Man Camp Reefers

I took a short video of the reefers up in the Man Camp. We shovel the custom boardwalk the guys made for us the second cay on the job. I was and still am so impressed by the guys working here. Everyone is so nice and professional. And, they appreciate our cooking!

 

Today we had chili dogs, french fries, pasta salad, and chocolate peanut butter bars. We make our chili from scratch, the pasta salad home made, as well as the dessert.

 

Hoping for a great season. We will keep you posted on Christmas party, and the New Years Eve "I have survived the Mayan Calendar" Party.

Man Camp Sking Report

Days off I go skiing. Its hard work. So far I can do about 8 miles in 3 hours. I take a day pack with ultralight rainsuit (vapor barrier), one large black garbage bag, and fire starter lint and matches, knife and cigerette lighter.

The back country is deep wet snow right now. If I stay put to film, the wax less skis get iced and pick up a lot of weight. I've been going on the snow packed road. Fun!

I'm the only one on location with skis. People ask me where I got them. I say Play It Again Sports. Knowledgeable people up there in Bozeman.

 

Fishing Bridge Junction is a good landmark. You can head to Cody from there, get cell service down the road, head back to Lake along a trail.

 

The deck and stairs built to access the green garbage trailer is a work of art. A few pine martins are getting in and out of the receptacle.We climb the stairs, open a wooden hatch and throw the garbage in really fast.

Today I saw fresh griz prints on my way to Canyon. He came down the hill, crossed the road, headed to the Hayden Valley. It must have happened last night, the claw prints had a small dusting of snow. The prints are enormous!

Bison Share the Road

While driving from West Yellowstone to Gardiner Montana on the Grand Loop Road in Yellowstone National Park, I found myself facing a small herd of Bison.

 

There were calves, males and females. They looked pretty healthy. I slipped the stick into neutral, kept my foot on the brake and shot some footage right outside my Geo's window.

 

Bison can be seen just about anywhere, at any time. They're migrating now. The roads just happened to be clear in this section, although parts had ice and snow pack. Easy does it, I always say.

Horror Available at Yellowstone

I finished my novella about a cook wintering in Yellowstone National Park, meeting ghosts, turning to extreme measures to feed her crew. Without giving too much away, lets say I was inspired by the many bloody ghost stories associated with probably what is now my favorite place on earth.

We've had new snow, we've made some toboggans out of cardboard and plastic.

Everyone up here is so great, I hope they realize none of them are in this horror story...at least I changed all the names. We're only one month into the season. Way too early for all the fatalities that happen at the Man Camp in Primal Cut. You can get it at Amazon.com. Click on the link below the photo of the book cover.

Primal Cut is available at this time exclusively for Kindle and PC owners. Its available free for those in the lending program. Otherwise, you can still get it for only $2.99.

Gear Review-Lightning 50 Backpack

Points I love about this pack:

totally adjustable fit, which means you can buy it without knowing the exact torso length of the person going to use it,

and it can be used for growing kids, so they can have good gear which will fit them for years to come.

I love the many zippered pockets, the outside pockets for water bottles, and the cinch straps in key locations. I love the fact the zippers are substantial, not skimpy nylon teeth which always give out.

I love the fact its not blue or orange. The color is a nice stealth dark gray, with green highlights.

The pack weighs just over 3 pounds, with 3,000 cubic inches interior space. With all the various straps, you can carry additional gear on the outside.

For me, the straps are excessively long because I'm only 5 foot 2 inches. A bigger person needs this length to adjust  for waist and shoulder girth.

I found the system very quick and easy to use.

I really like the  hip belt pocket. Now my camera has a good home.

Gear Review -Cabella's Avalanche Hoodie

When I landed my job at the Man Camp up at Lake Yellowstone, I knew my Georgia winter gear would not suffice. I found a catalogue for Cabella and started shopping.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I knew wintering at minus 40, wind chills at who knows what, required lots of layers. When I called to place my order, Cabella's Customer Service was excellent. I told them to put Two Polar Fleece sets of base layer down, then, with the incentive of free shipping and a sale in progress, proceeded to choose a hoodie.

The one pictured here is called the Avalanche. It's hood and neck are snug and toasty, fitting exactly right. This color is called Clover, a light purplish. I usually go for stealth colors, and this one actually compliments my wardrobe of blacks and forest greens. The zipper goes well up into the neckline, which I learned is pretty essential for cold weather. I had a black one from some other company whose zipper ended below the collar line. Not good. You end up needing a scarf with that, or turtle neck base layer.

The Avalanche is perfect. One cold day, I went skiing wearing just the polar base layer from Cabella's and this jacket. It was perfect. The side pockets are big enough to hold mittens, a second layer I put over my basic gloves. There is an elastic drawcord at the bottom hem. I chose a medium in both base layer and mid-layer. I didn't want sleeves too short, or hem lengths hitting me above the hips. In winter, you need plenty of overlap where different pieces of clothing meet each other, forming good pockets of insulation.

There are two inner pocket, just opposite the outside hand pockets. This feature somewhat compromises the capacity of either one, but so far its not an issue. The jacket and lining are 100% polyester, fast drying, on sale was $54.

The outside is a knit texture, the inside is plush. I especially like the contoured tailoring, making it a great layer beneath my Brooks-Range Mountaineering down jacket.

Beaver Pond Freeze Up

After working over a month at Lake Lodge, we closed it down for the winter, deep cleaned and moved. I had a serious reality check. It was snowing, blowing and DAmmmmmm cold. I proceeded to place an order for two sets of polar fleece base layer wear.

Using my own gear on hand, I layered up and took a nice hike up on the Beaver Pond trail. Its about 5 miles, nice steep climb, some ponds, some pines, no tourists. Not until I rounded a bend and found some guy holding a nice antler. Humm, do I tell him he can't keep it?

I didn't say nothing. The woman asked me if I knew where the Indian Wikiup was. I shook my head, no, kept hiking, thinking, even if I did I probably wouldn't say much. Would they try to take a souvenir home with them.

The colors now are fantastic. The blue lakes and ponds so blue, the drying flowers and vegetation so vibrant. Many seasonal workers have gone home for the winter. Some swearing to god they will never come back. Others say they will be back, it was a great experience.

I have been hired to work the Man Camp, cooking for construction workers up at Lake Hotel. It will be quite a winter, snowed in, living at nearly 8,000 feet. I'll be there until May 2013.

I will be buying skis, bringing up a box of books to read, my computer to write book 4 of the River Survival Series. I love cooking and the outdoors. Seems like a good fit.

Bison and Griz Face-Off on Wapiti Trail

 

 

Heading back from my hike to the Ribbon Lake up near Canyon,  it began to sprinkle, the thunder rolling over head.

Something briefly caught my eye. I looked left into a meadow, all tall and golden, and saw a huge brown boulder. Then the boulder moved. A bison was approaching this boulder, head lowered, stiff legged. I  quietly slid my pack off, grabbed my binoculars and sighted a huge griz, the tell tale hump clearly visible from his profile. The face off was about 100 yards away from me, either, or both, could be in my lap within a minute.

 

I always hike in stealth colors. Today I was wearing my camo pants, a black shirt, carrying a black pack. I'd quit making noise, instead thinking about the winter season, still no concrete job offers. Maybe I'll just go play near the canyon lands in Arizona.

 

A tiny pond beset with various prints, mostly elk.

 

Suddenly, the bison charged, the griz took off running, closely tailed by a very huge, very angry bison. Then they both stopped, stood still. This is mating season, a time you don't mess around with bison. It seemed I was frozen and quite thankful they ran away from the trail I was standing on. Watching them, I was unsure whether to call out, Hey Bear, so I didn't. Figured the bear had enough worries at this point.

The bark peeling from this fallen log create wonderful hieroglyphics, Modern Wilderness Art. 

 

I glanced down the trail. I couldn't remember if it would swing around that particular meadow, bringing me once again within  yards of these fearsome creatures. I pulled my bear spray, held both hiking poles under my arm, watched the two still in the feild, waiting each other out. I started walking, calling softly, hey bear. Neither turned their heads towards me.

 

I'm glad I took a few pictures on the way in. On the way back I decided to protect my camera, missing shots of the encounter. Let me be honest, though. I was more concerned with not getting in the middle of the fight than filming it. 

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, quite a drop off.

 

 

My hiking poles, map, some raisins on the edge of the Grand Canyon in Yellowstone.

 

I crossed several of these fields, saw some prints on the way, deterimined the stride and markings were those of large bear. A year ago, one person was mauled to death by a griz on this very path. I still hiked alone, as usual. In the rain and late September, few hikers are out, and ususually get a much later start than I do.

 

 

 

 

After the close encounter, hiking back to my car, keeping a close watch for other bears, I couldn't resist laughing out loud at my good fortune of witnessing a rare sight so close. I even let out a couple wolf howls!