I've enjoyed another fantastic Wyoming trip recently.......the worst day in the mountains still beats the best day (yet) in the office, so the come-down is pretty hard this evening, especially since I've been up since 4 and taken 3 flights and driven 2 hours to get home. Still beats driving there and back, though. So, I've got almost 400 photos to pour through - I won't post all of them, but have decided on some initial categorization: Mountain Scenery, Animals, Other Scenery, and Drive-By Shootings. The latter category I do with a small digital handheld camera, and just like the name suggests, shoot photos while driving. I've become addicted to this activity since first acquiring that camera.
Some initial stats:
- Miles driven: 132 (you don't have to go far in
- Frustrating crowds encountered: 1 (in airport)
- New Friends made: 6
- Interesting International Travelers encountered, all from places I've been able to visit: 4
- Authors met when unknowingly buying their book: 1
- New books bought: 8
- Personal Mishaps: 1 (thought I tore my knee but it turns out I have a tendonitis problem, which resulted in my buying some new Leki trekking poles (pronounced CANES)
- Music most listened to while hiking (occasionally): John Denver
- Campout nights: 4
- Hotel nights: 4 (when I arrived it stormed a bit; and one before my dawn departure, for the sake of a shower)
- Trout illegally caught and eaten: 2
- Salads made from plants pulled fresh from the earth (with guidance from a new book): 3
- Animals spotted: mink, chimpmunks, squirrels, buffalo, wolf, marmots, birds, elk, coyote, moose, bear scat and lion prints.
- Miles trekked: averaged 10 per day (bad weather not a non-hiking factor)
- Total elevation gain trekked: 14,000 feet (cumulative). What goes up must come down - hence the knee problem.
- Cold days: 2
- States visited: Michigan (DTW airport); Minnesota (a first! layover at Minneapolis), Montana (layover in Billings) Idaho (had breakfast there on day one and hiked into Alaska Basin on last day)
- Burning hot days that roasted my skin despite spf 45: 3 (and it didn't even hit 80)
- Extreme activity attempted: 1 (paragliding - jumping off of Cody Bowl in a tandem hookup with a professional jumper). Total unassisted flight time: just under 30 minutes.
- Number of times mistaken for a local (asked for directions, trail information, recommendations): 4
- New Ideas: A few; not as many on this trip; very zen, very quiet-minded hiking. A new goal though: if it doesn't get me into the mountains, don't do it (or question thoroughly)
- Number of times I thought about work: 0.
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