I didn’t end up picking the flattest spot last night, so spent most of the time sliding into a bush. I have a tendency at the end of the day to say “I’m done, this is good enough,” and throw down where I am and make it work. Tonight, camped in a very small flat section close to where a ridge drops off, is much better. I feel much more successful.

Coffee always makes a bad campsite better...or maybe it's the morning that makes the site better

Ahhh, another day of high ridges, smoke from nearby fires, and vast distances of space. I have to say, after the Wind River Range, I think this week has been one of my favorites. It’s hard to put into words, but maybe it’s my love of walking ridges, or being able to see trail ahead and behind, or the huge rocky mountains around…it could be the remoteness or the pleasent temperatures, but I’ve totally dug it all (minus the fire scare). I am, however, ready for a nero. I have just a few miles to go in the morning to Bannock Pass where Sam from the Leadore Inn will pick me up and take me to town. I have a room reserved at his hotel, my credit card is there, and I’m going to buy lots of food and watch lots of cable while eating pizza, drinking beer, and laying in bed (I HOPE there’s a TV, some of these small towns don’t have them…)

Look! That's where I came from!

I’m missing home. I’m loving the days out here, but still missing home. You can want to be in two places at the same time, can’t you?

This has encompassed so much of my life, heck it IS my life right now…it’s hard to remember what it was like to go to an office every day, and come home to a hot dinner and a bed and a loving boyfriend…I know all those things are there, but as I lay down for yet another night sleeping in the dirt and listening to distant cows mooing, it’s hard to visulize, just as in a few months tonight will seem like a blurry dream.

So while I’m missing home, I’m doing my darndest to be present….who the heck knows when I’ll be on another 5 month adventure. But at least pizza and beer are amazing both on the couch and on the trail.