for working through and overcoming it.

I did become that Mountain Goat and embraced my inner Capricorn a big step more on that day.

And when we reached the top to take in the view, it was as if the Angels were shining down upon us, as this amazing rainbow light was all around us when I shot this photo from our place of accomplishment – where we were soaring in our integrated embodiment of human and spirit merged and in synergy.

The photos Dave took don’t really even show how steep the edges are and how challenging parts of this really are, but they give you an idea.

I do remember on our way up that this tiny butterflies were flying around us. Ones like I’ve never seen before. They had three white wings and one yellow wing. Incredible! All of them were like this. And even a Swallowtail once made an appearance before we headed off on the last challenging half mile.

I definitely felt the support and know that we were being watched over and supported.

The views were stunning at top and all along the trail, including down below at the Virgin River.

I was feeling quite refreshed and renewed as we returned to our car…this is me beaming.

And on our way out of the park another gift.

We had seen many Bighorn Sheep, as mentioned, twice a day.

We’d seen some that morning on the way in, but I said as my intention out loud to Dave that I wanted to see them up close right by us on the road.

And so it was that that is what took place.

The Bighorn Sheep were right at the edge of the road coming down off the rocks right when we were coming through. So we stopped the car and took it all in. Some of them crossing in front and behind us and then we got out and some right next to us on the other side of the road.

It felt like they were celebrating with me and I felt like one of them.

A Warm Welcome To Zion

Yesterday began our Utah National Park circuit, which will continue over the next five weeks. So excited! And if the rest of the weeks exploring are anything like yesterday, it’s going to be a fantastic adventure indeed!

We will be visiting Zion until this Easter Sunday the 27th of March, then off to Bryce through April 3rd, Escalante next through April 10th, Capitol Reef following that through April 17th, and then staying in Moab the last two weeks to visit both Canyon Lands and Arches between April 17th and April 28th.

So it will be an incredible five weeks and being that we are full-time living in an RV, taking the extra time makes it more relaxed with partial work days mixed in there and being able to explore at our leisure, rather than trying to squeeze things into a day or two.

Part of Checkerboard Mesa

Of all of these National Parks the only one I’ve visited is Zion, which was almost exactly two years ago when we decided to add on a day to our return from skiing Park City so that we could do a little hiking there. We did two hikes that time, entering from a different park entrance than we are staying near this time.

So I’m looking forward to continued exploration here during Spring, as last time it was Winter – beautiful to see different seasons indeed, but challenged some hikes with ice at the time.

And what an amazing first day we had, even just for a couple of hours in Zion.

After we settled in to our quaint little park that enjoys these views (the first is the view out the right side of the RV):

had lunch, did some work, I got laundry going and transplanted some plants, we set off to Zion.

And with longer days, we’ll be able to enjoy more sunlight while exploring, which is perfect. Spring also makes for a wonderful season with blossoms, great weather for hiking, and the opportunity to see little ones amidst the wildlife, which we did!

We were so excited to be greeted by such stunning beauty and so much wildlife in our first short day. We always like to touch in with each place when first arriving, as a way to anchor in the new energy and say our hellos.

And what a warm welcome we received indeed!

We saw several herds of Mule Deer, like over a hundred, with young ones prancing along the fields at the entrance to Zion.

There was also a large herd of Bison at a ranch near the entrance, which was really cool to see these amazing creatures.

And we were super excited to see two herds of Bighorn Sheep with babies at different areas…one baby was even nursing, as they climbed steadily along the edges of the mountain.

It was our first time seeing Bighorn Sheep and we have been so hoping for a while to get the chance to experience them, so this was a big treat.

And I love the energy of mountain-climbing Sheep and Goats, as it speaks to my Capricorn Rising and North Node, reflecting so much perfect symbolism for me that I am integrating.

We then decided upon Canyon Overlook Trail as our intro hike, which was perfect and offered some stunning vistas and rocks.

And on our way out we were so blessed to see a giant Condor perched on a post (I was driving at this time, so couldn’t snap a shot, plus couldn’t stop with cars behind us). But wow! It was so huge and amazing.

I’d seen them skirting the cliffs at the Grand Canyon before, and I saw one up close and personal on Lake Titicaca in Peru back in 2008 (a rescued Condor they were helping back into the wild that had a love for our Shaman Guide), but hadn’t seen one just perched in the wild.

Since there are roughly 70 condors living wild in Arizona and Utah, where Zion rests in the middle of this realm, it was quite a gift to see this one.

We will continue our Zion explorations today and tomorrow and look forward to what other gifts will reveal themselves along with the total stunning beauty that this amazing place has to offer all around.