Our Own Lake With Rachel Murphy (Patreon)

Day One.

After arriving extremely late the previous evening and getting haphazardly set up for camp, we woke up to the most epic and beautiful view of the Tetons. Our camp was technically inside the National Park, however it was outside of the area of which you have to pay. It was dispersed camping and Rachel had arrived at the perfect time to secure one of the best sites. A grand view of the Grand Tetons. Being able to wake up to this was a dream. It had been so long since I did anything for just me and this was the start of a beautiful trip.

What is a day without a great start? Rachel and I would not have it. So some fresh coffee and a quick breakfast was the first order of business. We sat in our chairs, sipped on our caffeine and gazed in awe while or bodies powered up for the day. At the same time, Kylea and Bucket were still getting acquainted with one another; establishing their ground rules, if you will. We kept a close eye on their interactions to ensure they were becoming friends and not territorial enemies.

With a new morning routine established and finished, Rachel and I began to pack up our things for the first excursion of the trip. A seven and a half mile out and back hike to this beautiful lake with streams, fields and the freshest of air along the way. As we were just about to load the last necessities into our vehicles, the first and crippling territory battle ensued. Bucket is three and still basically a puppy. Although she is very well behaved for a three year old dog, a puppy nonetheless. Kylea, eleven, is an old soul with a lot of spunk left in her. However, she does not like to play. Around the corner of my tent with distant supervision, Bucket approached Kylea to mess around and Kylea made it known she was not open to the idea. In retort, Bucket made it known that she was not pleased with Kylea's decision to not play and then a larger disagreement began. Rachel and I rushed over and with some strong words and a careful separation of the two, Bucket walked away unscathed. Kylea, was not so lucky. Bucket has managed to get Kylea's front left paw into her mouth and gave it a good bite. A small draw of blood and a limp away from the situation.

Rachel and I spent the next hour or so monitoring Kylea and her possible condition. She was walking on it fine with a slight limp, but nothing major. I walked Kylea around the camp site to see how she was doing and she showed no intense pain or discomfort, a minor flesh wound. We packed the dogs into the cars, Rachel gave Bucket a scolding and we set off for our adventure. During the hike out, I closely kept eye on Kylea and how she was feeling to ensure she was not being put out of her ability. All was fine, or so I thought.

We passed through so much beauty on the way. Rolling mountains with endless dense pines, babbling streams with the cleanest of water that you could drink and fields of tall grasses blowing in the soft winds. With a few breaks to check on Kylea, a breather for us and some water; the just under four miles passed quickly and we came up on our final destination, this beautiful lake that we had to ourselves. Not a soul around, no cell phone reception, just us and what was in front of our eyes. The feeling of relief did not last long. Kylea immediately laid down and rolled on her side exhausted. At that point I looked at her paw and it was entirely swollen to the point that I barely touched it and she yelped. As worried as I was and how bad I felt that her small injury had turned into something bigger; I tried not to let it overtake my mind. She moved to lake shore and laid down with her front paws in the cold waters. Kylea did not seem distraught, just inconvenienced, which is the only reason why I could pick up a camera and shoot.

Rachel stripped off her clothes and lowered into the lake shore waters. I could tell that a full fledged shoot was not in order, so we snapped a few great images and then sat and enjoyed the view while we tried to sort out how to get Kylea safely back to the car.

My first thought was to empty out my camera back and tuck her in there, which seemed very possible simply because I have the largest camera backpack you are allowed to bring as a carry on when flying, its huge. I emptied my cameras and threw some in Rachel's backpack, tucked Kylea into the backpack and when I tried to zip her in, she made it very well known that she was not excited about the idea. After several times trying and failing to get her to not budge, I gave up on the idea. The only other option, carry her. I loaded my cameras back into the bag, totaling about 50 pounds of weight on my back, hoisted Kylea up onto my shoulder and we began the hike back.

It felt like it was never ending. I am not exactly sure how I did it, but I did. Four miles back to the car with a 50 pound backpack and a 50 pound dog on my front. I kept cycling through holds; over my shoulder, elbows locked in my hands with Kylea tucked in between my arms and chest and dropped down to locking my wrists and carrying her a little lower. Let me tell you, do not try this because it is terrifying and felt nearly impossible. It still sticks with me to this day with the guilt of exacerbating her injury with the hike. Hindsight is twenty-twenty.

A not-so-happy write up to go with this set of images, but it is the reality of the journey and no images come complete without a story. Enjoy.

- AW Media

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1njcj5mcxd9x8pv/AADCsf-RkH7lHyJjdp2XWpWZa?dl=0