#and the bridge with the shift to ‘if YOU climb a mountain’ being a parallel between him and frodo?????

[pilkypills]

The Chicks version of Landslide is such an old!Bilbo song

[ultraenhancedketoreviewslov-blog]

https://topwellnessblog.com/enhanced-keto/

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https://topwellnessblog.com/enhanced-keto/

[wanderingaunt]

Invisalign-ing Patience - The Parallels between Orthodontics & Starting a Business

"My business is going to take off when I'm done with my Invisalign."  -- Me, end of 2020

Life has an interesting way of teaching us lessons in patience.

When I was a pre-teen I entered into the world of orthodontics. I had a habit of sucking my pointer finger when I was a child, which pushed my teeth outward. At age 12, I got braces. As if being a middle schooler wasn’t awkward enough, getting braces topped it off. Luckily, I wasn’t alone in this stage of life. Many of my classmates and my sister, Lisa had braces alongside me. We at least got to make it a little more fun by changing the colors of our bands to match school colors and create an expression of our own. I had the added element of having a bridge in the roof of my mouth with a metal key that I would turn daily to expand my bite. It goes without saying, but I do not miss those days!

I was a structured kid who followed the rules out of expectation and approval. So naturally, when I got my braces off 2 years later, I made sure to wear my retainer every night. I wanted to be a “good” patient and seek praise from my doctor. For some reason though, when I got to college, I decided that my retainer wasn’t needed anymore. I had been wearing it for 5 years, so surely my teeth were in place by now…

Things shift in life when you let go of the structure holding it in place.

As you guessed, slowly over time, my teeth began to shift. From the outside, there wasn’t a noticeable difference. My teeth were slanted slightly, but it wasn’t anything to fuss about. What did cause a fuss, though, was my bite. I noticed that I was biting the inside of my cheek frequently when eating especially crunchy foods like apples and carrots. It was not enjoyable.

When I was in my late 20’s, I decided to go to the orthodontist to get a consultation about my bite. The first orthodontist I went to said that I would need to get braces again. Orthodontics has come a long way and made many advancements in the 16 years since I had had braces. Invisalign was a newer option that allowed you to move more freely through life without the constraint of monthly checkups or the pain experienced from wire braces. I was excited about this possibility. The orthodontist I visited said I was not a good candidate for Invisalign though, because of my bite. She said it would be a long journey (at least 2 years) and would cost at least $5,000 and not be an effective form of treatment. That was enough for me to say, “No Thank You” and go back on my merry way.

Money is often what stops us from taking action.

In this case, it wasn’t just the money that was stopping me. It was the thought of having to have braces for 2 years. I had plans. I was going to switch jobs, travel the world, and follow my dreams. And that couldn’t be done with braces.

Oh, how clever our minds can be to keep us safe from taking action.

I moved on and went back to living my patterned life. During that gap, my life really began to shake me up. I went through a long period of depression followed by taking inspired action and investing in myself through therapy, transformational programs, and retreats. 2017 was the year that things really began to shift. I dubbed 2017 as My Year of Action. I reached a point of exhaustion by repeating the same patterns, and not taking action towards what I said I wanted. I committed to showing up for myself consistently in ways I hadn’t done prior. It was the year I went on my first international retreat in Guatemala and realized that I was playing it safe in life. I knew after that retreat that it was time for me to quit my job of over a decade and follow my dream of traveling the world.

When I returned home from Guatemala, I raised the bar in showing up for myself inside of my Word of the Year, Action. I went to the dentist and told her that my bite was bothering me. She referred me to an orthodontist whom she highly recommended (Dr. Ortega at White Rock Orthodontics). I immediately booked a consultation. During the consultation, I learned that I was in fact a candidate for Invisalign. Dr. Ortega was confident that I could continue to live my spontaneous lifestyle as a traveler while correcting my bite. He said it would be a long journey and take at least 2 to 2 1/2 years. After all, teeth, especially molars, don’t move overnight.

My fear was screaming at me that this was too long and wouldn’t work, but my intuition knew it was time.

I thought back to my initial orthodontist consult 3-4 years prior. Had I committed to the process then, I would’ve been finished now. I didn’t want to wait another 4 years and be back in this same place with no action. So, on August 22, 2017, I committed to getting Invisalign and going down the path to fixing my bite. I had no idea that by making this commitment I’d also be opening myself up to the longest and most beautiful lesson in patience. After the initial “getting used to having attachments on my teeth”, Invisalign became a part of my lifestyle. I learned to embrace my smile and work my life around appointments. In the past, I would’ve been self-conscious about showing my smile with attachments on my teeth, but I learned that most didn’t even notice it. It became a part of me. I modeled in at least a dozen photoshoots and continued to travel all over the world while stopping back in Dallas every 4 to 5 months to get new trays.

When I hit the 2.5-year mark, I was a little disheartened to learn that my molars still needed more time to move. I received a whole new box of trays starting back to tray 1 of 24. At the rate of changing trays every two weeks, I was looking at least another year. I had made it this far, what was another year? That was a statement I never would’ve embraced prior to this journey. I used to think a month was a long time and that a year was an eternity… oh how naive I was.

It was around this time that I had also started my business and was navigating the world of being my own boss and learning to charge for my services. I thought committing to a multi-year journey with my teeth was challenging. Starting my own business, however, there was no preparing me for this ride.

It’s one thing to enter into something knowing how long it will take; it’s another to enter into something blindly believing it’s going to take off right away.

There are a lot of romantic success stories that entrepreneurs share that suck the newbies in:

I just had my first $10,000 month!

I went from broke to rich just by putting myself out there.

I have more clients than I know what to do with.

I made $50,000 doing one event.

While these are legit scenarios among many service-based entrepreneurs, it is not a common narrative. What’s missing from these stories is the work behind the scenes and more importantly, the internal work that others rarely see. So, while I celebrate business owners who reach these milestones (and wish to achieve levels like this myself), the way the stories are often shared can be a bit disheartening to those of us who are still building and refining our message and offerings.

If I was to share any wisdom with wannabe or newbie entrepreneurs, it would be to have patience. Take things one step at a time. One day at a time. Trust in the process and learn from those who have been where you want to go.

It was frustrating to hear from my orthodontist that I’d have to wear my Invisalign for another year to a year and a half. I wanted to quit and held back tears in the chair when I learned again that it would be yet another 6 months. But, I was so grateful that he was honest with me and asked me to trust in the process and trust that it would be worth it.

This journey with Invisalign has had so many parallels to running a business.

Timing is not something that’s always so easily predictable. I learned during this process to let go of linear time and trust in divine timing. There was a deep knowing that the process with Invisalign was here to teach me patience in all areas of my life. It taught me to trust in divine timing with the launch of new offerings and services within my business.

Don’t compare your timing or results to others’ journeys. I’ve had several friends get Invisalign as adults and the process only took them 6 to 9 months. When I first considered going down the path of orthodontics, I thought it would only take 9 months because that’s what I had heard from so many. But that wasn’t the case for me. My situation was completely different than theirs and would take more time. There was no sense in comparing my timing to theirs because it was unique to me just as theirs was unique to them. The same is with business. These days they say it takes 18-24 months for the average business to make a profit. While some can get there quicker, don’t discount all of the navigating, refining, and planning that takes place in the beginning phases.

Release attachment to the how and when. When I learned that the process would be longer than 2.5 years with my teeth, I learned to let go of expectations and surrender to the process. I couldn’t force my teeth to move. They had to go at their own pace, just as I’ve had to learn to go at my own pace in business. In 2020, I was set to lead my first international retreat in Spain. This was a big and exciting step for me! And then the pandemic hit. My travels, this retreat, business, and offerings were put on hold. I had to learn to pivot, try on new offerings, and release control.

Just when you think you’re done, another path appears. I attribute much of my journey to climbing a mountain. The peak can look so close to you as you’re moving towards it. But just when you think you’ve reached the top, another hill or path appears. It’s not as close as it looked. So then you’re faced with a choice, do you keep going? Or, do you turn around and call it done? I could’ve told my orthodontist that I was done when I learned I had another 12 to 18 months to go. But I knew from experience that the journey to the top is worth it. It’s worth it to keep going. The lessons learned along the way are priceless.

Consistency is key. My teeth would not have moved had I not worn my trays daily and overnight. While I didn’t always follow the recommended wear of 22 hours per day, I never went a day or night without wearing my trays. It was not easy to commit to at first, but after weeks of establishing a routine, I got used to the consistency and began to see results with each new tray and each check-up. I’ve dabbled so much in my business trying on different services and offerings. I’ve not been the best at sending regular newsletters or following what the “experts” say you’re supposed to do to run a successful business. But I have continuously shown up through the good and the hard. I learned that My Why was the foundation (or the trays like with my Invisalign) for everything that I do. And no matter what is happening in my life, as long as I’m holding to My Why, I will continue to show up and be seen.

When you learn to fully surrender and embrace the process, things begin to shift.

At the end of 2020, I learned that I had another 7 to 8 months left with my Invisalign. And I knew there was no point in fighting it. After all, I had already made it this far. So I surrendered and accepted where I was. I remember declaring to my sister, “My business is going to take off when I'm done with my Invisalign.” While I was half-joking, I had this sense that things would shift when I finally learned to let go of control, trust, and be patient.

I wanted to give up many times with my Invisalign. Just like I’ve wanted to give up many times with my business. I’ve gone through the common cycle that many entrepreneurs face of wanting to quit and find a regular job. Yet, something keeps me on this path. There’s a deep knowing within that I’m meant to keep climbing. I’ve come a long way on this journey. The pandemic showed me that I am capable of slowing down and being in one place for a time. It taught me that it’s okay to try on different avenues and embrace all of the many skills I have. It’s taught me to ask for support and open up to receiving. I’ve had to ask many friends and my sister and her husband to support me several times in the last year with money for bills and, at times, food. It has not been easy to ask, but it has been so humbling to receive.

It’s been my greatest lesson in patience. When I finally surrendered to the process, I let go of attachment to the end. At the beginning of June 2021, I went in for what I thought was a normal checkup for my Invisalign to learn that it was actually the day to have my attachments removed and be fitted for a permanent retainer.

Letting go of attachment allowed me to reach the finish line.

And guess what? My declaration has started to show evidence of the payoff from being patient. Last year, I applied for a grant with the Small Business Association (SBA) for Covid relief, and I was denied. I applied for unemployment and again, I was denied. I didn’t earn enough to be considered.

Last week, I went in for a 6-week follow-up for my permanent retainer. It was my final appointment for this leg of the journey. Everyone cheered me on and congratulated me as I walked out of the building. And at that moment, I knew. Things finally were shifting.

I reapplied several weeks ago for an EIDL Covid Relief grant through the SBA. Monday, I woke up to find a generous sum of money in my account.

While I did receive a large portion of money overnight, the work that went into being patient, trusting, and surrendering to the process did not happen overnight.

I wasn’t ready to get orthodontics when I first went in for a consultation. I was meant to go on this 4-year journey at this time in my life. And the same is with the grant money. Had I gotten the money last year when I first applied, I would’ve used it to escape rather than face my pain.

Patience is a beautiful teacher and one of the most challenging lessons we will ever learn.

Where in your life are you afraid to start out of fear of how long the process will take?

Where in your life are you wanting to speed up the process to be done rather than soak in the journey?

Where in your life are you wanting to quit because it’s gotten too hard or you simply can’t wait any longer?

Where in your life are you comparing your timing and your journey to others’ stories rather than embracing your pace?

I invite you to reflect on these questions and see what arises. And if you find yourself desiring support, reach out to me. I created a new customized program to support you with where you are now that is designed to fit how you best operate. Send me a message or schedule a curiosity call to learn more.

[thewanderingknight]

Honor & Thieves

“So, that was Drake, huh?” Jeff gestured toward the wooden doors that Nate and Chloe just walked through.

“Yep, that’s him,” Elena replied flatly. Jeff chuckled and shook his head as he sat down and adjusted the camera. Elena paced the corridor, playing with her pencil and notepad. “Hey, who do you think that woman is?” But Jeff continued fiddling with the equipment.

“Y’know, after what you told me, I thought he’d be taller,” Jeff cast his eyes up with a sly smile. She rolled her eyes.

“Don’t. Don’t start.”

“What!” His goofy smile expanded.

At least this time alone gave her a break from the awkward tension. Of course she would run into her ex in the middle of a war zone. The guy was a walking danger magnet. Of course. And Jeff…Jeff was nice, but maybe that was the problem. Maybe that’s all he was.

“What are we doing waiting around for them, anyway? We have our own story to find. Elena…” His jovial smile hardened when he realized she was rooting herself where she stood. He made for the door. She could see his eyes pleading, but she still had work to do. Truths to uncover. A war criminal to take down. “Are you serious? Elena, what is it about this guy? I thought—“

“He’s tied up with Zoran, Jeff. Honestly I’m not that surprised, but if we stick with him long enough, maybe it’ll provide a better angle on the story.”

“We have press passes, we’ve been getting along fine on our own so far.”

“Nate has a knack for getting himself into sticky situations…” She trailed off, knowing it was a weak excuse. She had just told Nate what Jeff was preaching to her now, but how could she just disappear? It’s not like Nate didn’t pull that same magic trick. It was too much of something. Seeing him here, in war-torn Nepal of all places with that woman, with Jeff, chasing after Lazarevic. It had to be something important, which she knew was a funny idea. “We’ll be safer with them, I think,” she finally stated. “Safety in numbers, right?” She paused. “Jeff I-” He started to shake his head seriously this time. “We both know Lazarevic doesn’t discriminate whoever happens to be in his path.”

“And Drake?”

“What about him?”

“Exactly! What about him!” Jeff blurted as Elena shushed him, eyeing the door to the courtyard outside. “What is it about him, anyway?” Secretly, she knew Jeff meant something selfish to her. In the littlest possible ways, he reminded her of Nate. Like light flickering through overhead leaves, small movements here and there. She knew it was wrong. But he was nice. Tall. Strong. Attentive. He stuck around.

A slam beyond the door stopped Elena before she could reply. They both ran to the door. Jeff pushed it open. “It’s raining,” he whispered. Elena’s hand moved down to her pistol. “I think I see – oh no. We should move.” They hurried through the door. He ushered Elena to the edge of the large staircase where they knelt beside a pillar.

“Hey,” she nudged him. “There’s a door over there.” She nodded to the far side of the courtyard. Elena lithely jumped down the ledge and scurried to a spot behind the large team of mercenaries starting to lurk up the staircase. “Oh shit, we gotta do something, they’re headed inside and Nate’s gonna run right into them.”

“Do what?” Jeff exasperated, as Elena shakily loaded her pistol and peaked over the top of their cover. “Oh, what about this?” He reached for an oil lantern and handed it to her.

“That’ll work,” she smiled at him, and then tossed the lantern in a clean arc where it landed near a barrel and an explosion of fire caught a few mercenaries in the maelstrom. “Shit, get down!” she pushed Jeff down and blindly fired a few rounds. Her arms felt strained from the kickback of the pistol. She reloaded, trying to steady herself as Jeff was hunched besides her covering his ears from the surge of gunfire. A blinking red grenade thudded to the ground a few feet away. There was a lurch in her stomach as Jeff sprang forward, grabbed the grenade and stood up to throw it back. The grenade had just left his fingertips when he looked like he had suddenly been pushed back. He fell to his knees and curiously checked his torso. He pulled his hand away to reveal blood on his palm.

“Oh.”

“Jeff!” Elena pulled him back under cover and flinched as the grenade exploded. Her hands shook as she tried to keep pressure on the wound. “Shit…”

“I’m…okay. Okay.”

“Jeff. Just. Just stay still…C’mon Nate, where are you?”

**********

Elena stomped down the iron staircase, almost daring the stairs beneath her to fall away. It wasn’t that she didn’t listen, he just couldn’t keep up with her when she had set her mind to help him rescue the woman who just had them both at gunpoint.

Her feet pounded the stairs and began to throb a little from all the force. She stopped, feeling like she forgot something, but she didn’t. Jeff wasn’t in her shadow anymore. She couldn’t stop, not to tremble and cry, or mourn. She pushed past it. Not now. Don’t stop now. She flew down the last flight of stairs, rushing with momentum and anger that before she could stop to assess the railyard she leaped over the railing and silently took down a patrolling mercenary.

“I will bet my next paycheck that Nate is going to find a way to mess this up.” She whispered aloud. “And now, I’m talking to myself. Perfect.” After searching the mercenary for a set of keys, she made her way to a row of 4x4s, sticking to the side of large cargo crates. She darted to the nearest one, hopped in and fussed with the keys for a moment. The ignition whined while Elena encouraged it with the accelerator. “C’mon, c’mon please.” In the distance, she heard the wicked whirr of a GAU-19 and the explosion of a grenade. “Oh, Nate! Come on! Don’t do this, come on, come on...” She turned the key again and slammed on the accelerator, and the 4x4 bolted to life. “Yes!” She exalted as she gained control and barreled toward the commotion. A few of Zoran’s men were closing in on a fallen train car. She slammed on the brakes and shouted, “Get in!”

**********

He always seemed to be just out of reach. She saw him look back just as the train was rounding the corner, heading up into the mountains. She stretched her arm up and waved at him, hoping he would see her one last time, but the train disappeared, and he was gone.

Elena sat there for a moment, hands gripping the steering wheel. The sounds of the forest began to magnify as the adrenaline faded away. Birds clattering, the distant train horn, the jarring vibrations of the idling jeep she could feel through her hands on the steering wheel.

She muttered to herself, “Okay, Nate’s got something to do, what do I do? Go after him? Ha, of course; of course I would go after him.” What else could she do? The camera…Jeff…were all but abandoned. She almost wanted to reprimand herself for helping him get on that train in the first place. Why should she help him? But she knew why. She had work to do. A few phone calls. Pack some things, and go. She pulled back on the shift gear and the car thrust into reverse and she followed the road back into the city.

*********

“Oh, man..!” Elena flung open the door of the jeep and raced to the edge of the cliff, slowly edging closer to lean over the expansive scene below. Not even the fallen snow could cover the broken skeleton of the train. The brilliant blue sky stretched over the impressive mountain range of the Himalayas. They stood confident and stoic, white with lazy scratches of gray stone throughout their bodies. Elena felt that they leaned in over her as she slid down toward the wreckage, hoping for any sign of Nate. She rubbed her hands together as she trudged through the snow. She couldn’t spend all day looking for him here, not that she was being particularly optimistic. She let out a hesitant call of his name. The wind whistled in reply through the sharp edges of the wreckage. She looked back up at the jeep parked at the edge she had just climbed down. If the train crashed here, there’s no way he could have gone forward. She decided to retrace the surrounding area for anything. A refueling village, a route to the Annapurna circuit, anything. That’s what Nate would do.

She crawled back up the ledge and leaned heavily against the jeep, letting the intake of air steady her. What was she supposed to do if she didn’t find him? Don’t cross that bridge. Her body froze for a moment. She could still feel the mountains on her back. She stood up, let out a controlled sigh and swiftly moved to the driver’s seat. “I can do this,” she announced to the jeep, and guided it back onto the road that ran parallel with the train tracks, again not knowing what to expect when it came to Nate, but refusing to rule anything out.

Before long, she spotted a stupa. The jeep turned onto the semi-hidden path marked by the tall structure, rumbling as it took Elena farther up the mountain pass. The sun was lower in the pink sky. She would have to find shelter soon, but the potential danger edged her on. She needed to find Nate, now. She took the jeep as far as the winding path would go. Colorful prayer flags whipped in the wind above her, sounding like the beating of helicopter wings. She left the jeep and hurried up the path on foot, practically racing until she reached sturdy square gates of the village. When a farmer approached her, it took her a moment to switch to Tibetan and stutter, “Um…have you seen a man? Tall, with brown hair? A foreigner?”

“Yes, the chief found him amongst the wreckage in the mountains.”

“Can you show me where?” She blurted this out all too quickly in English, and had to repeat herself again in Tibetan. The farmer pointed at Tenzin who was already waving her up the hill.

“He’s in here, come see,” Tenzin pushed the door open, revealing a cozy living space made of ramshackle furniture. Nathan lay on a cot in the corner, the slanting sun shining orange over his bloodstained shirt.

Tenzin left the room as Elena rushed to the cot. “Nate –“ she fretted over him as he lay still, first gently shaking his shoulders, then holding his face in her hands, his stubble scratching her fingertips, until she settled on gripping his hands in hers. “I hope this wasn’t ‘Plan D,” she choked out a laugh that bit back tears. But his chest lifted slightly. He was alive.

She settled back into a chair by the cot. It was so much easier for her to look at him this way. Without the danger of catching his gaze, without having to sneak glances between looking at him and Chloe. Then again, where was the fun in that? The small, selfish fun in making sure he knew that she was looking. Now, she could go over the lines on his face again and again. His face was pale, his hands loose in her own. A feeling of wooziness slithered through her body just looking at the injuries he accumulated, but she stretched out her fingers and balled them up to push past the feeling.

“Tenzin tells me he should wake within the next few days,” Shaefer stood close to the doorway. Elena jumped up, moving to stand in front of Nate. “Oh, my apologies. I didn’t mean to startle you. My name is Shaefer, Karl Shaefer,” he extended his hand.

Elena took it. “Elena Fisher,” she replied, “And, this is Nathan Drake.”

“Quite a story your friend will have when he awakes, heh?” Tenzin marched passed Schaefer and shooed Elena as he pulled back the blanket revealing the wound on Nate’s side. Elena pressed her hands to her forehead when she saw the blood, and Scheafer escorted her out of the house and up the hill, passing the business of village life. “Let me ask you something, Ms. Fisher. Do you know what this is?” He had removed a black cloth from beneath his robes, and unfolded it to reveal the Phurba dagger, ornamented with symbols and demonic faces.

“Nate had that,” She slowly confessed, “He said he was using it to help him find something called the Chintamani Stone.” Schaefer raised his eyebrows. “But Lazerevic. He took it from him. And, well, I’m not quite sure what happened. I’m just glad I found him. He’s lucky to have ended up here.”

“He’s lucky in more ways than one, I assure you, Ms. Fisher.” Schaefer led her up the stairs of the last house in the village. “Tell me something, are you a student of history?”

---

That night Elena stood at the edge of the village, overlooking the mass darkness that covered the world. Not knowing what was out there, with a blanket of stars above, she felt very small. Everything seemed so far away. A wind picked up the wisps of her hair. Her breath billowed in the cold air. Then, something occurred to her. She picked up a lantern, a lone, orange light that solemnly moved through the village and carefully made her way to the jeep that remained sitting on the trail. She searched in the back and grabbed the emergency bag. Once she had made her way back to Schaefer's house, she dug around until she pulled out a dull yellow satellite phone. Her fingers hovered over the keys for a moment, trying to remember the number. She let out a sigh and let the phone ring. “Hey, Sully. Yeah, I’m glad I called, too. You’re not going to believe what he’s done this time.”

---

In the morning, Tenzin shooed Elena away so he could redress Nate’s bandages. Elena wandered around the village, too restless to sit and wait. A yak huffed to her side, and she stopped when she saw a little girl awkwardly and hesitantly trying to reach for its face. She walked over and kneeled next to her. “Hey, what’s the matter?” The little girl pointed at a doll that was lying between the yak’s front hooves, explaining that he yanked it out of her hand while she was giving him his hay. Elena reached forward and patted the ox’s broad forehead, feeling his warm, wiry hair and quickly grabbed the doll. She handed it back to the girl who hugged it to her chest.

“I’m Pema.”

“Elena.”

“How did you get here? Who is that man, do you know him? He’s funny, isn’t he?” Pema began to ramble with questions and took Elena by the hand and led her into the house.

Elena sat and talked with Pema, all the while keeping the thought of Nate finally waking in the back of her mind. So when he finally strolled into the house, it caught her by total surprise. It was one of those moment where, it wasn’t that she hadn’t thought it through. She just kept thinking of that moment in only one way, so she was off guard when it happened in a way she didn’t expect. She was prepared, but not like this. She was not prepared to hurl herself into the distance between them and wrap her arms around him

[frangipanidownunder]

The Path to Enlightenment pt 2

This is a casefile set just before Biogenesis in season six. Thank you to @teethnbone for throwing me scraps to use as inspiration for this story. Read Part One.

Part Two

She ran through the autopsy like she was performing it for students. At best, it was a perfunctory examination, by the book. This victim was a dead body, a cadaver. She couldn’t assign him a soul or a life or a vivacity that she might once have done. Not so long ago, she would have found his life in his death. She was good at that. But today her head throbbed, her vision faded in and out and frankly, she just wanted to crawl into bed and sleep until Mulder had it all sorted. He wanted to believe. She just wanted to let him.             Her phone rang. “What have you found, Scully?”             “David Maddox died of cardiac arrest brought on by severe hypothermia, Mulder.”             “At the height of summer?”             “In an underground cave system, in the Appalachians, Mulder. His body shows all the signs, constricted blood vessels, blackened fingers and toes, organ failure. He froze to death. It explains the skin discolouration.”             She could hear noises the television in the background. He was already back at the motel.   “And the eyes, Scully?”             “In severe hypothermia, the pupils often become unresponsive. I didn’t find your ciladaids, Mulder.”             She signed the paperwork the medical examiner had completed. She noticed the tremble in her hand as she held the pen. She needed something to eat. She didn’t need Mulder debating the results of the autopsy. “What did the partner say?”             “I’ll tell you when I see you. Can you get a cab back here?” She stripped off her scrubs and cleaned up. Greyness clouded her periphery. She massaged her temples and swallowed a glass of water that wasn’t cold enough to quench her raging thirst.   Mulder was spreadeagled on his bed surrounded by pamphlets, papers and other paraphernalia. A year ago she would have flopped down next to him. A year ago he would have patted the bed and waggled his eyebrows. That year stretched out behind her like the rock wall at Fort Mountain.             “Gil Tripodi and David Maddox were experienced cavers. They travelled the world exploring cave networks on every continent. Recently, David had seemed distant. Gil said this trip was a last ditch effort to work through his issues. This range had been their first cave exploration holiday together ten years ago. This trip was supposed to be a nostalgic walk down memory lane.”             She pulled out the desk chair and sat before she collapsed. “I’m waiting for the medical history for Maddox to see if there were existing conditions, but I don’t see an X-File here, Mulder.”             “A fit, relatively young man dies of hypothermia on a summer day, in a matter of minutes. His skin was grey and his eyes were white. But you don’t see anything odd in that?” He punched the pillow against the bed head and sat back. If he’d needled her with a mocking tone, if he’d yelled at her, if he’d thrown his hands up in frustration, she would have cared more. But he was neutral, calm. And that just made her mad.His phone rang.             “If that’s Diana, say hello. I’ll see you in the morning, Mulder. I’m exhausted.”  Even the shower didn’t stop the shivering. She found some extra blankets and cocooned herself in the bed. She could hear Mulder through the wall. Murmuring, pacing, switching channels. Over the years, she’d learned to use his nocturnal hyperactivity as a sleep aid. Perversely, his inability to rest relaxed her. But now, she was ultra aware of his movements, almost as though they were connected physically. Every step, every sigh, every touch of that remote control jolted through her. At 1.30am she gave up.             He was hunched over the small desk pushed against the opposite wall. The room was illuminated only by his laptop. She padded over to him, clasping her hot tea in her hands.              “Are you okay, Scully?”             “I couldn’t sleep. Headache.”             He stopped flicking through the case notes and looked up at her.              “I’m fine, Mulder. I just have a headache. It’s hot here. I think I got a little dehydrated at the morgue. Did you find anything new?”             “David Maddox was the third sudden death in this cave system in five years.”             She sat on the bed and sipped her tea. “You’d be surprised by the number of fatalities in caves, Mulder.”             He rubbed a hand through his hair and let it drop to the desk with a thud. “I’ve done my research too, Scully. But the circumstances of these deaths in particular bear a strong resemblance to what happened to David Maddox. The victims were otherwise healthy. They died suddenly, cardiac arrest. Their skin was pale and their eyes were white.”              He stood up from the desk chair, exhaling dramatically. He sat next to her, the bed moving under his weight. She slipped closer to him, feeling the press of his thigh against hers. She ducked her head to her chest, squeezed her eyes shut against the insistency of the pain in her temples as well as the feeling of familiarity of being close to her partner. His smell, his essence.             “These cases revealed other parallels to the Maddox death.”           “Such as?” She felt the bed shift again. “For a start all the survivors claimed there was a small man in the caves, calling to them. And,” he reached for a file from the bedside drawer, took out a pile of statements and read from highlighted passages. “Gerry told me he was selling the business and then he went further into the cave and I lost track of him…Mum just couldn’t understand that I wanted to go overseas. We argued about it again and I stormed off. I heard her cry out. When I got to her she was cold and her skin was white. Her eyes were glassy.”             “So you’re saying that these people were at a point in their lives where a significant relationship was being tested.” She rubbed the bridge of her nose.             He nodded. “Just as the legend says. And all the autopsies showed that the victims had symptoms of hypothermia.”           “You seriously want me to believe that micro-creatures in the rock sediments burrowed their way into the victims’ eyes and led them to their deaths; that these ciladaids of yours somehow manipulate the destinies of people and cause them to freeze to death rather than face some aspect of their lives that may upset their equilibrium with a significant other?”           He flopped backward on the bed. The tea in her cup swilled side to side. “Why do you keep saying ‘my ciladaids’, Scully? I didn’t make this up. There are dozens of books that relate the stories of the Moon-Eyes and the spirit beings. Cultures around the world have long relayed stories that connect the supernatural with the human, that reflect the importance of the earth, rocks, caves, forests, water sources in human lives. That speak of Gods or Higher Beings controlling destinies. Why is this version so hard for you to hear?” “But they’re just that, Mulder. Stories. Legends. Mythology.”             He rolled on to his side and looked up at her. “I want to go back to the caves. To go in further. I want to retrace Maddox and Tripodi’s steps.”             “Have you considered that the fact their relationship was in trouble could be motive for Tripodi to kill his partner? That all these other cases may well have been crimes too?”             “Are you saying that Gil Tripodi is Mr Freeze, Scully? Cos if you are that’s kind of cool.” He sat up, smiling at her. “But he was devastated. He didn’t kill Maddox. He is grieving the love of his life.” His phone buzzed. She heard him suck in his breath. “Sorry Scully, I need to get this.” She climbed into her own bed, the cool of the sheets lancing through her skin and leaving her shivering.

[fatrat66]

Heiko’s Trail – Three Sisters and Island Lake

A few days ago, I embarked on a 2-day hike across the Fernie wilds behind the most iconic mountains in the area, the Three Sisters. They are my favourite set of mountains, the ones I never fail to glance up at at least 5 times per day, every day since the day I got here. I’ve been trying to take any opportunity to hike up to them throughout the summer. Third time lucky, I suppose, because today was the third attempt after several unlucky weather incidents and smoky fire hazards. Finally, I managed to traverse Heiko’s Trail.

I was joined by Katie and Ian, my two housemates, and Maggie, a friend-of-a-friend girl from Sweden. After I had finished my baking shift at Big Bang, we shuttled Ian’s car from Fernie up to Island Lake Lodge, where we would finish our hike. Then Katie’s friend Amanda came with us in Katie’s car some 20km across town, down a long and windy dirt road on the other side of the mountain range and dropped us off at the trailhead. After a bit of shenanigans trying to get the car started again, she drove away and left us to begin our epic hike.

The first day was a picturesque trek through forested slopes, dodging large puddles, scaling some rickety ladders and crossing the odd man-made wooden bridge. Less than an hour in, we came to the first landmark, a cascading waterfall called the Jumping Waters. The trail grew somewhat steeper here as we climbed up towards the second major landmark, some little cave that was supposed to be quite nice.

That little cave turned out to be not so little… Bisaro Cave opens up like a giant maw and begs to be explored. I couldn’t believe the size of it as I rounded the corner of the trail and came face to face with such a gaping hole in the side of the mountain. We wandered in and had a little nose about, but it’s a sanctuary for bats and is dangerous to go much further than the initial chamber without proper climbing and caving equipment, which we certainly didn’t have. So, after a quick bite of food and some rock scrambling, we continued up the trail, hoping to avoid the impending rain.

The terrain opened up after a while, and by about the third hour, we found ourselves hiking parallel to the opposite vertical cliff that encompassed Bisaro Canyon. I love the texture on the rocks, and in the moody lighting of looming rainclouds, it really stood out. These photos can’t do it justice, but I remember feeling like an ant crawling through, well, a canyon.

Then the rain came. We had just left a quaint corridor of trees called the Shady Lane when the rainclouds finally burst. It wasn’t a heavy shower, like the sort you really regret being caught out in, but it was enough to turn the hike into a bit of a slog for the final hour of our first day. Conversation wilted a bit, and we trudged out of the thicker forested area into a sprawling meadow that lies somewhere behind the Three Sisters peaks. The rain stopped before we made it to the first of three campsites in the meadow. But it had done its job of making every usable piece of firewood soggy.

It took us over an hour to get a fire going. I admit, I gave up and lost all hope of eating my warm noodle soup that I had brought along, and my spirits took a temporary nosedive. But fortunately, we had Ian and Katie with us. They’ve both worked in wilderness camps and done this sort of thing dozens of times, and neither of them gave up. Ian ultimately got the fire going and before I knew it, the sun was setting and the four of us were sitting around a roaring blaze, grinning from ear to ear, satisfied and eager to be in such a place.

We turned in early and slept in our tents right there beside the trail. I didn’t get much sleep, because my sleeping bag is not made for these chilly autumn nights, but fortunately I didn’t have to endure it for long because when my alarm went off at 4am, and there was a huge almost-full full beaming in through the canvas, it was time to get up. We had a mind to summit the Three Sisters in time to see the sunrise. We set out wearing headlamps and continued for about 45 minutes to the turn-off point where the summit hike begins. There was no point carrying our great big backpacks up to the top of the mountain, so we left them on the trail and began the climb.

If I had to choose a word to describe this section of our hike, it would be “gnarly”. Loose rocks, slippery snow patches and sheer drops were the order of the morning. Oh, and it was still dark. After 2 hours of grueling uphill climbing, we made it to the ridge that connects one of the Sisters. I spent many steps trying to figure out which one it was, but having never seen them from this angle before, I honestly couldn’t tell. We lost the trail eventually, and reached a point that was so steep and so covered in snow that it became pretty dangerous to attempt to go any further. So, we begrudgingly turned back. I tried to scale a steep snowy slope in an effort to get back to the trail, but after 5 steps realised that I was about half a boot away from taking a slide to my death when I… took a slide. I slid down on my arse towards a god-knows-how-many-degrees slope that would definitely have resulted in an end to my travelling lifestyle and caught my heels on the edge just before plunging over.

Bit of a heart attack moment, to say the least. After that, I didn’t regret turning back. We didn’t see much of a sunrise, but it was still an awesome little side adventure nonetheless. The views as we returned back down the summit climb really opened up now that the light was seeping in, and we could see the entire canyon that we had scaled the night before as well as the yawning forested valley we were about to explore.

The sun came out and the hike through that valley was one of the most rewarding parts of the entire hike. I remember passing through gorgeous yellow avenues of trees, their leaves in the midst of their Autumn transformation, listening to the sounds of the wind, birds, the silence…

This second day took about 7 hours in total. At one point, we scaled a ridge that connected one valley to another, and I looked back to take what is probably my favourite photo of the hike. Katie’s face says it all, really.

The final stretch saw us wind our way down from the top of the ridge into the Island Lake side of the hike, through thick wild forest, dodging bear poo on the trail, admiring the vast view, surrounded on all sides by green mountains.

Heiko’s Trail ends with a rather grueling hour of downhill knee-destroying walking. By the time we reached the Rock Garden, we were all ready to see the sanctuary of Island Lake Lodge. I actually started hallucinating the huts a kilometer before we had made it there. I think my stomach was telling me I was ready to eat one of their infamous burgers. I’d been telling Ian about it pretty much since the start of the hike. It was soooo worth it.

And that was it. My phone tracker says we had trekked 27km, and it had taken us just a little over 12 hours in total, spread across 2 days. This was definitely the best hiking adventure I’ve had in Fernie and would recommend it to anyone who has the time and energy to do it. What a wicked little adventure.

[kampa77-blog]

It was mid morning when the tour bus pulled into the Carlsbad Caverns visitor centre carpark.  The sun beamed down, and the opportunity to spend a few hours underground out of the heat sounded so appealing, the anticipation was almost unbearable.  But first the usual business of the attractions rules, guidelines and safety procedures took precedent.   This is Carlsbad Caverns.

The rundown by the guide, a very well informed guy in his mid twenties only lasted as long as  my fascination of the uniform he wore, coupled with the ponytail protruding from the back of his wide brimmed rangers hat, that reminded me of something out of the “Yogi Bear” cartoons.   Before I know what had happened the group were marched through a side door and out onto a paved trail that looked like it headed out into nowhere.  The guide mentioned something about ground stability but all I could think about was getting out of the sun.  Thats when i saw it.

All of a sudden my concerns of the heat and sun disappeared and a sinking feeling in the bottom of my stomach took over.  Its the kind of feeling you get when standing at the top of the “Sky Tower” in Auckland, when you step onto the 2 inch thick glass and see straight through the floor.  Your toes curl a little and you can’t dare let go of the hand rail.  The feeling lasted all of 3 seconds before the excitement of exploration took over.  Unfortunately this feeling wasn’t shared by all and a couple of my group hightailed it back to the safety of the visitors centre.

The path wrapped back onto itself for what seemed like half an hour as we climbed down into centre earth.  What appeared to be just a small opening turned out to be big enough to be able to fly a jetliner through it.  What opened up in front of me made my mouth fall open.  Wow. !!!

  My blogs wouldn’t complete without a little history about where I’ve been and what I’ve experienced.  A few years ago, after the inland sea which covered most of New Mexico receded, and a couple of tectonic plate shifts causing the limestone mountains of Carlsbad to be lifted,  the seeping water through the limestone caused little openings to open up on the ground, which got bigger and bigger until an explorer squeezed him/herself through an opening into what I’ve experienced in this article.  (I know its a bit basic, but you all get the drift).

Actually a boy named Jim White, explored the cavern on his home made wire ladder, naming the various caverns below.  You can read about it in the book I’m Not Stiller by author Max Frisch.

The cave path leads into whats known as (The Big Room), a  chamber almost 4,000 feet (1,220 m) long, 625 feet (191 m) wide, and 255 feet (78 m) high at the highest point. It is the fifth largest chamber in North America and the twenty-eighth largest in the world. I’ve truely seen nothing like.  Waitomo Caves on the North Island of New Zealand, have some massive caverns but I’ve never seen anything like this there.

Stalactites  (roof downwards) and stalagmites (ground upwards) columns protrude everywhere and amazing displays of razor sharp limestone formations are everywhere.

The caves names and brief descriptions are below:

Balloon Ballroom Located in the ceiling above the main entrance hall, this small room was first accessed by tying a rope to a bunch of balloons and floating them up into the passage. Bat Cave A large, unadorned rocky passage connected to the main entrance corridor. The majority of the cave’s bat population lives in this portion of the cave, which was mined for bat guano (bat poo) in the early 20th century. Bell Cord Room Named for a long, narrow stalactite coming through a hole in the ceiling, resembling the rope coming through the roof of a belfry. This room is located at the end of the Left Hand Tunnel. Bifrost Room Discovered in 1982, it is located in the ceiling above Lake of the Clouds. Its name refers to a Norse myth about a world in the sky that was accessed from Earth by a rainbow (the “Bifrost Bridge”). The room was given this name because of its location above the Lake of the Clouds and its colorful oxide-stained formations. Big Room or The Hall of the Giants The largest chamber in Carlsbad Caverns, with a floor space of 357,469 square feet (33,210 m2). Chocolate High A maze of small passages totalling nearly a mile (1500 m) in combined length, discovered in 1993 above a mud-filled pit in the New Mexico Room known as Chocolate Drop. Green Lake Room The uppermost of the “Scenic Rooms”, it is named for a deep, malachite-colored pool in the corner of the room. In the 1940s, when the military was testing the feasibility of Carlsbad Cavern as an emergency fallout shelter, the Green Lake was used to look for ripples caused by a nuclear bomb test many miles away. None appeared. Guadalupe Room Discovered by a park ranger in 1966, this is the second largest room in Carlsbad Caverns. It is known for its dense collection of “soda straw” stalactites. Hall of the White Giant A large chamber containing a large, white stalagmite. Rangers regularly lead special wild-cave tours to this room. Halloween Hall A room roughly 30 feet in length located above the Spirit World. Named for its discovery on October 31, 2013. King’s Palace The first of four chambers in a wing known as the “scenic rooms”, it is named for a large castle-like formation in the center of the room. Lake of the Clouds The lowest known point in the cave. It is located in a side passage off the Left Hand Tunnel. It is named for its large lake containing globular, cloud-like rock formations that formed under water when the lake level was much higher. Left Hand Tunnel A long, straight passage marked by deep fissures in the floor. These fissures are not known to lead anywhere. The Left Hand Tunnel leads to the Lake of the Clouds and the Bell Cord Room. Mabel’s Room A moderate-sized room located past the Talcum Passage in Lower Cave. Mystery Room A large, sloping room located off the Queen’s Chamber, named for an unexplained noise heard only here. A small vertical passage at the far end connects it to Lower Cave. New Mexico Room Located adjacent to the Green Lake Room and accessed by means of a somewhat narrow corridor. New Section A section of fissures east of the White Giant formation and paralleling the Bat Cave. New discoveries are still being made in this section. Papoose Room Located between the King’s Palace and Queen’s Chamber. Queen’s Chamber Widely regarded as the most beautiful and scenic area of the cave. Jim White’s lantern went out in this chamber while he was exploring, and he was in the dark for over half an hour. Spirit World Located in the ceiling of the Big Room at its highest point (an area known as the Top of the Cross), this area is filled with white stalagmites that resembled angels to the room’s discoverers. Talcum Passage A room located in Lower Cave where the floor is coated with gypsum dust. The Rookery One of the larger rooms in Lower Cave. A large number of cave pearls are found in this area. Underground Lunchroom Located in the Big Room at the head of the Left Hand Tunnel. It contains a cafeteria that was built in the 1950s, and is where the elevators from the visitor center exit into the cave.

The atmosphere in the caves is cool and damp, and although it was suggested we bring a jacket or something warm, the length of the trail, and the sometimes steep inclines/declines mean a little exertion is required keeping you warm.

Cameras with flashes are allowed spots long as the flash is switched off.  This keeps artificial light to a minimum meaning the caves and their wildlife will survive for generations to come.

Its also wise to check the Carlsbad Caverns webpage to check for opening hours, tour times, or just to see if routine maintenance on the elevators have closed them or not.

  Right up until 1932, the parks visitors to the cavern had to walk down a switchback ramp that took them 750 feet (230 m) below the surface. Imagine having to walk back up !! Thankfully in 1932 the national park opened up a large visitor center building that contained two elevators that prevents visitors having to walk back up the winding paths leading to the lower rooms.

750 feet below the surface at Carlsbad there’s a souvenir shop, cafe, toilets and the appreciated access to the lifts

  Another attraction thats a must see while at Carlsbad Caverns is the “Bat Flight Program”, between May – October.  The caves are home to 17 species of bat. Every evening from Memorial Day weekend to mid October (with possible exceptions for bad weather), a ranger gives a talk on the bats while you sit in the amphitheater  watching the bats emerge and spiral up towards the setting sun.  Its an amazing thing to see.  This demonstration is free.

The town of Carlsbad, which lends its  name to the cavern and national park, is named after the Czech town formerly known by the German name Karlsbad (English for Carlsbad)

After exploring the Caverns, we arrived at our stop for the night, the Carlsbad RV Park, in New Mexico.  The weather warm (hot for my standards) so i opted for sleeping out under the starts.  I placed my tarp down, flooded by the self inflating mattress and sleeping bag.  Everyone else opted for tents, but last thing I wanted to do was sleep in a hothouse.

The RV park was quaint, the staff friendly and the swimming pool welcoming after the long day.  The amenities were clean as was the games/tv room and laundry.  This was however an RV park, so no-one expected 5 star facilities.

The group decided on eggs for dinner.

One thing I didn’t pay to much attention to were the thousands of small holes all over the ground.  I did see several prairie dogs or gopher type animals in the distant and put the holes down to their burrowing.  No one ever mentioned spiders, and in particular tarantulas

So when I woke the next morning to what was a great night sleep, feeling relaxed, never did I think that I’d been massages throughout the night by the hair legs of thousands of slides that according to the RV park staff, come out of the holes in search of food throughout the night.

Here’s one of the many spiders I found under my sleeping bag.  I placed my sunglasses next to the dead body for perspective.  Lovely !!!!

So this was my Carlsbad experience.  I saw a massive cave network, Bats, and had spiders crawl all over me.  Its an experience I’ll never forget.  Thankfully I have memory of the spiders except for what was under my bedding.

  Carlsbad Caverns – Tarantulas under my sleeping bag !!! It was mid morning when the tour bus pulled into the Carlsbad Caverns visitor centre carpark.  The sun beamed down, and the opportunity to spend a few hours underground out of the heat sounded so appealing, the anticipation was almost unbearable.