Lil bear meets a relative

Day 53

Drove to Bozeman. Why? Who knows! Seemed like the thing to do. It’s a reasonably sized city out here in Montana, and a great place to see some 4th of July fireworks. There was a campground outside of town a ways in the Gallatin National Forest, and with a little luck on our side we managed to get the last available site. At least 3 cars came in not five minutes after we arrived. This also marked the first time I got my hair cut. I sat out in the sun after running my head under the faucet and let Micah use some paper scissors on my head. It wasn’t a drastic cut, but I felt lighter, like my head was made out of clouds.

We then made the mistake of checking out Bozeman. It’s not a bad place, but on the 4th of July, in a place that sure likes the 4th of July, there was nothing open and nothing to do. Except for one thing: go to a bar. The guy behind the counter was useless, as every beer we asked him about he said he’d never tried it, and then admitted that he was pretty sure that he “couldn’t really taste the difference anyway.” So we got their cheapest varieties, which weren’t all that bad, and hung out for a few minutes before we decided to head over to the fairgrounds to check out the 4th of July festivities. Only, when we got there, there weren’t any festivities. It said it was from 7-11, but at 7 there was a booth with hot dogs and hamburgers, and a stand with cupcakes that were $3. So we promptly left. And there was nothing to do. We went back into town to see if there was a place to get some food, and there was. A steak/burger joint! And I do love French fries. Except (and this still baffles me), they said there was a 25 minute wait. I should mention that as we walked in there were four empty tables outside on the patio. What was the wait for? No clue. I probably don’t need to mention that we took our business elsewhere. The “elsewhere” turned out to be a sports-bar on the Montana State University campus, where I got a beer, and we shared a French fries and pizza - practically the best meal possible.

Eventually it was time to head back to the fairgrounds and see the fireworks. There was a sweet band playing all kinds of AC/DC and Bruce Springsteen songs, but there were disappointingly few people wearing American flags as clothing. Shame. The fireworks were great despite there being some rain throughout the show and the music not synching up properly with the show, creating odd intermissions while the fireworks waited for one song to end and the next to begin. Seems like they would have figured that kind of thing out ahead of time.

Day 54

Before leaving the campground we take a bunch of water from the faucet to fill the van up about half way. We were also in desperate need of showers, so we split up for the day, with Micah going to a community pool to swim and shower, and me to a climbing wall to climb and shower. Her route was considerably cheaper, but I hadn’t climbed the entire trip and was pretty excited to get the chance. The routes were pretty good, but I certainly missed playing add-a-hold with my dear Matt Smith and other climbing buddies.

We also had to buy groceries, and went to the local co-op. We nearly got boned. We bought all these things that were on sale and didn’t find out until the end that they were on sale for co-op members. Micah thought quickly though, and when asked if we were a member she told the woman that she was a member of a co-op in California, to which the woman responded “good enough for me.” That was pretty cool.

The last thing we did in Bozeman - something I will hold in my heart forever - was go to a coffee shop that had everything 50% off between 5 and 6 o’clock. 50%! Shit! We bought a tofu and veggie panini with a salad, a pumpkin spice bar, a raspberry and nut bar (kind of like a crumble), and an iced tea. For $7.20. If I lived in Bozeman, I think I’d be there often.

From Bozeman we took 89 down toward Yellowstone, but stopped just outside in order to ensure a camping spot and pay less for it. We were in a beautiful location along the Yellowstone River, but it was raining pretty hard, and we spent the night in the van. But that’s not all that happened. There was one really close call. We picked our site and then drove back to pay (we drove because of the rain, not because of atrophied legs). We I looked back up the dirt road we came down there was a wheel. And thinking that it was unlikely that someone else had so recently after our arrival also had bikes that could lose wheels, we ran and got it. It was pure luck that we saw it in time, and (more importantly) that it didn’t fall off on the highway. We’re still not sure how it got so loose, but all’s well that ends well.

Day 55

We snagged a camping spot (at Eagle Creek) right outside of Gardiner, which, in turn, is right outside of Yellowstone. Once claimed we drove into Yellowstone to explore for the day and get backpacking permits for the following two nights. Permits were obtained, and then we checked out the sulphur springs briefly before heading to the “Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.” AH! But along the way (all of which was quite lovely) there was a pile up of cars along the side of the road with people running about like nuttos. Micah wondered what the commotion was, and though I thought they were just looking at views, I stopped anyway because I’m a nice person (for now). I am so, so happy that I was wrong. Turned out to be a grizzly bear with her two cubs down below in a field. A grizzly! Sure, the picture that Micah took looks like there might be a blurry brown smudge in the middle of a green field, but with binoculars you could see them quite clearly. Totally amazing.

Artist Point was spectacular with all the rock colors - orange, pink, yellow - and the two falls (creatively named Upper and Lower) were pretty great as well. By then it was getting close to sunset so we headed back to our campsite at Eagle Creek. Only it wasn’t our site anymore. Some Texans (figures) took it upon themselves to make it their own, claiming they only “just 15 minutes ago saw that it had already been reserved.” Except that somehow they also moved the camping chair that we had set up without realizing that it was someone else’s chair. Those tricky Texans with all their smarts. So we shared the site, and got no compensation since the boneheaded Texan said that he too paid for the site (probably a lie). So I stewed in the van while we cooked dinner. And then, another guest arrived asking if they, too, could share the site with us. And did they offer to help with the cost? No. As this point I hated just about every human being in the world and had to take a breather. Micah was a better human than I and pointed out that others had helped us along the way. This was true and I had to accept it. Though I still hate those people for some illogical reason.

Day 56

Today was a great day - backpacking in Yellowstone. This hike was perfect for me since it was mostly flat and only 6 miles. We also packed more efficiently this time and ate all the food that we brought in. We hiked through meadows and open fields, sprinkled with forested areas and creeks. There was almost no wildlife sightings since we were busy shouting and scaring away potential bears. Scaring them away also required me to invent new songs about the bears and singing them loudly in order to convince them that we were scary and couldn’t carry a tune. And it worked.

We camped at the base of Mount Electric, which is the third highest peak in Yellowstone at about 10,900 ft. And in some sort of nutty karmic backlash, our campsite was already taken by a couple of Minnesotan dudes named Carston and something else. In Yellowstone, unlike some other national parks, back country camping only permits a single group per site. Yet somehow we got double booked. And yeah, I was bitter yet again, but these people were actually quite cool, and we ended up spending the evening with them, talking around the campfire. Several things of note that I found crazy:

1) There were more mosquitos here than anywhere else I’ve been except for the campsite in Montana at which I never left the van. Only this time there was no van to hide in, so I hid in my rain jacket.

2) Fires are permitted in Yellowstone. What?! This proved to be the true shield against my sworn enemies (mosquitos). You’re allowed to collect dead, fallen sticks and branches, so I scoured the area for as much as I could find and had a fire going for like 3 or 4 hours. And since it doesn’t really get dark until around 11, this was perfect since it gave mosquito protection long enough to see the stars.

3) The two Minnesotan guys were nuts. They were backpacking for 4 nights and brought the following: a stick of butter, a block of cheese, a container of maple syrup, pancake mix, pesto and pasta, a container of extra gas in case they needed any, plus a ton more food and their heavy ass camera equipment. We had dehydrated everything, and pretty much nothing else. I wished I was camping with them. I love pancakes.

Day 57

We wake up sore because it got so damn cold in the middle of the night. We sleep in though because once the sun was up it was nice and toasty in the tent. After breakfast we have to move camps, but it’s not far.

Today’s goal: summit Electric Mountain (or get as close as possible). The hike wasn’t easy. After the first mile it pretty much just went straight up. We got damn close, but we didn’t actually summit. We got high enough for a panoramic view of Yellowstone and called it a day. I realized that I don’t think I’ve ever tried to climb a mountain, and I think the reason I never tried is because it’s not all that much fun. It hurts, and yeah the view is nice, but is any of the upward movement really enjoyable? Maybe. I haven’t decided yet. But I’m leaning toward the “slightly more fun than getting ravaged by mosquitos” category, which, funny enough, happened to me on the hike up the mountain. There’s no escaping those bastards!

Day 58

We wake up far less sore because the night wasn’t nearly as brutal. Then came the hike out. It was completely uneventful. Except for one thing: we ran into a holy shit grizzly bear! Micah was in the lead and she said “oh, god, back away, back away.” And I backed away. And not 40 yards from where we were stood a grizzly on the hillside. It stared us down, and we backed away slowly (after I took blurry pictures of course). We remembered the safety video and refrained from making eye contact, and walked through a swamp in order to avoid getting too close. It was both scary and exhilarating. I don’t think we were in too great of danger as the bear never really moved or did anything, but still, you never know.

After the bear encounter we sang more loudly and nothing else happened.

Micah went into the ranger station to tell them about the encounter and describe what the bear was doing. Answer: looking at us and not doing anything.

We celebrated with some beer and pizza before calling it a night back at Eagle Creek where we had our site all to ourselves! No Texans or anything!

Day 59

Every once in a while you need to backtrack. And today was full of it. My van (Starvan) wasn’t acting so great, and after contacting my sage I realized that the wrong oil was in the van. Starvan’s lifeblood was killing him from the inside. I had accidentally given him a transfusion of terribly weak and lightweight oil when he needed some really heavy, thick stuff to help him go up hills and turn left occasionally.

The only problem was that on Saturday’s not much is open, and beyond that there was hardly anyone in the area who could work on such a vehicle as Starvan. But I managed to track down the correct filter and oil - it just meant going backwards. So back to Bozeman we went. And it pretty much worked out. It’s still not perfect - I dread knowing what’s really happening to my beloved van - but it’s certainly a lot better. And while we were waiting for the van to be done we happened upon a record store which was filled with awesomely old Nintendo games! The guy working the dungeon area (it was in the basement) was exactly what you’d expect from a guy working in a dungeon filled with video games. The experience was bittersweet.

Once everything was patched up we headed back into Yellowstone (going an alternate route and stopping once for very large sodas (mine was a Dr. Coker)) to see some of the sights that we hadn’t yet seen. So we went to the geyser section and saw the painter’s pots and some geysers not names Old Faithful. And then we went to Old Faithful. Problem: It was 8, Ol’ Faithy wasn’t set to off until about 9, we didn’t have a campsite, didn’t know where to go, and panicked. We didn’t stick around to see it blow, and opted instead to backtrack out of Yellowstone into West Yellowstone (the name of a town, which, you guessed it, is to the west of Yellowstone) and lucked ourselves into a campsite.