Much of the wildlife in Yellowstone is accustomed to the roads and cars.It was a bit of a shock to encounter so much large fauna after seeing mostly small lizards, birds, and rodents.
June 5 was one of those unspectacular but absolutely necessary days. We drove to a Starbucks to check our email (trying to lease a NYC apartment from a backcountry trail is a bit difficult) and the weather reports for our next possible hikes.
We had hoped to do a beautiful hike in Central Idaho, but the rangers were uninformative and mostly apathetic when we called. To the questions, "how high are the trails cleared? can we make it through a 9000 foot pass without snowpack?" got the response, "Not too sure, nobody's been up that way. You'll probably hit some snow." We bagged it, decided to just drive through Idaho and go to Yellowstone.
We entered the park in the evening, spoke to a lovely man who gave us the best bets for what sections of the park would be open and enjoyable, and looked through the staff trail & weather report binder. We noted our favorites, then went to a campground at Norris.
I pulled on my fleece, hat, and thermals as I started to make dinner and wondered how I could be in a park where 95% of the trails were in winter conditions and the day before I had been trying to avoid heatstroke. The answer: Wyoming is a crazy place.
Vastly Improved Car-Camping Mish Mash
- 1 small onion, sliced
- 1 small handful pine nuts
- 1 can olives with brine
- 3 c water
- 1 heaping cup red lentils
- parmesan to taste
Lightly char the onions in dry pot.
Add pine nuts and toast till fragrant.
Add olive juice and water and bring to a boil.
Stir in lentils. Cook over low heat 30 minutes, stirring occasionally
Turn off heat, stir in olives & garnish with parmesan.
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