Thought I better finish the camping adventure story, now that I've started to heal the mental wounds that only living in a tent for 5 weeks can make.
After the Rockies, our final "big destination" was Yellowstone National Park. This was, like every other destination of our 10 week adventure, a huge highlight. Filled with anticipation we drove the 1000km south. Another amusing border crossing, in which I was integrated as to the quantity of drugs I was carrying and when I last used drugs (note: not if but when).
Yellowstone was inspirational. It is a living, breathing, sometimes farting volcano. Huge paddocks of trees stand dead, due to the constant heating of the soil from the volcanic activity below. Random steam vents pop up along the sides of roads, sometimes even in the middle. Magnificent Bison roam fearlessly causing continual traffic delays due to over enthusiastic (as always) American tourists taking photos.
The place was special. It was a glimpse into unimaginable power and energy that lies deep below the earth. It never stops. Its always changing and unlike most geological creations in 20 not 200000 years, you can really see how the place is evolving.
At an elevation of over 2400 meters however the clear sunny skies, became cold frosty nights. The coldest morning was -3°c. That morning, after finishing my cup of tea, the last few drops in the bottom the mug froze. Shona retreated to the car for a bit of sanctuary. I held on, in the knowledge that the morning sun would be warm and beautiful. It was. After a bit too much rain the previous week, the clear skies were exactly what we needed.
But no Moose. No moose ever. Not one of the bastards. We would stun people with our travel story and locations we'd been and the fact we hadn't seen a moose was something as likely as winning the lottery.
We smelt. Everything smelt. We were done. We had effectively, lived outside. I was hard. I could now start a campfire just by looking at some kindling. I could drive tent pegs into concrete if needed. Even Shona stopped worrying about whether a bear might get her in the middle of the night. By this stage the bears probably worried about us. We returned to Vancouver, just a short 1500km trip.
Total distance driven? 8033km.
Total distance sailed? 1820km.
Wildlife tally?
Bears - > 20
Eagles - countless
Whales - lots
Buffalo- >100
Elk - heaps
Caribou- many
Moose - {no comment}
Needless to say the adventure will provide stories to share for a long time to come. And through all the difficulties and frustrations we've done something we both are so very, very proud of.
World's most indirect travellers. Josh and Shona.
