Day 16 National Parks 2011
I didn’t roll off bed until 8am. I finally decided to check out the wash
facility, it is nice. It had a system of
trash and recycling, two large industrial size wash bins. I was impressed. I loved how this park understood how to take
care of the visitors so that the visitors can take care of the park too.
I made split pea with quinoa and amaranth for breakfast. I toasted sage, bay leaf, and forgot that
sesame oil burns easily, well, I just ate it anyways. I wasn’t particularly hungry but it was time
to eat. I feel like I am fueling up for
something with resting, with eating. What am
I going to give birth to? This was all
very exciting!
The entire left side of my face was swollen. I wondered if it was because the entire right
side of my body was swollen. I didn’t have
plans, as usual, I just knew I wanted to go hiking today and see how far or how
long I can do a trail in my current condition.
I missed the trails. I knew I
wanted to go to South Rim Waipi Lake trail area. I knew
I could not go far with my ankle but I just wanted to exercise it. I didn’t bother with a day pack because I
want to properly access my situation. I
am clear with how I am walking and that I can’t hike far. 
At the trail head I tried to read the map, there was a large section of it labeled closed trail, "to be left undisturbed for wild life privacy, a protected time". Which means there are cubs there nursing in that area and they need to get strong and not be disturbed or have mama bear feel threatened and attack out of defense. I asked two rangers how to translate the map to actual trails in front of me. And sure enough it was the amazing valley to the right of me that I wanted to explore and it was zoned off. So I went left and took the shortest lake trail option.
Oh how I just love the horizon meeting the sky at the
mountain hilly ridges. I just wanted to
make it up the hill where the sky seems to greet earth and see what is beyond
that. Each time I did so, there was
another horizon to step up to and keep exploring onward to. The hills were covered in flowers. There were
marshy muddy patches of water here and there.
After thirty minutes of simple easy hike, strolling up the hill, my ankle
burned. It didn’t inhibit the exercise
of hiking. I just felt it all along the
outside shin and above it too. So it was
time to head back but I went ahead and kept on going until I can cross the woods. I looked at the time and it was 12:35pm. I knew my time
limit to make a u turn was at 12:45pm and this was close enough to me. It was nice to retrace the same trail because
it is a different view of the same thing and it was still amazing and
different. Plus I got to notice things I
did not notice the first time. 
I had decided that if buffalo number 3 charged at me, I
wouldn’t stop filming. I can’t run with
my ankle, I can barely walk. This
experience was so much fun, it really made my day!
On the road back to camp I saw three buffalos outside
Canyon Village grazing on the roadside greens.
It totally stopped traffic. I got
a good shot of their face while driving.
I came back to camp to hang the hammock and had bread with chocolate
spread and tea.
When the sun is out, it just feel very hot. When the clouds move in it feels very cold, super drastic differences all can be experienced in a period of two hours.
When the sun is out, it just feel very hot. When the clouds move in it feels very cold, super drastic differences all can be experienced in a period of two hours.
It was already 2:35pm and I stalled on getting the BBQ started. I just did not feel enthusiastic about
starting a fire. I was able to light 7
charcoals to put on the bottom of the Dutch Oven and the top ones, well, it
somehow took 5 tries to light them all up.
Newspaper was what I needed not ads.
I needed to get a bit of air to get the fire going then fan the charcoal chimney and wait for the charcoal to go mostly white, a tad white doesn’t count, it won't necessarily burn all the way through. That was my initial error.
It was a good thing I started my cooking with bell
peppers and corn, this worked well, in its own steam it steamed itself with made it all juicy and continued to cook after
removal from the cast iron. The corn was
very sweet and so were the carrots and zucchini. The carrots tasted like candied yam. Keeping it whole kept the sweet juices
in. The zucchini too was the same,
cutting it in half was mouth watering juicy sweet. I find salt or spices would distract from its
original perfection. There was plenty of
hot charcoal to keep cooking so I put in five butter potato. Since the charcoal was at its optimum heat I
put on the pot of grains with Dal to get it to warm up and use the heat this
way. The potatoes were so good, buttery
soft and sweet. All the sugars and
flavors from the other vegetables were all into the potato.
My feet got pretty tired squatting and standing to get
the fire going. I can tell now by the
sound of the sizzle whether or not the charcoal is hot enough and ready or
not. The hammock as a good idea because
it allowed me to rest my leg and keep my eyes on the grill. Given that
everything else is still in 4 feet of snow, it was still good campfire habit to keep an eye on it.
My lower back was hurting so it felt really good to raise my feet and
take the pressure off it. I could use a
roller to roll over my back right now and iron through all the knots.
My wrist is still swollen along with my arm. The hot sun was wonderful on my skin and back. Felt like summer this way, at least spring
now. It’s turning out to be a very nice
day.
I am glad I am slowing down. I am glad I am forced to slow down. I am glad I am learning to slow down. The things I had hoped to accomplish this summer I did so already in two weeks. I am excited. I want to keep going. I want to keep transforming, healing, and transcending. I want to be free and strong.
I packed all the food in tupperware and put the ice from
the campsite ground, gift of nature, into the salad container to use as an ice chest. There is plenty of ice from nature at my
campsite and all over the campgrounds.
There is no need to buy it at the store.
I dropped an avocado in the process and it got smashed on one side. I didn’t have room to eat it. It will blacken on the smashed side come tomorrow, what a
waste! Such a shame!
I spent a long time to wash my week worth of dishes. It’s a good thing I packed a lot so I can
just stock up on dirty dishes. The
facility is really nice and I just find it so convenient to clean up. I find it worth the extra cost to camp
here. The toilets even have toilet seat
covers. The restrooms have cloth hangers
to hang towels and toiletries. You don’t
have to put it on the floor or sandwich it between your knees. I like all these attention to details. Someone here really enjoys having tourists and
visiting the park.
I can’t locate my tent bag along with the stake bag and
the pole bag along with the space blanket.
Well, I won’t need them until August for Oregon so I won’t need to see
them until then. It’s still a long time
away.
It’s amazing how everything fell into place. This injury, set in a place with plenty of
campsite days locked in and plenty of food to not have to worry about looking
for food. As of today, I no longer feel
over packed on kitchen supplies and my food bin. It’s only been two weeks and I have made a
significant ding into my box of food.
What this laundry facility needs is a massage chair that
people can pay by the minute for. It
would generate a lot of revenue in my opinion.
Another plus to soft shell material is that when I drop
food on it like something with sauce, it wipes off nicely, given I do it right
away.
It is insane how tired I get. I only laid in bed for 12 hours last night
and I only strolled around for two hours, ate all day, and then laid on the hammock
in the afternoon. I find myself so tired with my back in so much pain.
Tonight site number 87 was around, their fire was on and
so was their music. Mom seems to do
everything in the department of food prep, clean up and service. The boys had their roles clearly define,
handle the fire and receive food from mom.
Upon seeing me getting into my tent, they turned their music down to a
whisper. I wasn’t going to sleep, I was
just so tired and in a lot of pain I had to lay down. But it was nice of them to turn their music
down. I honestly didn’t care for that
genre or their choice of music.
I decided to meditate and my body went into alignment,
the pain in my body dissipates, dissolves and moved out. How very interesting, this pain, it isn’t
real and doesn’t have to be.
The moon was half full tonight. The sky was dark and the stars shined
brightly in different sizes, really amazing, just so beautiful.
