mig

favorite photos of myself from iceland.

can i go back there now?

after 2 full days of grey and overcast skies, the sun finally came out around 6pm on the 3rd day.

everyone was ready to pack it in after a full day of laps, but the

sun rejuvenated all of us, and we skied for another few hours. this was one of the

best moments of my life (also, this photo is not posed). plus i loved those la sportiva skis.

this is the picture that makes me feel like an absolute badass. i'm the one a little bit in the

front farthest away from the camera. on the last full day of touring we had to wade through

the mouth of the river a few times to get to where the zodiac could pick us up. so cool.

i'm the second one coming up the mountain. this was taken on the day

when we skied up from one fjord all the way down to the water in another

fjord. there are very few places in this world where you can ski right

down to the water, so this was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

apparently everyone thought this look was hilarious, but it kept me warm, so i didn't care!

heading out of camp on the first day. absolutely loved those

scarpa gea boots that i tested the whole time. the bright green color didn't hurt. :)

this was my get-up for the 5 days in the backcountry. the westcomb jacket and native sunglasses

pretty much never left my body the whole winter and spring in boulder and iceland.

yes, laura, i did semi-retire my old white sunglasses, but i replaced them with this pair,

which you'll notice are still pretty white and pretty large.

camping.

nature really does heal all wounds. i was feeling down and out and lonely and sad at the end of last week as evidenced by my blog post....

then i went camping in some of my favorite mountains in colorado with two of my friends and my lizzie dog. we camped and ate good food and hiked and bonded. it was great. i came out a happier and healthier person. i need to remember the outdoors as my fix and my savior in situations where i can't get out of my own head.

words can't do it justice, so here are some photos instead (all taken with my new iphone!):

my partners in crime:

lily having way too much fun pumping water.

dave looking like a rock star.

lizzles looking skittish and nervous (as always). she managed to butt-down run back and forth on the snow and had the time of her life the whole hike. she's definitely a snow dog.

pumping water. i remember being so happy at this moment. a nice rushing creek, sun on my back, long hike done, two good friends, fresh cold water, a warm hearty meal we would soon cook, and cold beers we would soon drink. a moment to end all moments. i remember thinking to myself, you need to store this moment in your brain and remember it whenever you're not happy. this will make you happy. it's worked so far.

nice sunset on a random mountain on the drive in.

mt. princeton

the creek where we filtered, surrounded by a green meadow.

lizzie and i on the ride back. we were both tuckered.

sunset over a lake on the drive down friday night.

crutches

as i've gone out into the world on my own, i've left the comforts of my childhood home behind. of course i'm mainly talking about cable television. the last time i had cable was in the dorms in college when it came with the place. i never really watched it then; my roommate had a tiny tv that was pretty far away from my lofted bed, and i'm pretty sure she usually had the remote. that meant if she fell asleep, i would have to get out of my cozy bed and turn it off. not happening. (speaking of the lofted beds reminds me of a cute little story that involves my drinking too much and jewel being incredibly not happy with me for a few days, but that's best left for another time—or never.)

anyway, i haven't had tv for a few years, and it has made my life better and more involved and honestly richer. but then there's the time suck of the internet, especially now that hulu and netflix are in existence. it makes tv so accessible, that it's hard to turn it off. especially when you can watch exactly what you want, when you want it. i'm not saying that i overdo it at all—i probably have a pretty respectable track record relative to most other people—buuuut there are times when i come home tired from working long hours and just wanna plop down and turn my brain off by turning hulu on. a few days ago, i made the conscientious decision to cut down on my hulu/netflix/overall internet time. i made the same decision with facebook about a month ago, and i can already tell a difference in my brain function. spring and summer are here, and i want to do more. i want to sew, paint, draw, read, take pictures, write, sculpt (yay summer pottery class!), create, hike, run, play with lizzles, and have more adventures.

also, i want to be a more fun person.

it might seem like hypocrisy as you read this on a blog... that's on the internet. but i see this as a form of creative expression, and i'm actually doing something instead of just absorbing or viewing. i'm the creator and the protagonist.

i'll leave you with a picture of mine and a picture of a drawing of mine (nothing special, there was just nice light so i took a picture) as a reward for reading through this whole post.

i'm baaaaack!

back in the 'rado as of yesterday. exhausted and sort of jet lagged, but so unbelievably psyched about my iceland adventure. i'm working on sorting my 1400+ pictures now, so hopefully i'll get a few solid posts together over the next few days. for now, here's a little teaser.

skinning up in an unbelievable setting.

kelly being an absolute badass fording the fjord with skis on her back.

we did this a few times, and it was totally surreal.

a close-up of some of the skis we tested. my favorites were the sportivas with the yellow bindings.

also feeling really positive and hopeful about life and my future and the plans i've been making about career possibilities, writing, and travel. i was correct in thinking that iceland would only fuel my fire to travel more, but some surprising happiness and contentment has been coming from my job, and i've been realizing more and more how amazing this opportunity (my job) really is. a "work trip" that involves backcountry camping and skiing in iceland doesn't hurt! so i feel completely satisfied and happy by staying and gaining more experience. this summer is gonna rock.

my bags are packed; i'm ready to go...

this is the final scene of packing chaos before i leave for my trip to iceland tomorrow. it includes but isn't limited to: one packed-to-the-gills 155L duffel, one 35L day pack, ski boots, poles, skis, one box with 4 shovels, 4 beacons, 4 probes, and one box with helmet cam and all its accessories. it's been crazy the last few weeks organizing all this gear, which is all completely new. it's all new because the point of the trip is gear testing for backpacker's fall gear guide. just another day's work as the gear person for an outdoor adventure magazine! :)

lily came over and helped me pack (thanks again lily bee! and mark too!) because i tend to be ocd about making sure i'm not forgetting anything. and on a trip like this when every single piece counts, i'm super nervous about forgetting something. it could be the difference between happy and warm julie or cold and miserable julie. and there's a big difference. she and lizzie fell asleep while i was rechecking the list for the umpteenth time.

i'm incredibly excited about this trip. ski touring in the wilds of iceland and hanging in reykjavik will be amazing. i think it's going to just fuel my fire to travel even more. which is a good thing because i've needed to start adventuring, but with a full-time job it's nearly impossible. either way, i'm ready to go and shred those hills.

this is what i live for.