postcard - what day is it, anyway?

just checked computer - 17 june. have i really been on the road for 13 days already? i don't know where to begin and better not even try because it's after 9 pm and i've been up since 5 am and i want to get an early start tomorrow.

i'll say this - "water" seems to be an underlying theme thus far on the trip. how to avoid it for the most part. how not to get stuck in dirt that's been mixed with it. how to break camp very quickly so that you and the tent don't get wet; very helpful especially when the temperature at time of said rainfall is 42. that said, people have been telling me i'm bringing the sunshine with me. other than the close encounter in south dakota that one evening, the days were beautiful. ditto oklahoma, kansas and nebraska and, even though i had to break camp at the 2nd campsite in nebraska before the crack of dawn to avoid a rainstorm, i got ahead of it and went in a different direction than the storm did. knock wood, i've been so very fortunate, weather wise. it didn't rain the two days i was at devil's tower even though it was forecast to do so. it hit at 5 this morning and, let me tell you, i have learned to take that tent down in record time. but i got 3 amazing hikes in while there - despite the 5 million people in the parking lot, i only saw 3 other people on my first hike and all 3 of them were together and they were going in the opposite direction. on my second hike i only saw one other person and i saw him twice - he did the same thing i did - started at one trailhead, got to the finish, then went back the other way. only the fool was running - with those barefoot "shoes." i felt great just being able to walk the darn trail - i can't believe he ran it without stopping. the other 4,999,995 people must have stayed in the ampitheater area or at prairie dog town. on my third hike i didn't see one other person. it was so beautiful - i don't know how i got so lucky that no one else was out there. there were other people camping out but i guess they didn't like to hike.

the first evening when i arrived i set up my tent, went for a short walk and was sitting by my tent reading. this park ranger came by and asked me if i'd be interested in doing a short walk under the tower that evening as it was going to be a full moon. i guess i looked at him a little funny because he quickly added, "it's sponsored by the Park. there's a group of 30." i told him that would be great and he told me where to meet them. i was the 1st one there and for a short while thought maybe i'd misunderstood him as to where to meet. then other cars started driving up. well, as it turns out, this full moon in june tower walk is a big deal. they supposedly limit the group to 30. one woman was so excited - she apparently made her reservation a year ago and planned their entire vacation around the full moon walk. other people also had had reservations for months. i was blown away by my good fortune. and, as it turned out, there were 34 of us.

the ranger (john) was so great - and he really knew his native american history, too. i was so glad he was sharing that information with people - he knew all the native names for "devil's tower" and said them. there were a few teens and younger folks on the walk and i was especially glad they got to hear his stories. before we started out, he asked for a volunteer to stay at the back of the pack so he didn't lose anyone and a woman named sherry volunteered. i think she was a school teacher or coach and she said she was used to bringing up the rear. then he said he needed a volunteer to help him lead at one point as he needed to block a certain area so no one walked off the cliff. no one volunteered so john volunteered me. i started to say, 'no, really. you don't want me to be that person.' but i didn't have my cell phone to call any one of a number of friends who would have helped me convince john i wasn't the right person for the job. so, i just said, "ok - but make sure you go the right way and don't have me fall over the cliff." for some reason, everyone thought that was very funny and under my breath i said, 'if you only knew.'

that said, the walk was amazing and the moon rise was spectacular. the sioux call the full moon in june the moon of ripening berries (although there are a million names for it besides). and it just so happened that earlier that day, there had been a full solar eclipse but we couldn't see it in north america but the photos from various space stations and observatories were incredible. apparently, because of all the ash from the various volcanoes currently erupting on a couple of continents, it appeared as deep, deep red. that's a lousy description of color but i've decided on this trip that there's just no way to describe some things.

if a picture paints a thousand words then i'd like to know what you're supposed to do when you can't even get a picture that does something justice. that's how i feel about every photo i've taken so far. and if texas is the lone star state and illinois is the show me state and florida is the sunshine state then i want to know why wyoming isn't the 'OMG did you see that stop the car again' state. that's how i felt a lot of the time in alaska, too, but i had no idea that wyoming had the range it does. some of it looks like the grand canyon (go figure), part like a snow-skiiers dream come true as well as a hikers, the rivers and lakes were amazing but that brings me back to water. something i had always respected but gained a whole new level of respect for in south dakota. so much respect, in fact, that i cancelled my campsite for tonight after seeing the "creek" rushing by it. earlier in the day, i stopped at the national forest service's office in buffalo (WY). they were extremely helpful and gave me all kinds of maps that i can't read but can give to cj, should he be interested. the woman ranger said to me, 'you're the second woman this week who's stopped in here doing a solo trip with no real plans. i'm envious.' i almost asked her if she wanted to come along - almost being the operative word. anyway, she asked me if i knew highway 14 was closed. if i hadn't realized the 2nd day of my trip not to be disappointed when my very loose plans came undone, i would have really been disappointed today. 14 is the only "connection" to several places i wanted to go. instead i just said, 'no, what happened?' landslide - then she showed me a photo. it just happened day before yesterday. then she said, 'in fact, Forest Service Roads 19, 20 and 21 are the only ones that are for sure open and ok.' she recommended Road 20 - circle ridge of cloud peak. i told her that cloud peak was one of the places i had been hoping to get to off of Hwy 14 so the circle ridge hike sounded like the next best thing. then i asked her why those were the only ones open and she said, 'snow and snow melt.' i said, "oh," like i knew what i was talking about. then she said, 'let me suggest that before you camp out anywhere tonight, you check on the water levels around the area. and when you get to the town of ten sleep (cross my heart) ask them at the gas station about the condition of the back roads.

so, i got to FSR 20 and pulled in. a USFS truck was coming out as i went in but, other than that, there was no one in this whole entire site. there was a camper near the turn off for the trailhead but no one was in it or around it. i'd asked the ranger back in buffalo if there was anything i needed to be mindful of (besides my own backside) and she said that from time to time elk have been seen and that maybe 2 or 3 times in the last five years black bear had been spotted but that neither one were really anything to be worried about. when i got to the area and didn't see one other soul, i really had to talk myself into doing it but i had done all the right things in stopping at the ranger station, asking the right questions, having the right "gear" and i really, really, really wanted to do this hike; especially if it was as close as i was going to get to cloud peak.

i had 3 layers of clothing on (thanks to cj i got the right kind of clothing at REI as opposed to the "cotton kills" items i had packed prior to the advise as to the right kind of clothing -- who knew?) and i tied my heavy duty fleece jacket around my waist. i wore my warmest socks and my hiking boots. had my REI rain jacket in my backpack along with plenty of water, my wallet, car keys, camera, and hanes. i also had the walking stick my kiddos made for me back in 1997. it was an a$$-saver - no joke. i never had to put on the fleece jacket although i came close at one point but i also came close to taking off the 3rd layer at one point so i guess things evened out. i did, however, wear shorts. i hate long pants and my legs almost always stay warm anyway - i guess they get the most work out on the hikes -- besides my mouth, of course. if i say "oh my god" one more time today i think even god's going to get sick of me. i don't know what i'm going to do in my future (who does?) and i know that all i really have is this very moment and those that have come before but today's hike was absolutely the coolest thing - even if i never do anything like it again. then thinking about the hikes and overnights that led up to it, i just can't even believe it's me sometimes. it was like walking in heaven on earth. literally took my breath away at times and i know the photos that i got - even the ones with my camera (which is still in the car) and not my phone don't even begin to do it justice. so, after those 2 1/2 hours (with no critter sightings other than birds), i headed toward where i hoped to camp tonight - medicine lodge campsite. sure enough, the ranger in buffalo was right - almost every other road into a campsite or trailhead was closed. when i got to ten sleep (which was a very cool little town in which i could live happily ever after by the way), i asked the gal at the gas station if the back roads were in good condition. she looked at me and said, 'what do you mean?' i told her the ranger in buffalo told me i should ask before taking them given the snow melt and all. she said, 'well, the creeks and rivers are up a bit but i don't see why you can't take the county roads.' i thanked her and, having learned my lesson in south dakota, took the long way around to medicine lodge and i was glad i did. i was sitting too comfortable even on the paved roads and, when i got to the campsite i had prepared myself to find no one there and to turn around but, no, all of the campsites were full as was the "creek." i wanted to make a megaphone out of cardboard and yell "are you all out of your ever lovin' minds?" but i didn't. i just visited as much of the pictograph and archaeological dig site as i was comfortable doing so that i could get out of there, and over the 5 or 6 other "creeks" i had passed on my way in that seemed about to burst. if there had been even one rain cloud in the sky - instead of the 70 degree gorgeous sky that we had - i wouldn't have even gone into the park/camp/ forest/ whatever. i think the brown signs mean national and green signs mean state.

i kept driving until i passed the turn off for 14 as 14A is supposed to be just fine and i figured that, if i passed 14, i was above the problem area(s). here's hoping that logic pays off and tomorrow i can take 14A over to medicine wheel (not to be confused with medicine lodge) and then up to billings where i'm going to get to spend the night with one of my cousins and his family AND get to see him in a play in which he's performing. due to all of the above, i got myself a room tonight in a little motel (hang on, i hear a siren) . . . back now, apparently a test. i swear, between the tests and the real thing how is anyone from out of state ever supposed to know what the hell is going on? especially when dealing with foreign affairs such as snow melt and landslides and the like in JUNE??? anyway, i got a motel room so i could hang up my tent bits to dry and take a real bath and hopefully get a good night's sleep. i can't do a major hike tomorrow because i need to clean up and be presentable tomorrow evening but i've done 4 major ones (for me) in 3 days so skipping a day won't be a problem -- there's just so much to do and see i'm like a kid in a candy shop; i want one of everything, please.

i know i've left out a few days in here - the "rainbow" day when i was driving through custer state park and turned the wrong way out of the parking lot at the summit and found myself in the middle of a rainbow. one of those moments when neither a picture nor a thousand words would even come close. also spearfish canyon and bridal veil falls and almost getting stuck in the mud on the pineridge reservation when i went to visit wounded knee and manderson and pine ridge.

so, i'm trying to be very smart - checking in at ranger stations everywhere i go or finding out where the nearest one is and checking in (by the way - for anyone else who is ignorant like me of some of these affairs, if you hike in a national forest (at least the semi-remote ones), you have to fill out a registration form. you leave one in a box at the trailhead and keep the other one on your person. don't think i don't know why - just thought i'd let anyone else who didn't know that, know.) i am proud to say, i have MY copy of the registration form for the cloud peak hike in with my "important papers" and i am damn sure going to put it in my baby book when i get home.

signing off and knowing there is so much more. thanks for the emails, the text messages, the calls - reception has been terrible (or good - depending upon how you want to look at it). i have taken a friend or two's suggestion and am letting cory know where i am every night and, if doing a hike in a remote area also letting him know that; of course, those are generally in areas where there's "no service" so he would only get the communication after the fact. interestingly enough, when i was on my 2nd hike at devil's tower, my phone was dead. red bar. zip. then, all of a sudden, my phone rings and it was nowell. i remembered that ranger john had told us the night before that the tower is mostly comprised of phonolite (sp?) and it's properties (think richard dreyfuss and mashed potatoes and thomas edison and alexander graham bell and all that good stuff) . . . anyway, nowell and i talked for almost 20 minutes and the phone didn't die or fade out or have static . . . nothing. after we hung up, i looked at it a few times and it said it had no battery but i called my mom and it worked just perfectly and then my daughter called and it worked perfectly and then i got to my campsite and it was dead as a doorknob. very cool i thought.

i'll leave you with this question i heard from a waitress at a cafe in spearfish, sd. what do the letters "O.K." stand for?

on second thought i'll leave you with this - i totally forgot to mention the hike up and down bear butte. 1,000 foot climb/ 2 miles - so spectacular and sacred. saw no one on the way up, was joined at the summit by a man and his daughter who, i wish, had read up on some of the history of the place before making the trip but i'm trying to be less judgmental so i'll leave it at that. saw a few folks coming up as i was going down - i believe they were of american indian decent and were probably headed up for sacred purposes as it was nearing sundown. near enough that they could get down before dark. the prayer flags and offerings up and down the mountain were so beautiful.

really, that's all for now and i'm too tired to put the photos with the right paragraph. i bet you can connect the dots.