For anyone who reads this work, I write this and tell this story in hopes of inspiring adventure, sharing my photography and story, to help preserve a beautiful National Park, and most importantly to help anyone, who could possibly find help for a marriage in these writings… maybe even another backpacker who is learning how to be a husband.  With this said, if you ask me what my beliefs are, marriage is a covenant between God, Man, and Wife.  This foundation is the only reason Jessica and I are here. Beyond the difficulties we have faced so far, it is by the guidance and grace of God.  I started our relationship off with dishonesty and constant solo backpacking trips.  I had to learn that my dishonesty through insecurity and constant need for adventure would cause pain and damage to my marriage.  At the end of the day, all Jessie wanted was honesty and to tag along on my adventures.  Thanks to God’s grace and His teachings on what love is, I am still blessed to have my beautiful, loving, and adventurous wife, Jessica, by my side.  A marriage can only last if we follow 1 Corinthians 13:4….

1 Corinthians 13:4 NLT
[4] Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud

With this all said, without God’s teachings, Jessica and I would not be climbing mountains together… Literally and metaphorically, so if you are an adventurer, make sure to include your significant other in the beautiful experiences you have in this life.  Find compromise and understanding.  Look deep to find the areas of life your spouse challenges you either vocally or quietly.  Look at the teachings God gives to you both.  Marriage is hard…. But not impossible.  So maybe… If you believe me, it may help you have more fruitful adventures with your spouse, or just help in marriage.

This adventure was made possible by the lessons and grace God provided in our marriage!  I hope you appreciate how incredible this Wild space is.   My wife Jessica and I had planned to go to New Mexico and backpack. Due to the weather, we changed our sites to Great Basin National Park in Nevada. The weather is notably better than in most Midwest and Western states this specific week and we only lived around eight hours from Baker Nevada (Gateway Community to Great Basin National Park), as our home was in the Grand Canyon National Park. A place that Jess and I still consider home even though we have since relocated to the East Coast. In our time living minutes from the Grand Canyon, the countless number of memories both of us have are overwhelming. From the quiet snowfall before the sun is up to the thunderous evenings filled with rain and monsoons. The Navajo Taco sales that the community would put on Jessie and I would attend. Or the countless opportunities for adventures the state of Arizona brings with it. Needless to say, yes, we love Arizona.

Although I do have to step away from Arizona to tell you the rest of this story. After I got out of work and Jess did the same, we had Dinner and got prepared for the next day. We planned to leave in the morning for Baker Nevada. Allowing us a nice evening of rest before we embarked on the open road. The next morning, we grabbed some McDonald’s at the Gateway town of Tusayan down the road and headed out.

I had booked a campsite at an RV Park in the gateway town of Baker, Nevada, the evening before Jess and I got on the trail. After driving down a long dusty road with a view of sunset and mountains that grasped us for the entire last stretch of our drive… a road that showed us more birds than some people see in days.  We could tell we were somewhere special!  We made it to Baker just in time for the beginning of nightfall.   Then we made our way into the dimly lit “Whispering Elms RV Park”. I called the woman who was managing the operation and paid her, we drove to the back of the park and set up camp.  The park was quiet and the desert silence was grasping at me.  A feeling that had become one of my favorites.  The next morning, before breaking trail, Jessica and I went to the “Stargazer Inn and Bristlecone General Store”. We found hot breakfast and many books as well as odds and ends for sale. We also met a gentleman who used to be a Superintendent at Great Basin National Park. We talked with him for quite some time and then headed into the park to begin our journey.  After some issues with a hydration reservoir, we were on the trail, and soon our world was greeted with the sound of singing birds, green forest, and rushing water.

Jess and I walked until we passed the Tree Line. On the way, we were met with many views… some looking up towards Wheeler Peak (the second highest Mountain Peak in Nevada) as well as views out toward the lowland desert far, far below. Not long before we arrived at Johnson Lake and our home for the night, we crossed some historic mining cabins far back in the Mountains.  Once we came to these cabins, we explored them and came up with an emergency shelter plan if something happened with Lightning or the weather.

Once at Johnson Lake, I showed Jess how to filter water in the Backcountry!  She wore her Flip Flops she had packed in and we set up camp right next to the lake’s edge.  I had an issue getting my JetBoil started but once we got it lit, we ate some hot freeze-dried meals from Pinnacle Food Company.  As the evening carried on, the water on Johnson Lake was like a mirror, reflecting the Alpine Ridge like a front window to a living room.  We photographed the sunset together and called it a night.  The evening was still…. the mountains above and the trees below.  The lake is a kind friend to them.  Our night was full of quiet and even when an animal made a noise outside of our tent, the peace and silence could not be broken.  The next morning Jessica and I packed up camp and started walking out, back to our Jeep and food we didn’t have to cook.  Our walk was tranquil, like moments passing by without the feeling of time.  We passed one group of two hikers and some National Park Service Trail Crew Workers, chatting with them along the way.  Once we arrived at the Trailhead we went to the “Great Basin Cafe” and had a hot meal… It was time to drive home.

The mountains of marriage take honesty, effort, and attentiveness to God’s teachings.  You can’t climb the physical mountains together in marriage without following God’s guidance to the metaphorical mountains of marriage.

-Sky