Rough Terrain, Eh

Western Expedition 2021

    Our story begins like everyone else's "We had grand plans for 2020.... then the pandemic hit".  This trip was firming up in early 2020.  We planned a National Park loop for Genna's 4th grade year (Every Kid in a Park) since she has always had a desire to see Yellowstone. Google was mapped, spreadsheets were tallied, campsites in popular parks were booked, and All Trails was consulted.  When Covid hit we wavered until the last minute and eventually canceled those August dates. Thankfully all sites had generous cancellation policies in 2020.  We were fairly Covid cautious, so cancelling was prudent.  Some parks, like Yellowstone and the Tetons counted more recreational visits in August 2020 than 2019.  We were resolved to stay out of the fray and expand the garden instead.  

    In early 2021, halfway into a fully virtual school year, we wondered if we should reschedule our trip for this summer.  Every Kid in a Park had extended its free pass to 5th graders this year due to the Pandemic and Genna had even studied the wolves of Yellowstone in her science curriculum this year.  I let the advance booking windows come and go as we left many what-if boxes unchecked all spring.  What would Jeff's work obligations be? What would we do with the garden?  Would the Boyan Grandparents be able to come to Michigan (to watch the garden!)? What was up with vaccines and the peaks and waves of Covid?  

    In mid-April the eldest 3 of us were vaccinated and Jeff had a summer gig with 2 farm garden outfits which he felt obligated to see through the season.  As soon as he floated the idea of making it a girls-only trip, I immediately engaged Mom (AKA, Babçia) to see if she was in.  I think I took his offer faster than he expected and just like that, Papa was out and Babçia was in.  

    

    There were some route changes from the original 2020 itinerary.  Rocky Mountain National Park was combating overcrowding with ticketed entries and had no more reservable summer campsites by April. Routing through northern Colorado would have enabled stops at Dinosaur National Monument and my old CCO haunts near Snow Mountain Ranch.  Last year we would have also stayed in a covered wagon at the Ingalls Homestead in South Dakota, as Genna had just finished bingeing the book and TV series.  

    With RMNP out of contention, I came across the Snowy Range area of Medicine Bow National Forest in southern Wyoming.  It was the perfect addition to the loop and was more off the beaten path of popular National Parks.  I specifically wanted to add some genuine backpacking to our car-camping itinerary.  With the change in my co-pilot, I tried to find trails that were both grandma, tween, and flatlander friendly.... and fretted about those choices endlessly.  Our dates were pinned in by the meager availability of campsites left in Yellowstone and the Tetons.  I quickly booked all the sites possible for the first 2 weeks in August.  With that, I present the following trip report, fondly remembered as, "Rough Terrain, Eh"

Babçia, co-pilot.  

First in the rotation of music selectors - oldest to youngest.  

We learned many new country songs.

DAY 1. (Sunday)  Kalamazoo to Albert Lea, MN, 544 miles. 

Day 1 was August 1st.

Hmm, Chicago seems kind of smoggy today.  

    We were the only family with masks in the (#EatinGoodInTheNeighborhood) chain for dinner. Since we are travelling with unvaccinated minor, we avoided further indoor dining experiences. 

DAY 2. (Mon)  Albert Lea, MN to Badlands National Park, 477 miles.

    The visibility across the Missouri River on the I-90 in South Dakota (@ the Dignity Statue) gave the approach drive an air of impending doom.  We first noticed the smog haze when we rounded Lake Michigan in Chicago and it stuck with us all the way to Wyoming. I had been keeping a virtual "eye" on air quality reports from the increasingly dire annual Western Fire Season. I'd seen some pictures of our destinations that didn't look promising, but there was nothing to do but hope the winds would be in our favor.

    Plopping this trip in the least populated state (WY) during the August Perseid Meteor Shower was strategic.  Since our part of Michigan has terrible light pollution I always dream of experiencing the Perseids out West.  Well, our first night of camping in South Dakota looked like (above).  All summer, the topic of the evening ranger program at Badlands National Park is "Night Sky Viewing", which they apologized that we would not be able to see much.  Would wildfires burning in the Western US and Canada ruin our trip? Block the stars everywhere? Cause health concerns? Close areas?  It did not look promising as we continuously gazed west for the first 1500 miles.  The Badlands ranger was able to point out a few things and Genna kept the lesson of Vega being the brightest star directly overhead us each night. 

    At the Badlands we drove part of the Loop Drive from Cedar Pass to Pinnacles Overlook.  The girls were not in a very exploratory mood in the heat, but we did get out and find a quick drainage to check out a series of ephemeral windows in the crumbly fins.  While the daytime heat was uncomfortable, the night time was remembered as one of our best camping nights, as we underestimated exactly how cold it would get in the mountains ahead. 

    This blog entry might have preliminarily been titled, "3 Generations: Annoying each other through 3000 miles, 3 national parks, and 3 Western States." Multi-generational travel is not for the faint of heart! But another catch phrase stuck with us from the beginning.  At sunset, the girls and I drove up to the Notch trailhead and were ominously warned of "Rough Terrain" and the need for "sturdy hiking boots".  There is a log and cable ladder to climb a steep section and some exposed ledges on this short/famous hike, but it was laughably "rough" to the girls. We proceeded to the Notch view giggling all the way (in an Aussie accent).  It was a nice way to cap off 2 long days of initial driving and begin the adventure on a silly note.

If bad things have to come in threes, here are our 3.  (after the whole West is on Fire - could ruin the entire trip thing, obvi)

1.  On camping night 1 I discovered that the tent pole I just repaired before the trip was going to be of no use as it immediately splintered from the severe arc required of the tent design.  The tent was usable for the remainder as long as it could back up to a tree or picnic table to tie anchors to.   (We travel with 2 small two person tents as they are more compact combined than our one large family tent... when cargo space is limited, or if backpacking is on the agenda)

2.  On camping morning 1, I realized I had forgotten the jelly packets and it was bagel day.  No worries, we switched to oatmeal day and put jelly on our grocery list for resupply #1. 

3.  I did not bring any Father John Misty.

DAY 3. (Tue)  Badlands National Park to Pactola Reservoir, SD. 96 miles.

    The trip originally allotted 2 nights in the Badlands.  When I looked at the weather closer to our departure and saw temps crossing into the 100s, I scratched day 2 and looked for a lake in the Black Hills for a respite.  The Pactola Reservoir is 2 hours west of the Badlands and provided a lovely swimming hole.  We picnicked at Jenny Gulch on the north side (and found some meager cliff jumping - we had been on the wrong side of the peninsula that had a great cliff) and overnighted at the campground on the south side.  Beware, the Marina store might be closed by 8pm if you want to walk a mile uphill for ice cream. 

DAY 4. (Wed)  Pactola Reservoir to Mirror Lake, Bighorn National Forest, WY.  260 miles

Elevation Progress: Kalamazoo 784', Pactola 4580', Mirror Lake 9600'

    Since we got a light rain at Pactola last night but wanted to leave early, we bagged our damp tents and hit the road to the Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming.  The aforementioned fretting about backpacking itineraries was due to the following factors: I had my mind set on seeing the cirque-like Lost Twin Lakes in the Cloud Peak Wilderness.  We had 2 nights budgeted for the outing and the hike was only 3 miles to Mirror Lake and then 2.5 miles to Lost Twin.  I tried to explain the logistics to my crew of toting gear for 3 miles, gaining 500 feet of elevation and setting up base camp on the first day.  Then day hiking to Lost Twin 2.5 miles up 800 feet higher and then back down to Mirror for the second night.  Sounded reasonable for relatively fit individuals, except for the possibility of elevation sensitivity with little time for acclimation, and a pre-trip ankle roll that limited July conditioning for Mom.  However, everyone sounded agreable - just like I sound agreeable when I let Jeff plan our international travels and go along with whatever he comes up with because that is easier than doing the research myself.  The unaccounted factor was the weather.

    We arrived at West Tensleep Lake Campground, which I had booked as a pre-trail basecamp in a prior iteration of the itinerary, at noon.  It was fortunate that I hadn't cancelled it because we used the site for two and a half hours to dry our wet tents, have lunch, and organize backpacking gear.  None of us had done a shake down hike with heavy packs and most of the crew was surprised by their loads.  Mom had the least ergonomic pack of the lot, which I rationalized as our family didn't really need a 5th internal frame pack at this time and I had hoped to give her the least weight.

    We stepped onto the trail at 2:45pm (Rocky Mountain aficionados can anticipate what happened later). It was slow going as there were some steep sections and everyone acclimated to their packs.  There were 2 clearly signed forks and we had the All Trails App, which GPS'd us even without cell service.  At each break, the girls and I tried to redistribute gear out of Babçia's pack into our own despite her protests. The girls really stepped up and exhibited some rare selflessness in the situation.  Complaining took a backseat to compassion and the recognition of their strength cancelled out hike-whining.  

    At one point about halfway in we encountered a lone dayhiker who enquired where we were going.  When we said, "Mirror Lake", he attempted to explain that we were on the wrong trail and were one fork south of where we thought.  Based on my confidence in map skills, the fact that I had been studying this route for 18 months, and the corroborating blue dot on the All Trails GPS, I told him we were going to proceed in our direction. As we parted, he oddly veered off trail into the bush.  We immediately encountered more day hikers that confirmed they had just come from Mirror Lake.  

    

    After a nice trailside waterfall, a steep ascent began.  When we reached the bald top, thunder began rolling to the north.  At my lesson to avoid high treeless points in a thunderstorm, we headed down to the next valley where Tensleep Creek meets the inlet stream to Mirror.  The Coloradoan refrain of "High by noon, down by 2:00," rang in our ears as it began to hail.  We took cover under a rainfly in the bushes while it quickly passed in less than 20 minutes.  After the last short steep UP, we arrived at Mirror Lake.  Those 3 miles took us 3 hours, but who's counting? (This sounds so wimpy in hindsight. I guess you had to be there.)

Clear Lake, Skies still hazy.

    Throughout the evening we got to practice many backcountry skills like filtering water, making dinner in mosquito head nets, and bear hanging the food.  We all hit the hay by 8pm.  I slept poorly as the temperature dropped into the 30s.  Mom and I both got out during the night and noticed that the stars were excellent.  

DAY 5. (Thur) Mirror Lake to (Spoiler alert) Thermopolis, WY.  85 miles

    In the morning the group decided not to do the day hike to Lost Twin and spend another night at Mirror Lake due to night temps and tiredness.  This left an open day in our itinerary. I had Thermopolis in the back of my mind from the time Jeff and I stopped there during our 2004 trip.  It is known for its large hot spring and accompanying state park.  With poor cell service on the ride there, we could not do much research on camping options and settled on the "Fountain of Youth RV Park".  This was one of those times where the most expensive option ends up being the worst of the trip.  One thing The Fountain had going for it was a large mineral warm & hot pool and laundry facilities.  Otherwise, it was a windy, dirt parking lot between a 2 lane highway and a freight train track. The concrete (or caliche) subsurface prevented many attempts at staking our tents.  There was no dish station or even water accessible to folks that travel without hoses, and the free WiFi* was too weak to boost the girls spirits. In better circumstances, the rotten egg sulfur smell of the hot springs may have added an air of authenticity, but here it just added insult to injury.  A VERY LONG freighter chugged past around midnight, 50 yards from our heads. 

*tech note: immediately before the trip Genna received a long awaited opportunity to own a (modern) iPhone in the form of a hand-me-down (which she will purchase) from Aunt Courtney.  This put her in the unfortunate stage of initial device addiction which caused much annoyance through a vacation in which window gazing is more accepted than nose-in-Candy-Crush.  Maya is noticeably more tempered in her phone usage by now, but admittedly they both binged on screen time during this trip.  Parenting, Eh?

DAY 6. (Fri)  Thermopolis to Wapiti, WY.  104 miles

    Of course it rained overnight in the dust lot that has no trees to string a clothesline to dry our damp tents.  We plastic bagged them and set out to enjoy the many diversions Thermopolis had to offer.  Mom spontaneously decided to treat us to a morning of kayaking on the the Bighorn River.  Note: the locals refer to their hometown as, "Thermop".  We booked our outing with 30 minutes notice and were shuttled with boats down to the "Wedding of the Waters" put-in and left to our own devices on the clear, calm river for 2 hours.  In typical Genna fashion, she began the endeavor with major whining but soon got comfortable and we all enjoyed the not-too-hot morning on the Bighorn.  We only lost Babçia once who has a history of paddle-craft navigational challenges (See Kampot, Cambodia)

    

    Midday we set our sights on Hot Springs State Park where Jeff and I had sampled the free public mineral pools 17 years ago.  Today we skipped the soak and hiked through their bison pasture and walked by the travertine terraces.  I didn't recall all the amusement-park like features that are built up around the State Park now. We capped off Thermop with an outdoor lunch at the Black Bear Cafe, which sits kitty-corner to the Swastika building downtown. 

    The 80 mile stretch of high desert between Therm and Cody was too desolate to keep Mom awake.  Almost me too! That after lunch driving shift is not easy!  We rendezvoused in Cody, not for its famous Rodeo-every-night-of-the-summer, but for the Walmart so we could resupply groceries and shop for extra layers for the cool Yellowstone nights ahead.  I have a 30 degree sleeping bag, the kids have 10's, and Mom was using Jeff's 20.  None were cutting it, although the kids slept relatively through most nights and were often un-mummied!  The kids got extra fleece blankets to wrap in but it was too early in the season to find gloves.  I skipped any additions as a silent protest to items I could have brought from home even though I am notoriously the coldest person in the family.

    We booked our pre-Yellowstone night in Wapiti (because there was no availability in Cooke City, MT by the time we were scheduling.) That changed our prospective Northeast Entrance through the Hayden Valley (Wolf territory) to the East Entrance with a planned avoidance of all north ends of the park, due to the Tower Road Closure inconveniencing the loops. (This section was closed during our 2004 visit also, so maybe I will never traverse Dunraven Pass!)  While at the Yellowstone Valley Inn we caught up on the Olympics, showers, WiFi, and a good night's sleep.  We also took some time to review upcoming maps and ultimately re-negged on next week's proposed 2 day, 12 mile, 11,000 ft elevation Medicine Bow backpacking plan in favor of some day hikes.  

DAY 7. (Sat) Wapiti, WY - Madison Campground, Yellowstone.  140 miles

        We awoke in Wapiti to a meager continental breakfast at the Inn and this view up the Shoshone River.  Yellowstone to the west lay deep in the haze.   This was the first day I smelled smoke in the air. Was it forest fires or campfires from the RV park?  I never smelled it again throughout the trip.

    One notable alert from this summer was that high-water temperatures and low stream flows prompted limited fishing closures in Yellowstone National Park.  When we reached the shores of Yellowstone Lake we were surprised that (1) you could not see to the other side due to its vastness and the haze, and (2) the water was, in fact, not as frigid as you would expect an alpine lake to be.  

    We spent the morning making our way up the Lamar Valley, spotting an odd buffalo or 2 in the meadows, and marvelling at the clarity of the Yellowstone River as we paralleled it up to the Falls at Canyon Village.  Despite the tweens' protest, we stopped for a stretch at the short Mud Volcano/Dragon's Breath walk (below) and met some self-proclaimed nerds that came equipped with their own infrared laser thermometers to measure the springs and vents.  I don't think they were that effective from the safe distance enforced by the boardwalks.

    At the Falls Overlooks, I discovered, or was reminded, that Uncle Tom's stairs were closed due to Covid, although no more social distancing was afforded on most other trails.  Instead we went to Artist's Point and then did the switchbacks down to the Brink of the Lower Falls.  The Canyon Visitor Center was mostly closed, as were most others in Yellowstone and Tetons.  Of course the stores remained open.  

    For lunch we looped through the Virginia Falls drive and picniked at the east end where Maya executed a spectacular crash and burn as she blindly leapt over some marshy high grass.  In the early afternoon we decided we had time for the 42 mile roundtrip detour up and back to Mammoth Hot Springs, which we planned to skip.  We aren't getting much off the beaten path in the Park, so we might as well do all the scenic drives we can.  

    On the way to our night's destination we begged the girls to stay in the car so we adults could enjoy the short Artist's Paintpots loop walk in peace, but they insisted on complaining (mostly Genna) along the entire way.  Our day ended at Madison Campground which was very nice.  Maya declared it her favorite of the trip so far due to the forested setting, soft pine needle footing, clean bathrooms, and dish sink.  Mom and I walked along the Madison River a bit before dinner and saw swimmers.  When I took Maya back later that evening we were shocked to discover the temperature was indeed bearable so we waded in and out up to our knees for a while.  Too bad the kids were not in a better mood to try this earlier! Mom took the bear country precautions to heart and kept our camp spic and span for the night.

DAY 8 (Sun). Madison to Grant Village, Yellowstone.  57 miles

     This day ended up being a low point in group morale as the kids were getting bored which coincided with the lack of WiFi and limited driving to re-charge phones.  I let Mom plan the day through the famous and popular Upper/Lower Geyser Basins.  We drove all the side loops and stopped at more paint pots.  The girls got some fun shots of rainbows through the vents on Firehole Lake Drive.

    The Grand Prismatic Spring is one of the most astonishing Yellowstone features in my memory. It was expectedly crowded but overwhelmingly so for Maya. We also planned the Fairy Falls hike which included the GPS overlook.  The girls made it to the overlook and then went back to the car while Mom and I continued to the falls. After a grumpy morning that consisted of waking from another cold night, disappointingly awful salted caramel tea, begrudged trudging, fights about wearing shoes not sandals to hike, and wanting to go home, it was a welcome break in our party.  The girls were forced to team up for safety in the perceived "creepy" parking lot and bond over the joys of people-watching while Mom and I enjoyed a quiet hike. 

    With renewed spirits we relaxed with a picnic while waiting an hour or so for Old Faithful to erupt.  We landed at Grant Village campground for the evening and did not enjoy its gravelly uneven sites and older facilities as much as Madison.  Before dinner we drove up to West Thumb where Mom and I hiked the Geyser Basin on the lakeshore while the girls waited in the car. 

DAY 9 (Mon). Yellowstone to Grand Tetons.  76 miles

        Upon setting eyes on Jackson Lake, which is looking pretty low this season (see below), Maya declared the Grand Tetons her favorite place and today was going to be a good day.  Forgoing further objections to her finishing the trip entirely in Tevas engendered feelings of cooperation and taking responsibility for one's own happiness!

    The parking lot to Jenny Lake Visitor Center was backed up to the highway so we hiked in, got our passport stamps, stickers, trail recommendations, ice cream, and were ready to tackle a day hike.  We chose Taggart Lake and I planned to sneak Bradley Lake into the walk since no one else pays attention to the maps and it is easier to have them go into it blindly than forewarn that it will be a 5 mile loop.  The girls balk at any sentence that has the word "mile" in it.  At the trailhead we encountered a crew from Penn State doing a trail crowding perception survey.  After the 2nd and 3rd person asked how many people we thought we passed between checkpoints, Genna caught on and began a tally for accuracy, which was noticed by the final 2 checkpoints. (Chip off the old bean-counter block). 

    Taggart Lake was lovely, clear, and blue so continuing up to Bradley was an easy sell.  A supply of fruit snacks helps, too - no matter how old they get. With the elevation gain and sun exposure, they were tired, but did great.  Maya has been collecting rocks, so that kept her interest (I know! NO collecting specimens from Parks, but I hesitate to discourage a possible geology enthusiast).  Despite the ominous early days of haze, we had been having a couple bluebird days here in the big parks, thankfully! 

Genna's interpretation of the Grand 'Feetons' at Bradley Lake.

    We camped at Gros Ventre in the south end of the park.  Blacktail Butte obscures views of the Tetons so we had to drive around for sunset, which was a dud, color-wise.  On the way back we ran into a group of onlookers that spotted a moose, so Babçia checked off one more large-mammal sighting adding to the elk and bighorn sheep we saw in Yellowstone and the bison in Thermopolis. 

    As the peak of the Perseid was approaching, and the air quality improved, it was a good night to begin meteor-watch.  Genna stayed up with me for a bit to view a patch of sky amongst the trees around our picnic table and we saw 4 in about 30 minutes.  It was too cold to stay up too late.  This was the 2nd most freezing night so far, 34 degrees!

DAY 10 (Tues). Grand Tetons to Flaming Gorge, UT.  253 miles

        Remember my top 3 bad things that went wrong in the top of this post?  Well, stopping at the bougie Albertsons in Jackson, WY to resupply groceries then discovering a Walmart in Rock Springs was another one.  We didn't even get to see Jimmy or Chai. 

    I was looking forward to seeing the western side of the Wind River Range as we made our way south down the west side of Wyoming.  They were nice and craggy but a lifeless grey in the midday light without a spec of snow.  What was most intriguing was an M.C. Escher feat of engineering that allowed Highway 191 to seem to descend south, while the parallel Hoback River flowed NORTH alongside us.

    We saw many pronghorns, a couple wild horses, and plenty of sage on the deserted highway down to the Utah (best state in the US) border.  An impromptu stop in Rock Springs to see the BLM Wild Horse lots gave Genna the idea to adopt one and we experienced a dust devil wreak havoc on the dirt paddocks and their captives.  By afternoon it was very hazy again, now to the east (Colorado).  We arrived at Mustang Ridge Campground in time to explore Sunny Cove Beach before dinner.  We found some good cliff jumping and by the time we swam across the mouth of the cove, we were exhausted and chilled in the wind.  It is a rare night that Maya is too tired for dinner!  Our heathen girls welcomed some "Late Night Catechism" with Babcia, then we all re-learned Farkle, which Genna won.  We saw 4-6 meteors from 9:30 - 10:20pm. 

   

DAY 11 (Wed). Flaming Gorge and Green River, UT.  

13 road miles, 7 river miles

        Did you notice that this is the FIRST day we did not have to break camp in the morning!  True to Carroll travel style, our trips provide no rest for the weary.

     Water does wonders for many kids, mine are no exception.  I knew Flaming Gorge had the potential to be a trip highlight due to the opportunities for aquatic recreation, which trumps hiking by a landslide in their minds.  I was skeptical upon researching the boat rental program at Dutch John Resort.  They let any random person rent an inflatable raft and pilot it 7 miles down the Green River without a guide.  As I only have experience with guided rafting trips, it seemed unlikely that a layman could do this.  With an experienced First Mate on board, I decided, what the heck.  Obviously, this stretch of the Green does not require any advanced training and includes a few Class I (maybe? I guess) rapids.  The river was crystal clear, full of trout, and too cold to swim in.  We mightily tackled the rapids like seasoned boatmen and Genna enjoyed lining the boat (for no good reason) in the very river John Wesley Powell began his famous Grand Canyon expedition, which included much lining!

    

     When we got off the river at Little Hole the shuttle returned us to the resort where Babçia and the girls did laundry and WiFi while I zipped over to the Flaming Gorge Dam Visitor Center for stamps and views.  They have an excellent relief map of the reservoir and surrounding areas of the Ashley National Forest.  

    Upon returning to camp, Maya and Babçia opted for the "nice" showers while Genna and I hiked it out back at the cove where we scrambled the cliffs and jumped back in for lake baths.  The water temp was Becky-approved.  After-dinner conversation touched on wishing Papa and Grandpa could be here with us, and then speculating how they would each handle this type of trip.

DAY 12 (Thur). Dutch John, UT to Medicine Bow Peak, WY.  253 miles

        After the earliest de-camp yet, we arrived in the Snowy Range of Medicine Bow National Forest by noon and scored site #3 at the Sugarloaf Campground.  I have to say this is the most gorgeous frontcountry site I have ever experienced.  Sitting at 10,800 feet it overlooks a private meadow to the east with signs of moose. Medicine Bow, Browns Peak, and Sugarloaf Mountain round out the north and western horizons. The area is full of alpine lakes. 

    In the afternoon we drove up to the Lewis Lake Trailhead (not realizing it was walking distance).  We hiked a bit up the Medicine Bow Peak trail (not intending to go far) with Maya waiting in the car, but after 10 minutes she ran to catch up to us.  I am glad she did.  It was stunning. The rocks were incredible (tons of quartzite for Maya). Lakes, wildflowers, and marmots popped up in all directions. The girls enjoyed scrambling up a boulder field on the northside of Sugarloaf and we had a short chill hike that revitalized everyone. 

    The evening moose-watch in our camp meadow only produced a cool owl and some bats.  Stargazing was cut short due to dropping temps but we did catch a few more Perseids before bed. 

The flattop in the background below is Brown's Peak which we opted not to circumnavigate in a 12 mile backpacking loop.  Instead we had fun day hiking the highlights of the area.  Do you see Genna below?

    On the first afternoon we filtered water from Lewis Lake because we didn't notice the pump at the campground. The next day when we found it, the water came out very silty (below right) so we filtered it as well (left jug). 

DAY 13 (Fri). Sugarloaf Campground and surrounding hikes

        The last camping day was the second instance of staying in one place for 2 nights. Being the COLDEST nights yet made it tough, but it was worth the views. Despite the temperature, the weather was perfect, afternoon clouds with no rain, and bluebird skies all day. 

    Our last hurrah was to day hike the 4 mile southern section of the Brown's Peak Loop which contains the bulk of the alpine lakes between Lewis and Brooklyn Lakes.  To eliminate backtracking, we took advantage of our 2 driver situation and split up.  Babçia and Genna hiked east from Lewis to pick up the car that Maya and I shuttled to Brooklyn and we met in the middle.  After driving past the alternate campsites at Brooklyn and Nash Fork, the superiority of Sugarloaf was confirmed.  Nonetheless, either of those would have been perfectly pleasant.

      Babçia and Genna reached us a ways before we hit our mid-point as they were taking the more downhill route and we started with a big incline.  Genna was in charge of the All Trails App on her phone, to foster her knack for navigating, and to assuage Babçia's fear of taking a wrong turn.  It would have been hard to get lost on this trail.  They reported an enjoyable walk taking selfies, finding images in the rock faces, and dramatising supposed animal encounters.  I warned Babçia of a dirt road turnoff to avoid (which she didn't) and sent them to find the car.  I loved walking solo with Maya and talking about the opportunities ahead of her in High School Art and her interest in being an exchange student.  She continued to pocket all the quartzite that "called to her."  It took us 2 hours to get back to the campsite, and we beat the other team due to their wrong turn.  

    After lunch and a siesta I was determined to make it to the Gap between North and South Gap Lakes regardless of anyone joining me.  After some wishy washiness about being left alone or worse - left with only their sister, Babçia decided to stay and Maya opted to come.  In the 2 miles up to the Gap and we passed 7 lakes!  The last part of the climb was a cool boulderfield, which would have been a hazard to Babçia's ankle and Genna's proclivity to parkour.  At 11,020' the Gap was literally the high point of the trip.  Thanks for taking on one more stretch of rough terrain, Maya (in Tevas)!  

        

 

    I think of myself as mostly a canyon lover (#Utah, #ColoradoPlateau), but this trip reacquainted me with the Rockies and I'll definitely plan more visits to alpine environs in the future.

DAY 14-15 (Sat-Sun). Wyoming to Kalamazoo. 1181 miles.

    Without the Medicine Bow backpacking endeavor, the trip was cut short by one day.  We did the bulk of driving home on Saturday all the way to Walnut, IA. The extra distance was partially because there was no room at the inns in Council Bluffs due to some concert or conference that we never figured out what it was.  The final day was a shorter drive through the heartland, severely delayed at the typical  I-80, I-94, I-65 interchanges around the south shore of Lake Michigan.   We were home just in time for garden dinner courtesy of farmer Jeff. 

    

Trip Stats:

• Final Odometer Reading: 3,582 miles in 15 days
• States travelled through: 10 - MI, IN, IL, WI, MN, SD, WY, UT, NE, IA
• National Parks visited: 3 - Badlands, Yellowstone, Tetons
• National Forests visited: 4 - Blackhills, Bighorn, Ashley, Medicine Bow
• Most played CD: Harry Styles "Fine Lines" or Greta Van Fleet "From the Fires"
• Highest Elevation: 11,020' @ Gap Lakes, Medicine Bow
• Number of Campfires: ZERO! Global Warming People! Campfires are an unnecessary indulgence. 
• Number of hotel nights: 3
• Number of nights in tents: 11
• Number of grocery and laundry stops: 2
• Number of tabs in the planning spreadsheet: 8