i love camping

So there are basically 2 types of camping: car camping, in which you drive straight up to the campsite; and backcountry camping, in which you pack your tent, your sleeping bag, food and other barang barang, and hike into a backcountry campsite.

The first time I went camping this season, it was car camping with several other restaurant folks, and we went to Beaver Creek, which was the place I last camped before leaving Yellowstone in 2005. It was a different tent site but it brought to the surface such a dizzying mix of emotions. I was really happy to be back in that pretty place, by the same creek in the same valley, but it also made me miss the people of the summer of '05, with whom I may never ever meet again. So Noah and I pitched our tent right out in the open just beside the creek, because he said he thought it will be wonderful to be lulled to sleep by the sound of flowing water (but the next morning he said it just felt like he was sleeping next to a really noisy air-conditioner). This was the view from our front porch:

As usual, there was alot of drinking around the campfire, and after a while Corey, Frankie, Duga and Shannon discovered they could all balance beer cans on their heads and they absolutely needed to take pictures as proof of their rare talent. I love these people. In the past, at most campfires, everyone gets so happy-nonsensical-drunk it's kind of lonely to be the only sober person around, but luckily for me, Noah doesn't drink, and most people I have campfire-d with so far remain able to hold decent conversations. Yay!

Oh and we saw a moose and her calf that night! The pair wandered to within ten metres of us and gave me a bit of a shock when I saw something big and brown moving. That was so cool though. Before we left the campsite the next day, Shannon, Noah, Corey and I took another last picture.

Then the following week, Noah planned a backcountry camping trip to a site near Fairy Falls, and everyone bang-seh-ed him, and in the end only Anlin, Markus and I joined him. Only after Noah got the camping permit did I realize my Yellowstone guidebook says that site rates only 1 out of 5, and has "no view, no water source, no campfires allowed." Best. But since we got the permit we decided to go anyway. No campfire meant no cooking and alot of mosquitoes. When we nibbled away at our sad dinner of chocolate, chips, pretzels, EDR-stolen bananas, apples, peanut butter, while the mosquitoes dined on us, and it started to get dark and chilly, we totally felt like homeless people.

And I have also finally understood the importance of a campfire: it occupies you. You can always go look for firewood, feed twigs to the fire, poke at it, or just watch the dancing flames. Without a campfire, we were like, "Er... now what?". So.... we decided we should squeeze into Noah's tent to watch Kill Bill on his PSP. Haha. Unglam, uncool and un-gungho. We are the first people I know who watch movies when camping. Backcountry camping, at that.

But this atypical camping experience was followed the next day by a super backcountry camping trip at Ribbon Lake, which is reached by a hike along the Yellowstone Canyon rim. This time it was with Qiuqun, Liyan and the two funny Serbian guys Milan and Mario. The hike was beautiful, the campsite was on the edge of the lake, campfire was allowed, we cooked sausages and smores and alot of weird stuff like tofu on it, and basically just had alot of fun. It was awesome! Unfortunately I left my camera in the car, so no pictures folks, till I get them from Qiuqun =)

Oh on the same day, the four of them wanted to climb Mt Washburn, and since I've already done it and was feeling lazy, I sat on a grassy hillside in the lee of the wind reading "Memories of my melancholy whores" while waiting. It was a beautiful day, there were wildflowers everywhere, and whenever I lifted my eyes from my book I rested them on the soothing greens and blues of the landscape:

At times like this, life feels so perfect and peaceful, and I am content. I don't know how I can ever bring myself to leave this place.