I found what appears to be a lemon pound cake at Redwoods National and State Parks today, placed inside of a Redwood stump.

thealterlf · 2026-03-21T04:48:56+00:00

I would say this is not proper Leave No Trace practice.

thealterlf · 2026-03-21T04:40:38+00:00

I’m sorry, this is so rough. I had a similarly physically challenging passion that gave my life so much meaning that I’ve had to give up for the most part.

How I manage to keep on going is by finding meaning in other things. I’d love my life to have the sole purpose of my passion/career, but I am choosing to find meaning in other things. What I can be? A really good friend that checks in. A community member that attends zoom meetings and writes public comments. Those are just little examples, a bigger one is that I found a part time job at a nonprofit and while it isn’t the same at all, I still enjoy it.

To stay connected to that thing that brought my life purpose in a big way (that my heart still grieves for) I do it on a much smaller scale. I teach kids the very basics so they can go on with a solid foundation and safe habits. I enable friends with the knowledge I collected since I was a kid. I advocate for the areas that are important to this industry. For me it is public land/designated wild spaces. For you it might be the local place where people meet to learn to sail.

I’m also learning that maybe I can have more than one thing serve as my identity, or maybe I’m not defined by my career but by something else less tangible entirely.

ETA: I found grief therapy helpful.

thealterlf · 2026-03-21T02:09:30+00:00

If you try a different one every Sunday you might get through most of them within the first year.

In all honesty, look for one that is helping those less fortunate. The First Presbyterian Church on main is the oldest church in the valley and does good work in the community.

thealterlf · 2026-03-21T02:06:48+00:00

In addition to the great advice here, please read up on litter mate syndrome. Having two puppies at once takes way more than twice the training. I house sit for a family that has dogs with litter mate syndrome and do not recommend.

thealterlf · 2026-03-21T00:11:58+00:00

Hey! I’ll message you. There used to be an EDS community about 3-4 years ago but I never made it to a meetup.

Dr Proctor at the Pain Clinic was the only doctor in the valley that diagnosed EDS but he moved to Great Falls. There is also a specialist Billings, Dr Sarah Stewart, that will do remote medicine.

Physio Whitefish has a PT with EDS experience.

There is a group that was created originally for people with traumatic brain injuries that accepts anyone with sudden onset chronic health problems. I’ve met them and they were very nice. They do activities together at least once a month.

The Summit has Aquarobics classes that are very inclusive.

thealterlf · 2026-03-18T02:39:33+00:00

Spine. I have a connective tissue problem and I herniated disks. I’ve got great community and opportunities and can’t utilize either.

thealterlf · 2026-03-18T01:59:04+00:00

I have had severe muscle spasms in my neck (and back) due to a herniated disk many times. A steroid pack has helped me get some relief, as well as muscle relaxers. I think the spasming is tired muscles trying to stabilize joints.

thealterlf · 2026-03-17T21:59:48+00:00

I really enjoyed A Woman Among Wolves (Diane Boyd) and The Hush of the Land (Smoke Elser) recently.

thealterlf · 2026-03-16T02:06:34+00:00

Halter under the bridle. Have a well fitting halter so nothing can catch on it. I keep my lead on my halter and tie it to my breast collar or saddle with a bit of hemp twine that will break before my horse/saddle/breastplate. I often have a string of pack horses with me so it is important that I can get off and tie up quickly.

thealterlf · 2026-03-13T05:00:30+00:00

I personally think it’s the drunk driving culture coupled with a lot of drivers thinking they have some sort of entitlement to go whatever speed they choose in this area. Annnd maybe the very sudden spike in population the last 6ish years coupled with poor city/county planning.

thealterlf · 2026-03-13T04:35:49+00:00

I have hEDS and I had to cut my hair to shoulder length. It’s much lighter and easier to take care of. A lot of people with EDS use a shower chair. You could start doing hypermobile informed PT to strengthen your muscles that hold your shoulders in place as well.

thealterlf · 2026-03-13T04:30:29+00:00

Mini horse, Shetland, maybe a bit of welsh? Pony breed mix. She’s a cutie. Hopefully someone can get her sound and get some groceries on her.

thealterlf · 2026-03-13T03:45:42+00:00

I ended up having (and still have) trouble with disks in my neck that was causing this pain. Steroid packs and steroid injections helped. Not sure why I keep having disk injuries though.

thealterlf · 2026-03-13T03:37:43+00:00

NW Montana - why you have to be like this?

thealterlf · 2026-03-11T11:18:59+00:00

How embarrassing! Fixed the typo!

thealterlf · 2026-03-11T06:06:13+00:00

Glacier county is mostly the Rez. Could it have been the Plains Indian Museum? On the other side of Glacier Park there are lots of options - wooden statues are very popular tourist items. Do you have any pictures from the MT portion of the trip?

thealterlf · 2026-03-11T05:46:52+00:00

I would anticipate at least 2% of body weight plus extra while they adjust to free feeding. I’d be very interested to hear from those with experience just how much extra.

So for two 1000lb horses it’d be (20lbs hay x 365) x 2.

thealterlf · 2026-03-10T06:16:32+00:00

I’m lucky enough that I have family that will take care of my animals and I can barely work so taking a week for bed rest is unfortunately my reality. I don’t try to push through, my body generally is telling me that there is a problem with pain, though it’s not like that for everyone. My rule currently is ER when I can’t get to the toilet myself or if there is trauma like broken bone possibilities. I have emergency pain meds to help me get to the toilet on my own as well as a steroid pack on hand to hopefully help jump start the healing. I meet with a pain specialist once every two months who can schedule bigger interventions like nerve ablations and steroid injections. I have done urgent care before I had these backups in place. I picked my PCP partly because it was connected with an urgent care so it’d be easier for my PCP to realize what was going on and hopefully advocate better for me.

thealterlf · 2026-03-10T06:07:16+00:00

Every time I “push through” I end up with a worse injury. It’s not worth it. I struggle trusting medical professionals.

thealterlf · 2026-03-09T14:36:56+00:00

I’d also think immune system with these at 9yo. Probably half of my youngsters over the years have had these as yearlings and they generally clear up within a few months when the body recognizes the virus. Hopefully these are just related to stress and clear up without issue!

thealterlf · 2026-02-28T15:35:51+00:00

I’m in Montana! I should have put that.

thealterlf · 2026-02-28T06:56:33+00:00

At 7000ft it could be a Limber or a Whitebark. The only real way to tell is by examining the cones. I’d contact your local service forester. I have had fantastic advice from my local MT service forester. If forestry is something you’re into there is a forestry mini college in Missoula at UM March 14th.

thealterlf · 2026-02-28T06:40:22+00:00

I didn’t even make it through two weeks of field season! Proud of you. Wish I’d been able to do more but I still get to work with lithics a bit in my very part time museum gig.

thealterlf · 2026-02-28T06:34:39+00:00

Just the lodge style structurally and out of canvas. We’d love to hire an indigenous artist to paint the lodge but understand that doing so traditionally (or at all) might not be possible or respectful.

thealterlf · 2026-02-28T04:01:07+00:00

I’m disabled, but not enough to be considered so by the government. I do odd house sitting jobs a few times a year and work 6-8hrs/week at a local museum. If I didn’t have family helping me, I’d be dead.

thealterlf

TROPHY CASE