Well, it was good I went to bed at 9pm so I could wake up at 2am and look at the stars. During which I was able to see the galaxy, milky way and all the stars on a star chart, they were all in the sky. It was so beautiful. I am glad I got up to pee middle of the night, otherwise I would have missed this spectacular view in the sky. I managed to keep warm with all the layers of clothing I had on last night. Sleeping in a snow jacket made all the difference in blocking out chills.
I got up at 4am to listen to birds and watched the
exchange of colors of the moon and sun in the sky.
Then I drove to wait in line to put my name on the camping
waitlist. I did not see elks this
morning in the meadow or at the crossing.
I wondered where they went. After
I put my name on the list, I went back to bed in attempt to fall asleep but I
found it to be unsuccessful.
I decided to drive
back again to save myself an hour of back and forth walking to check my campsite
assignment at 8:15am. I chatted with a
ranger about flowers, birds, and the elks.
I thought the elks reside here and he said it isn’t a common occurrence. I looked out the meadow and saw so many herds of elks in
the past three days here.
Ranger Mychala was there again training the elder
gentleman on the computer. Here at the
kiosk they use computer for registration, and for advanced reservations. The first come first serve one is a manual
processing and cash only. You can write your credit card number and use it, but they charge a service fee I think.
I was assigned #142D and was told #142D hasn’t checked
out so I could not get a parking permit for that campsite, nor will I be able
to turn my parking permit in for #77A the one I just slept in last night because I have yet to pack up my gear. So I packed fast. I seem to be getting better at this and drove
to my new site anyways despite the instructions.
I saw the backpack etc.. on the table and so I parked
across from the site at #141 and looked out the meadow as I waited. I felt fatigued and closed my eyes while sitting up
in the hot sun. I opened my eyes at 11a,
and the things were all gone, camp has cleared out. I then got going to set up my tent.
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| Magpie Bird |
I still felt so tired, I finally decided to go back to my
tent and sleep under the blazing sun hoping to not get heat stroke. I opened my rainfly. At 2pm, I heard the Pearse family show up at
the next site. When I heard them I knew
exactly why I was at this site. I was to
wait to meet them.
Scarlet is a beautiful sandy curly blond at four and half years old. She was the granddaughter. Her mother Jessica is 27 years old, a single mother whose mother's name is Gail. They are from Denver. The last time they camped as a family was 16 years ago when the kids got into high school, they all got busy with activities, they stopped camping. They were well traveled campers full of proper gear. We have similar camping gear.
Scarlet is a beautiful sandy curly blond at four and half years old. She was the granddaughter. Her mother Jessica is 27 years old, a single mother whose mother's name is Gail. They are from Denver. The last time they camped as a family was 16 years ago when the kids got into high school, they all got busy with activities, they stopped camping. They were well traveled campers full of proper gear. We have similar camping gear.
This family brought their 2 week old son Ryan, now a
middle school teacher to camp here. True campers to camp just two weeks after giving birth. Ryan
is now on a road trip and is doing the same Arizona and Utah circuit I did last
summer. We have same exact plan, which is no
plans or dates, just pull over and stop where it feels right.
It was 3pm when the Pearse family decided to do Cub Lake
trail. I decided to adventure and
BBQ. I was super excited about testing
out my Dutch cast iron oven, the grill and the charcoal chimney starter. It took 3 tries to start the charcoal. I started with brown paper bag and it didn’t
lit up or burn well. Finally I had to
get the park newspaper and that burned well.
I got 15 charcoals going with 5 under and 10 on top, just as the
instruction said. 
I made potato with rosemary, cracked black pepper, mushroom salt. It was the best potato, not fried etc.. This is the best way to eat a potato, it was so sweet and flavorful. I also made corn and red bell pepper with zucchini. Honestly I was full after the zucchini and the potato. I just had to eat it because it was so good. As for the zucchini, some were under cooked, only two came out buttery perfect. I don’t have the zucchini technique down yet. The red peppers were perfectly done and so was the corn. I saved these for tomorrow. I had so much fun learning and trying things out and find delicious success.
It really wasn’t my food that attracted so much
attention. I think it was my joy and fun
that drew onlookers of passerbys.
Everyone else has great gear and yummy food too in my opinion. I sat in the sun and had fun just doing this. Another wish came true! How very exciting to try to learn and to
journey the new.
Charcoal took an hour to get started. Then another 45 minutes to go white and
red. As for the potatoes, don’t open the
lid until the rosemary steams in the air and then count 15 minutes after that
to be the right time to open the lid.
When the rosemary is under or over cooked, it is bitter and spicy. When it is perfect, it is aromatic, warming
and adds depth and body to the full roundness of complementing the food. 
The BBQ took a long time but everything tasted so healthy
and natural as a whole. Each item was
perfect and enough. Each item was about eaten
slow along with the slow cooking process. I feel this
is the natural way to do it. The body
likes this, one thing after another. You
can’t rush fire or this ancient process.
I think this is what my body, mind, and heart needs, to do one thing at
a time and be present and attentive. The
internal conflict of adjusting from multi-tasking, rushing and now one thing at a
time slow down is like a stick shift car getting a new learning driver behind
the wheel where the clutch gets caught and the car will stall. I shall get this rhythm right soon
enough. This is the way for me. 
Time flew by in BBQ.
The ranger came a little after 3pm and saw Pearse family with their
things on the table all wrapped up. I
told them there was confusion on putting them away in the car or not even if
all wrapped and covered up. The ranger
said it all has to or else they will confiscate it. I said I was watching it for them. Rangers then let it go. I took that opportunity to hand them a box of chocolate. They said one tray was already too much. So then I thought to pull out one of the two trays in the box but then they said they have a lot of rangers. Delivery was done! They came to me and it was Ranger Mychala and I really wanted to hand it to her too. Things worked out the way it is suppose to, out of sharing and of joy and appreciation and gratitude. It was the afternoon time I saw to meet with the rangers but with the fire I could not leave and they came to me instead. It’s just so cool how it all worked out.
I realized today that camping gear made the old fashion
way lasts, where things still work after a few decades. I like that.
I liked it when TV after 35 years still worked, the fridge and the radio
too. These days things are made for a
life line of 5 to 7 years. Too bad, I
don’t like that. It’s bad for the planet
to produce and go through so much stuff. Turning the planet into a waste
landfill, this beautiful planet, this America the beautiful, what will it look
like within my lifetime? Such thoughts
scared me.
When I was cleaning up at 5pm, the Pearse family came
back. I was picking up my camp and they
saw with all my things in my car and took an evaluation of my gear. They concluded after looking into my car that
they could bring more things for their September family trip. That this over the night trip was Jessica’s
idea of wanting to expose Scarlet to camping and to see how she will do etc…
The parents haven’t camped in so long that they felt a bit rusty. They are organized people and have let
people borrow their things in the past without checking up on returns. They said they have to reassess their
inventory and replace them. They are
quite the camper chefs too.
I scooped a spoon of chocolate spread and ate it for
dessert. I washed up my dishes in the
new cleaning facility on the other campsite area I was in last night, of which requires driving to. My Ikea tray fits perfect on the sink and
held everything up as a dry rack keeping it all clean off the ground and off
the sink.
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The Pearse family cooked burgers and made s’mores. They forgot how to make s’mores out of foil. I suggested roasting the marshmellow and putting the chocolate spread on the cracker to sandwich it up. I also offered green tea then oolong high mountain tea. We sat and chatted the rest of the night underneath the stars, fun times, pure satisfaction. It was a lovely exchange of conversations. I really liked this friendly chat of no judgment, control, overpowering. Just mutual admiration and adoration for each other, a true conversation and it was so naturally civilized.
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I gave the Pearse family my perfect white charcoal to
start their fire. They showed me how to
stack the wood for a good fire. In this
moment I realized why I was afraid of fire all the years of my life. The stacking of wood for a good burn reminded
me of public burning of people. I knew I must at some point stack wood and burn it, or been burned by it, to let go of those past lives and live in the now. I shall cook yummy food with it to nourish me. I must turn death into life to support this current life.
I also offered popcorn to share. Yes I brought popcorn to camp. I am actually not a grand fan of popcorn
simply because I don’t find my digestive tract liking it. But I brought popcorn to share because it is
fun. The Pearse family invited me to
their fire pit and took me in as family and took care of me. That was so nice, very heart warming.
Scarlet is sweet and enjoyed hitting the trash bag that was hung on a tree like a piñata, like a tetherball with a glow stick.
Scarlet is sweet and enjoyed hitting the trash bag that was hung on a tree like a piñata, like a tetherball with a glow stick.
I drove to #A101 to wash up my face and feet. The A sites are full of families. I used the family room and getting the floor
all wet with this many families camping is a hazard for them. So I waited until 11:35 when most of the
families have gone to sleep. I felt my
back in pain, my spine, the first 3 chakras too.
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