As always, I'll explain a little about what's going on at work since that used to take up a good bit more of my time than I cared for. The work-life balance is getting more balanced as all of the pieces are finally falling into place and that is affording me more to time "Life". This, however comes with a somber reminder.
I am required to do inventory every week and have a book with the weekly sheets, kept in order, to be turned in at the end of the season. After completing last week's inventory I realized that I had passed the halfway point, meaning that the season here in Yellowstone is half over. More on this later.
I may have eluded to this in the past but we have a little group that likes to hike on our days off and, although they along with Gina the Frugal, have made more hikes than I have it's still a fun group and last week we did the Cascade Lake trail.
A mainly flat trail, it starts in a wooded area from the trail head but quickly opens up into a vast meadow with various little streams and occasional shaded spots leading to a stunning Alpine lake along a trail that is littered with glistening pieces of shattered obsidian from the regions volcanic past.
It's a short 2.4 mil hike into the lake which would be a short, quick hike for most but among our merry band of walkers is one we call Fun Size (as in the size of the small candy bars) whose legs are half the length of mine. Now, this does not mean that her short stature prevents from keeping up with the group. On the contrary since she could probably out distance my hiking abilities and in less time. However along with Gina and Fun Size, there is another trail trooper I'll refer to as MC Sonya (as in Master and Commander), and as one can imagine, three ladies hiking together creates quite a bit of conversation which takes its toll on the pace of the group.
I also am to blame for our lack of speed on the trail, since I am a rock hound and Fun Size is a By God geologist, there were more than a few occasions where we stopped to look at rocks and discuss their formation.
Now, please don't think I am complaining about the pace since half the point of hiking is to get out and relax in nature and enjoy the surroundings, and that is exactly what we did. The pace also dictated that MC's husband, who we shall refer to as Stay at Home Tom, and I were able to take a few shade breaks as we waited for ladies to catch up. With this, their ongoing conversation had the added benefit of alerting the local wildlife that we were there so that we wouldn't surprise or sneak up on them. A valuable resource in bear country to be sure and there were more than a few signs that they were in the area.
As a bit of a side note, when hiking in the back country, one is encouraged to looks for what rangers call "Bear Sign" which encompasses several indicators such as rotted logs that have been ripped open to access the insects inside, claw marks high on trees, and scat. As we all know, scat is a professional way of saying that the bears have pooped. I am childish so I prefer the term "Poop". Side note over.
After noticing poop from several species along the trail, we ended up at Cascade Lake and found a small grove of trees to sit under for lunch, which was more than pleasant with tons of good conversations and sandwiches. We watched as two white swans muddled about on the other side of the lake just past all of the fish that were jumping constantly to make meals of the latest insect hatch. Incidentally, myself and my newly purchased fly rod will be making the hike back to this beautiful spot since I know I'll stay busy.
Hiking in to a destination always seems long since the process of discovery means you have now idea of the time frame to get there. Sadly, this also means that hiking out always seems way too short, as it is in this case. Nonetheless, we returned to our vehicles with a plan for later.
We headed to our respective places of residence, gathered supplies and, in our case, Free Range Adventure Dog, and headed for Nez Perce Ford. With bag chairs, beer, snacks, and a puppy, we arrived at the Ford on the Yellowstone River where we killed the rest of the afternoon drinking beer and chatting about the various components of life here in the park and the plans for the winter. Tom and I got to know each other a little better as we watched the ladies sit in the river, drinking and laughing. It was a very good day.
The conversation of winter plans took a pleasant turn as we followed Sonya and Tom's lead and contacted an RV park in Yuma, Az which requires sixteen hours per week of work in exchange for a full hookup site and access to all the amenities in what is a very nice park with a ton of amenities. Long story short: It looks like we will winter in Yuma, which is located so far down in the southwest corner of Arizona that if you fart there, it will be heard in California and they will smell it in Mexico.
While researching Yuma's weather, I found that their nighttime lows are higher than temps we've seen on the hottest days in Yellowstone. December is the coolest month with averages of 69 degrees for highs and mid 40's for lows, which is still short pants weather for this Michigan boy. It's also going to be blazing hot by the time we head back to YNP, which will appear more like fleeing than leaving under those conditions.
We're still plugging along with RV life and learning more everyday. However, as with our first few weeks living this lifestyle we know that there is always more to learn about life on the road and how to survive but the overall consensus for most of our fellow travelers and always for ourselves is, This Does not Suck.
Have a great day!
P.S. Buy Stickers Please. 🙂