Jed came into my life via an e-mail from my friend Siebert. This photo was taken from Siebert's trip to Alaska with our friend (Siebert's girlfriend), Ryanne and her brother, Jed. All I knew at that point is that Ryanne's brother was beyond good-looking! Below was the image I received the summer of 2006.
I believe in love at first sight. Go figure. Who would have thought that just seeing one photo of Jed would convince me that we were supposed to be a couple? Well, it did. That fall, I met Jed in person at one of my favorite bars in Flagstaff, Brews and Cues. Long, long, long story short, that night I was invited on a brother/sister Grand Canyon backpacking trip with Jed and Ryanne. My time in the Canyon was cut short due to Thanksgiving dinner back in Durango. I can't tell you how devastated I was to hike out. I kept looking over the canyon walls trying to make out the tiniest of figures and pretend that I could see Jed.
Again, short version of the story... Well, not so long later, Siebert proposed to Ryanne. Oh my goodness!!! I had my move. I called Jed the day after I heard the news, "Jed, would you like to be my date to your sister's wedding?"
Wink, wink.
It worked, and not only did it work, but it worked better than any girl could dream. Two months before the wedding Jed contacted me to see if I would like to extend our date a week longer and head into the Weeminuche Wilderness? We would backpack from Vallecito Reservoir to Silverton. WHOOOOOPPPPPPPIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The photo below was taken at a small lake at the base of Sunlight Peak just minutes before our first kiss. We are still keeping our distance at this point.
Oh, ya, I invited three of my guy friends with me, Scott, Bob, and Dave. You know, for support.
Just Jed and I climbed to the false summit that we are pointing to.... and kissed again. Of course we didn't tell the other guys about our secret love affair, but I think you can tell by my cheesy grin.
Luckily, the Weeminuche was just the beginning. Halloween of 2007 I was invited back to the Grand Canyon with Jed, Ryanne, Siebert and their Papa Kent!
Our first date all by ourselves happened in February of 2007 in the Gila Wilderness in western New Mexico. It was as far south as we could push ourselves, yet still entirely too frigid. I just keep falling more and more in love (but haven't said it at this point)!
Jed has an amazing group of friends that he has maintained throughout his youth. Eight of us headed to the mountains just outside of Keystone that next summer. We swam in a half frozen lake one day and climbed Mt. Torreys the next. I have never been that close to lightning before that day. You can see the storm behind us in the second picture. Minutes after Jed took the photo the ground buzzed and my hair crawled out from under my rain jacket hood. We literally ran off the mountain. And survived. Freaky!!!! And far from recommended.
Later that summer Jed, Ryanne, Siebert and I headed into Lizard Head Wilderness. We did a quick four day trip into Navajo Basin. Kyla and I photographed a wedding in Ouray the day after we hiked out. Luckily she had a hotel room for me to shower and sleep in that night. And even more lucky for me, Kyla dropped me off in Yankee Boy Basin after the wedding to meet up with Jed and the crew for one more evening.
Last fall Jed called and wanted to come down to Durango to climb Engineer Mountain and camp somewhere in the woods. The trip started out that way, but by the time we summited Engineer we were in a full blown blizzard. We took a couple shots and got the hell out of there. After a little more driving than expected, we found ourselves in Canyon of the Ancients. Blue skies and views of the mountains from the desert seemed like a much better plan.
Our most recent Grand Canyon trip turned out to be mostly off trail. We spent Thanksgiving 2008 in Nankoweap Canyon. That night in the tent my favorite words that I have ever heard "Wes, I'm madly in love with you." We hiked out the next day on the Nankoweap trail (and it only took us 10 hours). Absolutely unreal!!!
Our friends Scott and Bob had a friend of theirs on a river trip stash some cervezas for them on the Horse Thief Route. Scott and Bob were unable to pull off their backpack trip, so they gave us the treasure map and sure enough, we found it!!!!
In January last year Jed and I joined his extended family (aunt, uncle and cousins) on a trip to Puerto Vallarta. We signed up for the zip line adventure! Hillarious! It is really, really, really amazing flying through trees like that. Afterward we stopped at the exotic animal arena. There were spotted monkeys and snakes and crazy looking spiders. One of the workers wrapped this guy around our necks and made me open my mouth to put the snakes head inside. Gross!!!! GROSS GROSS GROSS!
I moved in with Jed right after our trip to Mexico. Not long after that, Ryanne and Siebert headed to Denver to pick us up to go to Steamboat. Both Ryanne and Siebert work for the Grand Canyon guide service Four Season Guides. One of Ryanne's clients has a condo is Steamboat that we were able to rent for a very generous price. Snowboarding is one of Jed's favorite activities and this was our first experience together. He's crazy. And I'm conservative. We had a blast!
Snowshoeboardpacking. Enough said.
I admit, I am not the best at the giving of gifts on one's birthday. But I did pretty damn well this past year. Jed turned 32 in March. We cashed in on his gift in May. These were our costumes for jumping out of an airplane! Whooooaaooaoooaooao, what a rush!
We are the proud foster parents of the most amazing dog on the planet. We picked him up from Durango this summer and took him straight into the mountains. These photos were taken just off the Great Divide trail that starts from the top of Wolf Creek Pass.
Kyla and Steve brought us back Green Stone from New Zealand last year. It is tradition to bless the stone in water with specific intentions. This little lake provided the ideal body of water for the task. Our ceremony was private and perfect in every way.
One of our favorite pass times. This is our first bike trip in Fruita, CO. There will be many more adventures in that area!
I guess I am getting better at gift giving. Kyla and Steve both had their birthday in March as well. I made up some mock concert tickets and told them they could choose whoever they wanted to see as long as they agreed on the same thing and Jed and I could join them. Turns out I picked out the show anyway. The Black Crowes came to the Filmore on Friday, November 13! Those boys ROCK!
Christmas 2009 turned out to be my favorite yet!!! Ryanne and Siebert came to Durango from Flagstaff. We all slept at Kyla and Steve's house. It made me so unbelievably happy to have Jed's family and my family together. I've had dreams of our sisters and brother-in-laws all hanging out together. And then to have us all on cross country skis in gorgeous southwest Colorado..... mmmmmm.
Dear Jed,I love you.
