Having good intentions of blogging about my 2015 Summer adventures, I only was able to complete the pre-adventure preamble in August 2015, before departure.
Now, almost a year later, and planning another bike trip (again to the West), my lingering self imposed disappointment of not blogging about the trip has set in, and I have decided to recap the memories of the trip.
Primarily, the reason for doing so is a request (perhaps stated before) that my children made of me a few years ago. They wanted Vickie and me to start writing about our lives and memories. I've recently realized how important this can be to future generations.
Last year (2015) I decided to finish a genealogy project my dad had started decades ago. With help from a friend, and the genius of www.ancestry.com I was able to trace the ancestry of Vickie and me back to when our people first landed in the USA. Along with DNA tests for the two of us, we discovered our lineage was different than we had been told through the years. Otts being a German name, I was always told we came from Germany. Nope, my first people in the USA were from Northern Ireland, named Oates, and the DNA test proved the same. With other ancestors from Britian, and Vickie's ancestors both British and French, we were able to fill in the gaps and provide a family tree that is both interesting and surprising. But, I digress. Writing this will allow the future generations of our family to have a bit of insight into our lives, just as my ancestor tracking discovered a relative who was one of the few female spies for the Confederacy. Her life did not end well!!
OK, back to more recent times. A summary and some pictures of my Summer Adventure of 2015.
Arriving in Denver, I Uber'ed to the place I had stored my BMW, packed and adjusted my gear and started north on I25 towards Wyoming. Several hours later, I met my hiking buddies, Dan and Sam in West Yellowstone. After a good night's rest, re-configuring my gear, and loading up my pack, we departed the next morning for the back country permit office in Yellowstone.
Hiking in Yellowstone back country requires a permit, and a 45 minute video tutorial of the dangers of the park; particularly the Grizzlies. Also required is a LARGE canister of bear spray (which you can rent), lots of warnings from the park rangers, good maps and a sense of adventure. As the week before, a hiker had been killed by a grizzly, we were on high alert for the possible encounter. The Rangers assured us that hiker had broken all the rules; off the trail, listening to music with earbuds, hiking alone, no bear spray, etc. None the less, we blew our whistles, attached bells on our packs, and generally felt like idiots as we walked through blind areas singing and talking loud to "scare" the Grizzlies away.
Yellowstone is over 2 million acres and has over 1000 miles of trails, yet most of the millions of visitors each year don't leave the pavement. Just a little advice, if you go, leave your car and see the beauty that our Creator has made.
We spent five days and four nights hiking and camping in the wilderness. We saw no Grizzlies, only a few other people, and many incredible sights, sounds, and stars.
Now, almost a year later, and planning another bike trip (again to the West), my lingering self imposed disappointment of not blogging about the trip has set in, and I have decided to recap the memories of the trip.
Primarily, the reason for doing so is a request (perhaps stated before) that my children made of me a few years ago. They wanted Vickie and me to start writing about our lives and memories. I've recently realized how important this can be to future generations.
Last year (2015) I decided to finish a genealogy project my dad had started decades ago. With help from a friend, and the genius of www.ancestry.com I was able to trace the ancestry of Vickie and me back to when our people first landed in the USA. Along with DNA tests for the two of us, we discovered our lineage was different than we had been told through the years. Otts being a German name, I was always told we came from Germany. Nope, my first people in the USA were from Northern Ireland, named Oates, and the DNA test proved the same. With other ancestors from Britian, and Vickie's ancestors both British and French, we were able to fill in the gaps and provide a family tree that is both interesting and surprising. But, I digress. Writing this will allow the future generations of our family to have a bit of insight into our lives, just as my ancestor tracking discovered a relative who was one of the few female spies for the Confederacy. Her life did not end well!!
OK, back to more recent times. A summary and some pictures of my Summer Adventure of 2015.
Arriving in Denver, I Uber'ed to the place I had stored my BMW, packed and adjusted my gear and started north on I25 towards Wyoming. Several hours later, I met my hiking buddies, Dan and Sam in West Yellowstone. After a good night's rest, re-configuring my gear, and loading up my pack, we departed the next morning for the back country permit office in Yellowstone.
Hiking in Yellowstone back country requires a permit, and a 45 minute video tutorial of the dangers of the park; particularly the Grizzlies. Also required is a LARGE canister of bear spray (which you can rent), lots of warnings from the park rangers, good maps and a sense of adventure. As the week before, a hiker had been killed by a grizzly, we were on high alert for the possible encounter. The Rangers assured us that hiker had broken all the rules; off the trail, listening to music with earbuds, hiking alone, no bear spray, etc. None the less, we blew our whistles, attached bells on our packs, and generally felt like idiots as we walked through blind areas singing and talking loud to "scare" the Grizzlies away.
Yellowstone is over 2 million acres and has over 1000 miles of trails, yet most of the millions of visitors each year don't leave the pavement. Just a little advice, if you go, leave your car and see the beauty that our Creator has made.
We spent five days and four nights hiking and camping in the wilderness. We saw no Grizzlies, only a few other people, and many incredible sights, sounds, and stars.
As has been said, a picture is worth a thousand words, so see a few thousand words in these images.
The obligatory beginning picture
Making sure the Grizzlies didn't get our food.
All the comforts of home.
I prefer hammock camping instead of a tent, much more comfortable and light weight. The rain fly worked well the one time we had rain.
We had several water crossings. August is the best time to go; earlier in the summer and the water crossings are much deeper and harder.
Purifying our water along the way
A cold beer was a welcome treat at the finish line.
The obligatory beginning picture
Beware of narrow shoulders and wildlife.
I used a Dixon rollerpack instead of the traditional back pack. Great for us older folks.
This water crossing required a little more effort; it was about thigh deep. Had to convert the roller pack to a back pack. That's me on the far side working up my courage to get across.
