Hey Darlin'!
I'm starting to work out the most efficient way to start the day. Get dressed, go do my due diligence with the shovel when necessary (I've down to every other day), have breakfast (preferably just as it's coming hot off the grill), then start the process of packing. t takes them so long to pack up everything, I have plenty of time to do a good job of packing and still end up sitting around for an hour or more before we leave. Meanwhile, last night I did go stand out in the field for awhile to see the stars, but it took so long for it to get dark, I gave up on it. I hoped that's tonight's location would be more open so I can see them from my tent. We headed out about 10:30 again, with more pine trees than I could count, and it was the most interesting trail we've taken so far. We crossed the Yellowstone River and headed up and over the Two Oceans plateau, where the continental divide splits a stream, and each goes to a different ocean. That actual confluence isn't in the park, so we didn't get to see it, but we clearly did cross the divide. Our big excitement today was a number of times we ran into bees. The first time was the scariest, partly because it was so unexpected and partly because it happened on a steep climb with a dropoff, though thankfully it was more open at that point, and not surrounded by trees. The mules in front started acting up, and Maureen tried to hurry them past. We waited for them to get clear, then Chase instructed that we were going to try to get past them as fast as possible, and started up the hill. Unfortunately, his pretty mule Betty didn't like that idea and she quickly turned around on the down side and started slipping down the side of the hill. My horse Randy started to turn around, too, but I figured I'd be better off following the original plan and get out of the way, so I headed him uphill and managed to get a brief but nice lope out of him. Meanwhile, Chase managed to safely dismount and his mule managed to stop herself from sliding down the slope, and everyone else turned around and headed back downhill. I got stung by a wasp that got caught under my black neck gaiter, but that seemed to be the only one. I stayed with the pack mules while Maureen went down to help Chase, and it wasn't long before we were back on track. We had two more run-ins with bees, and once Tony's mule did a few rodeo hops with him, but again, no one seemed to be hurt, though later it became clear that those hops affected Tony, he got real stiff and immobile later on. We took a break at a retired campsite and walked and climbed up a rock where two creeks converge, then traveled a few more rough miles before finally arriving at our camp at 4:45. By then I was exhausted, and only came out for dinner, but was happy that my tent was next to a meadow and a nearby creek, so I took advantage and did a complete wash down tonight. I'm also hoping to see some stars from my tent, assuming I can stay awake long enough for it to get dark. New moon tonight, so it should be brilliant. Long, tiring day, but we move again tomorrow, then have a day off Monday. Looking forward to that! Good night, babe! Love you!



Hiya Sweetie!
Today was quite a bit more relaxed. While I woke up around 6:00 to the sound of bells, foot stomping and horses grazing (evidently that all came back to camp), and I was wishing I had put my earplugs in, I got up and started packing. Breakfast was a breakfast muffin with eggs and bacon, and the tempo was pretty relaxed. It takes a lot of time to pack up and load the mules, so I mostly read until we finally departed around 10:30. Today we had an extra special occurrence. We stopped at the famous Thorofare Ranger Station, which is billed as the most remote place in the lower 48 (50+ miles from the nearest road,) but because there's a fire nearby, it was being used as a staging position for the firefighters, and was therefore manned. In fact, we had seen multiple helicopter flights heading in that direction, and either dropping off or picking up gear. The man coordinating the rangers, I think he said his name was Zack or Zeb, was very kind and generous, and gave us the rare opportunity of a tour around the inside of their cabin, which is typically unmanned and locked. What a treat! The ancient wood stoves and other paraphernalia were amazing! We also got to see inside their barn, which was mostly being used for storage for the thirty firefighters currently stationed there (mostly in tents) and the corrals and pastures that have obviously been there for ages. We heard a lot of history and had a thoroughly enjoyable lunch time with them. Tony found a very odd tooth, possibly a fossil, and the ranger took it, promising to find out what it belonged to. We finally headed out and weren't out of that camp for five minutes when another helicopter dropoff came by. We were worried about how the critters would react to a helicopter close up if it came into camp while we were there, but the timing was perfect. It wasn't long before we crossed a wide valley to our new camp. I was surprised that in the miles of open fields that we traveled that we didn't see a single specimen of wildlife. Not a deer, or bison, elk or mountain goat. I had high hopes of seeing wildlife, and have thus far been somewhat disappointed. But we're only Day Four, so there's still hope. I'm hoping to stay up late enough to see some starts. I still remember that magnificent night sky we saw in Wyoming that one time when we were camping, when the stars were so thick we couldn't even pick out the constellations. Since we're so remote here, I'm hoping for something similar, if I can stay awake that long! We did see some spectacular scenery, but frankly, nothing that surpasses some of the other sites I've seen. Looking forward to the rest of the trip! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hi Babe!
Since today was slated to be our longest ride of the excursion, nearly 20 miles (though it turned out to be less than 18, for which I am grateful!), I was up bright and early, before 6:00. I again had a fitful night, waking every few hours, even though I had taken ibuprofen and melatonin, though the last segment was the longest and deepest, and again, I almost missed hearing my alarm. I had put my earplugs in after the wind kicked up and it got noisy. A quick breakfast of yogurt and granola, packing up (my tent took me five minutes just to squeeze it into the bag), and we were on the trail shortly after 9:00. Where yesterday was hot, dry and cloudless, today was cooler, cloudy and windy. We had one tiny couple of raindrops, but otherwise it was an uneventful, though beautiful ride, first along the shoreline of Yellowstone Lake, then following Yellowstone River, finally cutting into a draw that was our campsite for tonight and tomorrow. Everybody needs rest and this is a lovely, out of the way spot. I managed to get my tent up with only one small correction, and I'm working on getting more air in my skinny mattress than last night, in hopes I will get a full night sleep! I need to stop eating lunch, though, it's way too much food and I'd rather have dinner. It's touch eating on horseback with all the dust. Almost wishing it would rain and settle it, I've had my bandanna over my nose all day, almost! Dinner was chili and cornbread with cheesecake for dessert, and I finally cracked open my box of wine, since we have the day off tomorrow. Back in my tent just after 8:00, sure hoping I get a good night sleep tonight! Good night, sweetheart! Love you!



Hiya Sweetie!
Despite my exhaustion, it still took me awhile to get to sleep last night, and I end up waking up at 3:40 anyway. I got up and took a couple of ibuprofen, and before I knew it, I was barely hearing my alarm! Almost slept through it! As it turned out, I could have slept later, because I decided to just finish the cereal dry that I had leftover from the airport "meal" from yesterday. Got everything packed up and ready, then got a text from my outfitter Chase that he'd be there just before 8:00, so I just read for awhile. He arrived right on time and we got everything loaded in his truck, and we drove about an hour to a trailhead south of Fishing Bridge, where two more trucks with livestock trailers and the rest of the crew and guests were. I met Keaton, the young wrangler working his first summer at Yellowstone, and also a newbie on the Thorofare Trail, Maureen, Chase's wife and partner (and boss :-)), and Ann and Tony from Louisiana, though they spent many seasons volunteering at Yellowstone. It took most of the morning to get everything packed on the horses and mules, and we finally hit the trail around 12:15. The day was glorious! Hardly a cloud in the sky, only a bit of haze from some distant wildfires that hopefully won't interfere with our trip. The first part of the trail still looked pretty barren from a huge fire back in 1988, but eventually we got into some older growth pine forest. We went just under nine miles to a lovely camp right on Yellowstone Lake, arriving around 3:30. I've been assigned a lovely, tall (just under 16 hands) Morgan/TN Walker gelding named Randy, who I 'm glad to report does not have that awful camel walk we experienced with those TN Walkers in Alaska! Of course, it was 3.5 hours of walking, though the mules kicked up a little in their string, so we had to stop briefly to get them straightened out. The lake was so inviting, I ended up putting my bathing suit on and taking a short dunk, which got all the day's dust off. Keaton showed me how to put up my tent, and a really cool self-inflatable mattress and sleeping bag. I reorganized my duffel (this morning I just threw everything in to see if it would all fit. It did, barely), and we had a sausage dinner, and it wasn't long before I came back to my tent to get an early start on my evening. We have a long 20 mile ride tomorrow, and they want to break camp by 7:30, and I saw today just how long it takes to pack these mules, so I'll be up early so I can figure out how to pack all this new gear! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!