It was cold here at night and I had trouble with sleep
because I was so cold. I got up at
6:30am and I packed up. Site #7 family
was super sweet and we waved good bye. I
made Yaoshan instant noodle, as I chewed at 8:45am, a male elk walked into my
site and had breakfast with me, exactly the same line as the UK couple
described. I did not roll off until
9:36am. I couldn’t rush my breakfast
with the elk. How often do I get to have
breakfast with an elk? I bid my good
byes with the Teton mountains. It was cloudy
and overcast, a very grey looking day. On the way out, there was a sign on Mama Bear and Cub bear sighting nearby.
Yellowstone National Park south entrance gate was covered
in snow. It was beautiful. The burnt tree trunks from the 80’s fire
still stands and the new growth is looking like Christmas tree height. The Lewis River was beautiful. The Lewis Lake was beautiful in its frozen
state with all the snow and ice. I
passed by a campground and it was closed, buried in snow. The road into the campground was closed.
I drove by Yellowstone Lake and it did not leave a big
impression on me. The Hayden Valley was
amazingly beautiful with patches of snow here and there. The rain clouds dressed the sky just
wonderfully, a photographer’s paradise.
Lots of people parked their car on the road, all set up with their telescope
for wild life viewing.
I had to remind myself to stay focused and head for the
campground, set up tent before the weather gets complicated and challenging for
camp setup. I pulled into North Rim, I
needed to pee and wanted to see the vista point but pulled myself back in the car
to stay focused and on track.
I went to camp reservation and was happy to see the
shower facility along with laundry. I
was set up at an RV site off the main road and then I switched to the tent only
site not next to the toilet. I had site
#D86. When I pulled into the site, I saw
snow was all over each site, pretty buried.
The only clearing was the road and the fire pit ring and picnic
table. I along with everyone else had to
pitch our tent on the road. My tent did
not fit and I had to adjust to squeeze in the dirt area off the pavement where
rolling traffic was on. This will do, as
long as it does not get too windy because my tent is not properly staked down,
I can’t stake on the pavement. I prefer this than being next to the RVs or the road.
I saw a brown bear at the East Gate. I saw the bear cross in front of me looking
for grub and then I noticed rangers were present to traffic the bear path and
human contact, keeping humans at a safe distance to protect both parties. What at sight and this was my first day in
the park! Cool!.
At 3pm I was done with setting up my tent and I went to
use the restroom. I felt very
disoriented and exhausted, as I stepped out of the restroom door, my ankle
caught the door step, I forgot there was a step there. My ankle caught the step and I fell onto my
right side landing on my right pinky toe, twisting my ankle and hit my entire
right side of my body hard on the ground.
I fell so hard to the ground and I was in so much pain that I had to
stay down on the cold icy ground in pain.
I could not move for quite some time.
I felt terrible. I decided that
all I could do was to manage to shuffle myself back to my tent and rest. I couldn’t walk or put pressure on my right
leg. 
At 5:35pm I decided I needed to start a fire and BBQ to
roast some vegetables. I was tired and
didn’t realize that not all my charcoal lit so I didn’t actually have enough
heat. I spent the next five hours
relighting my charcoal over and over again. I ended up
inhaling lots of smoke. I lit a lot of
matches. I refused to give up. It rained and I continued my quest. Then it
snowed and hailed. I did manage to cook
2 green bell peppers, 1 corn, 3 carrots, 2 zucchini, 3 potato. I was upset about the fall and the injuries I
sustained and how long this BBQ was taking, and I managed to burn my left index
finger on a charcoal. It’s a good thing
there was ice and snow everywhere to be able to just ice it.
I missed my shower time, the showers was closed when I
was done for the night with the BBQ. The
water is glacier cold in the restroom. I
boiled hot water to wash up. The good
thing is I cooked enough food for 5 days of eating. In this temperature, the food will keep fine
in the cooler without ice. Anyways if I need ice, it's everywhere, I just have to reach or it. It is very cold tonight
in the 20’s. 