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!
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