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!
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