Big sky

Tuesday, 11:05 am

By Kate

Jul

05

2005

The lad called again last night. This time to make sure that I hadn’t fallen off the earth. He was just preparing to retire for the night. They’d finished a gorge climb in Yellowstone several hours earlier, then had treated themselves to pizza at a local establishment. They were in a public camping ground in Yellowstone. They’ve been there for a couple of days. Tomorrow they plan to do some easy sight seeing in the park, the bubbling mud thingies, I think. They plan to head back to Colorado Springs on Thursday so they can climb Pike’s Peak.

Of course, he had to tell me that, when they registered at the campground, the ranger told them the camp had a resident grizzly bear. He supplied them with industrial strength pepper spray. Just in case, you know. Gosh, that thrilled me to bits.

While we talked, he tried to describe the sky to me. “It’s like throwing a handful of salt on a piece of black paper,” he said. He’d never seen such a star filled sky before. So many stars, he said, that it was difficult to pick out the constellations. Unlike home where the constellations are about the only stars we can see. In the background, a couple of coyotes howled.

He’d seen one coyote cross their path during one of their hikes. They’d also seen a bear at a distance. And many elk, buffalo, and antelope. In all, he thought, it’s the coolest place he’s ever visited. The wildness is exhilarating, he said. It’s so BIG. He said it’ll probably feel cramped when they come back east. The sky especially is so much bigger.

He has snapped away two or three rolls of film. We’ll have those developed and put on disc as soon as he comes home. If they turn out well, I’ll post a few. I can’t wait to see what he’s seen. This is the way coolest vacation he’s been on yet. I have a feeling that this trip will solidify his desire to move west. For years he’s claimed that he wants to live in Alaska when he’s grown. Now...well...Wyoming certainly seems to have captivated him completely. He was happy and I love hearing that in his voice.