Missing Days Summary

Since I have posted last, many, many things have happened. Here is the abridged version to get you up to speed until my missing blog posts are recovered and can be published.

We went on a two night three day backpacking trip in the Uncompahgre Wilderness (formerly known as the Big Blue Wilderness). We hiked out via the Alpine Loop Trail, Failes Creek Trail, Falls Creek Trail, then eventually got back to base camp on the Big Blue Creek Trail. Notable events: running out of fuel and having to use only primitive homemade fires, elk herds, sheep herder with herd, losing the trail and bushwhacking via game trails up the side of a mountain to find our trail in a pass, out hiking a thunderstorm to get off the trail and back to real food asap. That night we ate in Lake City and camped by Lake San Cristobal on a pullout because the land was public and free and we are young and cheap! :)

Next we drove to Denver, no Grand Junction, to take care of town business. I got a new pack (Osprey Ariel 65)! We camped on BLM land by the airport in the desert. We ate tasty tasty asian food at
Zen Garden (Tom yum soup and panang curry...so good!). We found a shady laundromat to wash all of our clothes and it turned out to be not so shady after all. We fled civilization and drove towards Yellowstone. We only made it to Jackson, WY though and spent a few nights on National forest land up shadow mountain. Others had discovered this free camping spot, but we found a nice place to camp anyways. The first night there was a party in the next camp over. Had a nice fire because brown pine needles burn like a champ! I am the fire queen now. Notable meals: Thai me up (tom kha soup was divine, making plans to make my own), shades cafe (great breakfast with real fresh ingredients), showering at the local rec center, just like a YMCA), provisioning at the Albertsons and getting a million powdered sauce mixes and finally fresh veggies (the powders are an attempt to improve our backpacking food which is sadly lacking in taste and nutrition), good Mexican food at Piglets Cantina and then getting kicked out of our campsite by a stock party picnic, jerks, this land is public! We are outty. Saw plenty of buffalo and a grouse that visited our campsite repeatedly. Time to move on though...to Yellowstone. (oh and Robert got a slingshot...of course he won't try to kill small furry mammals...no...he is a sweet boy....ha).

Drove up to Yellowstone, past the magnificent Tetons, paid our 25$ entrance fee. Went to old faithful, but then got nervous about getting a campsite. All full! You can camp in the back country about a mile in, but you need a permit. Where do you get those? The backcountry office...it's closed. So we skipped waiting on faithful and drove out of the park to find somewhere to sleep. Found free and deserted camping up a mountain at Timber Camp, again on forest service land, lovely and free. Made killer enchiladas in the dutch. (black bean, artichoke, shrooms, cheese and hatch green chili sauce) yum...we ate all seven of the massive enchiladas.

More later...gotta get real food!