Hiya Sweetie!
I took four ibuprofen before bedtime, and that finally seemed to do the trick. I mostly had an excellent night sleep. I woke up around 3:30 and took the opportunity to gaze at the night sky from my tent. Magnificent! Indescribable! Every part of the sky was filled with something amazing! Stars, the Milky Way, galaxies, nebulas, truly indescribable! What magnificence! After being totally awed by the stars, I returned to bed and slept for a few more hours, feeling fully refreshed by the time I started the day. We headed out of camp just after 10:30, and traversed through more pine forests on rocky trails (which has reminded me why I don't want to bring my horses out west!) and went nearly ten slow miles to our next camp. Our trail was slow going with many downed trees, which required our crack wrangler team to clear before we had safe passage. We ran into another string of pack mules on their way to resupply some other camp somewhere near Heart Lake, but otherwise, there wasn't much activity on the trail. We finally reached our camp, which our outfitter had never used before, but because of the peculiar configuration of this trip (with the other two guests leaving after ten days, and me continuing alone for two more days) they've had to do some things differently. Nevertheless, it's a lovely camp, right next to a creek, with lots of grazing for the animals and very convenient for the laundry I intend to do tomorrow. It was another gorgeous day weather-wise, though a bit hot for the locals, though perfect for this Florida gal! Dinner tonight was ribeye steak and a lovely apple dessert, and they even broke out into a rendition of Happy Birthday for me. I had cracked open my Jim Beam honey for the occasion. There were a few brief moments of cell connection which enabled me to send birthday greetings to my friend Jo, who shares my birthday, and found she'd sent me similar wishes as they crossed through cyberspace before I lost the signal. I forgot to mention, when I woke up this morning, a corner of my washcloth was frozen! Anyway, it was a lovely day, a lovely Birthday, and I'm looking forward to a restful day tomorrow! Good night,
darlin'! Love you!

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!

Hi Darlin'!
Despite being tired last night, I had trouble falling asleep, so didn't feel as rested this morning as I had hoped. The day got off to a busy start, out on the trail by 10:30 with the intention of finishing up everything in the Horseshoe Bend Park and leaving only the Frenchtown Preserve to be done tomorrow, but that didn't quite work out. I got most of it done, but had to stop and remove several trees that had come down presumably because of the storm last night. Flash and I worked non-stop until nearly 3:30, and still have a couple of small trails to finish up. Then Richard called and asked for my help, and we ran out a load of woodchips to cover a section on the trail, and ran a small section of the trail, only discover more trees down, one that was totally impassable, so we had to clear all those up. It was nearly 6:00 by the time I got home, and we're going to have an even busier day tomorrow from the looks of it. We now have to run every trail looking for downed trees and any markers that may have come down (though from what I saw, remarkably, the ones I put up during the week seemed to all be still in place!), we have to put the signs out, but we're not going to get them before 10:00, so it will be a late start and a busy day. Off to bed early, with plans to take a Tylenol PM is I don't get to sleep right away, I can't afford another restless night! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hey Babe!
Ribboned another four miles of trails this morning before heading off to town to do a major shopping, to get everything else I need for my trip to Yellowstone. Went to Lowe's first to get an "action hoe" (we used to have one for weeding which was brilliant, hoping to finish off her garden with it sometime soon!) and a shelf board. Then to Walmart for everything else, took several hours to work my way through, though there were quite a few things they didn't have, and one thing I completely forgot despite the fact it was at the top of my list, so the first thing I did after putting groceries away was to get on Amazon and order everything else I need. Hopefully I haven't forgotten anything, or won't forget to pack everything! Filled up with fuel so that's done for my trip to the airport (if Amanda wants to use it), and even managed to get a round bale of hay moved into the horses' pen so I won't have to worry about that anymore! Worked some more on the signs, but am SO READY for bed! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hiya Darlin'!
Busy, busy day! Flash and I headed out early to put ribbons up on several of the private properties that we're using, starting with the pink one that's the most southeast on the course. Got back after noon, and lo and behold, my loppers were sitting on the top step of my trailer!! Moments later, I received a text from Meg telling me that volunteer Al had found them! Amazing! I'm so happy they have been recovered! I took a short break, then grabbed blue and orange and did another seven miles of riding to do some other properties. It was 4:30 by the time I got back and put Flash away, tired but feeling very productive, and very happy about those loppers! Settled down for the evening, did some work on signs for the trails, watched a Haven, ready for shower and bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Sweetie,
I'm very mad at myself. Somewhere along the line yesterday, I lost the foldable loppers that I so depend on when I'm out clearing trails. It was deep in my saddle bags, so I wasn't too worried on the occasions when Flash and I cantered, but somehow, they've disappeared. I went out on Flash this morning, sure that I could find them, and ran the whole trail we took yesterday after the last time I used them, but there was no trace. I posted on the local FB groups, so I'm hoping that someone will find them and turn them in. Grrr!! So mad about that!! I'll be spending a lot more time on the trails this weekend, so who knows, maybe they'll turn up. Meanwhile, Annie and I went out in the side-by-side and finished doing the trim on the rest of the middle eastern section, while Meg did some work on the farm. Ready to start putting up markers tomorrow, at least on the private properties, which shouldn't be disturbed during the week. Need to pace myself, don't want to be exhausted when I leave for Yellowstone! Having trouble viewing TV now, think Verizon is seriously throttling down my usage, even though I upped my plan last month. Don't have time to mess with it now, so I'm doing a lot of reading instead. Did two loads of laundry today, so I'm ready for shower and bed soon! Good night, baby! Love you!

Hi Babe!
Got lots done today! Rode Flash all around the southeast portion of the trails that we'll be using, doing a final trim on all but one section which has yet to be mowed. After that ride, Meg, Annie and I went out in the side-by-side and cleared almost all of the middle eastern section, until all of our equipment ran out of battery power. Not much left though. Got back after 4:30 having had a productive day! Settled down for the evening with some more episodes of Haven (I'm really hooked on that last few seasons), and once again planning for an early bedtime! Good night, darlin'! Love you!