Day Ten

Remember that book I told you about yesterday? Finished it in one sitting. I recommend it for anyone camping, on vacation, or out in the wilderness. Montana 1948. Thanks Jan!

I got up at six this morning and moved my campsite to the other side of the park. Skies were clear and I drove to the grand canyon of Yellowstone where I hiked for roughly seven miles and the canyon’s brim. Hiking alone in Yellowstone is a trip. I have never been so cautious about reading tracks and droppings, checking the skies, and checking the contents of my bag. The simple fact that around any corner can be some hungry beast is a bit intimidating. A small bird snapping a branch would halt my progress. In Yellowstone I have a very healthy almost paranoid respect for mans fragility and nature’s power. On my drive back from the canyon the weather started to turn but I had to stop for a grizzly bear sighting. The thing was enormous, my pictures didn’t really pan out because my lens was totally spotted with rain. I returned to camp and rushed to build a fire to get dinner going before I would be marooned in my tent. I hid in my sleeping bag from the pounding rain and cold for a few hours praying I would fall asleep and wake up tomorrow to clear skies. The weather had gone from bearable to malicious, and quite frankly was no longer fun. Just as I had had enough, the skies opened up so I walked down to the lake where I did some push-ups and then some pull-ups from a tree, and immediately felt better. I’ll have to remember this little remedy in future tests. Tomorrow morning I will leave Yellowstone and head to eastern Wyoming where hopefully I’ll find some heat.