Backpackpacking Cascade Canyon in the Tetons

On a day hike up Cascade Canyon four years ago, we started thinking in the late afternoon about how it would be to not have to turn around and go back--to stay and camp in Cascade’s North Fork. The good luck of not too much smoke, a sunny forecast, and snagging a last-minute Park Service camping permit for exactly that North Fork camping zone lured us into the backcountry. 

 

We should have trained for carrying 35-pound packs up 7 ½ miles and 1,500 feet of elevation, but, really, though hard, it was beautiful--a sandy flat place with a view to stake out the tent, a distant flash of a black bear in the still-green willows across the creek, a dusky gold glow on the old granite of Mount Owen and the Grand, and the Milky Way flowing above the canyon ridge-to-ridge at night. 

And it was also beautiful to return to Gros Ventre Campgound afterward. A few days without them make tables, benches, sinks, water that doesn’t need to be filtered, and toilets seem more lovely than they were before, but, then, a few days feeling the camaraderie of the trail--almost everyone smiles--makes the unsmiling distance between people in Jackson stand out, and Jackson was still very crowded in the week after Labor Day. Another thing we found: we can still do this--barely.

Moose near the Gros Ventre Campground

Edinburrowing

Wondering Which of Bibi's Bakery's Cupcakes to Buy

Edinburrians? Edinburrowers? We're not sure what to call the people of Edinburgh. Given that they pronounce the city's name Edinbuhruh or Edinbruh, Edinburghers can't be right. Whatever we call them, people have been Edinburrowing for centuries--governing, buying and selling, teaching and learning, dealing with outlanders like us, and having fun.

Eric and Bill Baber, Who Knit Donna's New Sweater

John MacEwan and Paul Lightfoot, Hosts at 94 DR

Over two weeks, we did cross paths with one cranky bus driver and a very impatient taxi driver; otherwise, good humor seems to flow happily from person to person in this city. You have to smile when you walk into Pizza Posto where the staff t-shirts say "Pizza is the answer. I forgot the question." Walking through The Meadows, we heard more Edinburrian humor when the sun came out and a woman held out her hands and said: "What is this stuff? Ohhh--it's sunshine!" These people do not live up to their dour reputation.

Enjoying Princes Street Gardens During a Rare Solar Event--Sunshine

Playing Basketball with a Soccer Ball at Inverleith Park

Serving Paella at the Stockbridge Market

Edinburrowing at the National Museum

Resting in the National Mueum

Eric after Grazing on Grassmarket

Even when you can't see the people of Edinburgh in action, you still see signs of what they are or have been up to. The monument to Wojtek in the Princes Street Gardens is dark bronze, but the bear-sculpture's nose and ears shine golden from being caressed and polished by many hands. Polish soldiers adopted the young bear during World War II and enlisted him. The story is that he carried crates of ammunition to the front lines at the Battle of Monte Cassino. After the war, many Polish soldiers moved to Scotland, and he did, too. Now he's an appealing monument to touch.

Monument to Wojtek in the Princes Street Gardens

Edinburrowers over time also have left their mark in layers of paint on the sides of buildings, 

 

and you can see signs of their spirit on restaurant chalkboards, in posters,

and midgie earrings at the Stockbridge Market celebrating the ubiquitous Scottish biting insect. 

Edinburrians tap 'er light.