Captain Blaine’s Blog

With a full day of ‘normalcy’ under my belt post-hike, I am just now beginning to walk without a limp and my Inbox has been sufficiently replied to, ignored, or deleted to the point where I can look forward to sorting through a thousand pictures from 6 photographers over a weeks hike with Cap’n Blaine. This one took on a different flavor, with the addition of my family, for which I appreciate your patience and reserved language! Wish we had more time sitting on the rocky outcrops, contemplating life in general, but there’ll be more hikes, more adventures and more drinks in store for us, ol’ friend. This hike was a classic example of (more…)

Friday August 15, 2008

Old Faithful Inn, Yellowstone National Park, WY
Room 231 – Haunted Wing

Hello Family and Friends;

It was 2:30 in the afternoon when I emerged from the woods after nearly a 14-mile hike to see the Bechler Ranger Station  – both the start and finish point for our backpacking journey.  Dropping my pack atop the lone picnic table, conveniently located under a shade tree, I caught a glimpse of my feet and what used to be my brand new Teva sandals.

I gazed down with admiration and laughed out loud.  They were caked with thick black mud, dirty dust and other trail goo – like horseshit and such.  To the average passerby, they appeared trashed.  Or were they?  It’s all in the eye of the beholder, or in this case, the eye of the shoe owner.  (more…)

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Campsite 9B0 – Bechler Canyon, Yellowstone National Park

Hello Family and Friends;

Beef stew, campfire cornbread and hot apple crisp – cowboy style.

That was dinner (or supper as they call it out here) followed by some humorous cowboy poetry.  It was a perfect meal and end for our last night at camp.  Tomorrow we rise at dawn and begin the 14-mile hike – mostly downhill – back to the Bechler Ranger Station.

And, today was one of those perfect days in the backcountry: sunny, warm, colorful flowers and hours of soaking in a natural hot pot.  Of course, my fair skin is paying the price for my forgetting the sunscreen, but my body is feeling great.  The minerals in the hot pots are like a million-dollar spa treatment.

To start the day off right, Jay and his daughter were up at dawn this morning and headed uphill to the hot pots for his traditional sunrise soak.  Now that tradition has been passed on to another member of his family.  The rest of us enjoyed a lazy morning with a bacon, egg and fruit breakfast before following in their trail to the pots – packing our lunch and theirs to be enjoyed while soaking.

By the end of the day, I had spent six hours soaking and relaxing in what can only be described as Heaven.  We laughed, built more dams to control the temperature and then took a few minutes to pass on a very important ritual – the Water God Ritual.

Jay learned it from someone long ago.  He passed it on to Kim and me in previous years.  And, today, we passed it on to his daughters. 

The ritual shall remain somewhat secret to those that only peer at the photos and don’t invest themselves in the hike and sacrifices to get here.  But, if you ever decide to go – call me and I’ll see what we can do to help you learn this requisite ritual.  Enjoying the pots without performing the ceremony might just end the several hundred years of steam that bubbles four feet through the water warming the pot naturally.  Don’t take that risk!

Another long day in the pots has left me drowsy.  We rise tomorrow morning at dawn to hit the trail back.  I will need all the rest I can get for that walk.

Soaked, simmered and sunburned,

Blaine

Wednesday August 13, 2008

Campsite 9B0 – Bechler Canyon, Yellowstone National Park

Hello Family and Friends;

Today was an easy day.  We only had to ford one ice-cold river – THREE TIMES. 

The Bechler River twisted and turned on our route today giving us the chance to enjoy a ‘Polar Bear Club’ experience three separate times.   The deepest river crossing was up to our waist and running very swiftly.  We used ropes and our hiking sticks to keep our balance and I stayed in the water for about twenty minutes holding the rope and helping others across.  My feet were numb when I finally exited the river.  All the snow run-off makes that river very, very chilly! (more…)

Tuesday August 12, 2008

Campsite 9B3 – Bechler Meadows

Hello Family and Friends,

I believe I lost a pound of blood today:  Mosquitoes – 1  Blaine – 0

But misery loves company and all six of us were completely miserable today.  We were happy to be on the trail, but the mosquito must have been names as the new Park mascot and we, unfortunately, didn’t get the memo.  It was like a new breed of mosquito too; vicious creatures that were immune to bug spray, including DEET, and found comfort in warming their asses on the edge of our citronella candles.  The hike itself – 6.5 miles of mostly flat ground – was beautiful when you could see through the swarms of those terrorist pests. (more…)

August 11, 2008

Ashton, Idaho

Hello Family and Friends,

I need to keep this short tonight since I have another 4 a.m. wake up call in the morning.  Tomorrow morning marks the peak for the Perseids Meteor showers and we intend to get up, go find a dark place (easy in Idaho) that faces north to take in the show.  Unfortunately, the peak is at O-Dark-Thirty.  Ugh! (more…)

August 10, 2008

Colter Bay Cabins
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 

Hello Family and Friends,

Let the adventure begin!

It was with those words that I shook the sleep from my head and made my way up the stairs towards the shower.  The rum from the night before had not completely given up its hold on my brain and my body was screaming in protest with every step.  It was 4 a.m.,  I was in Durham, North Carolina, and there was an 6 a.m. American Airlines flight waiting to take me to Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  I had waited nearly 10 years to catch this plane so I pushed myself up those stairs and into the shower.  Yes, today – let the adventure begin. (more…)