Wind River Range Day3 no.3

It started raining, but soon it stopped. The good thing about Wyoming is that rain doesn't last long. That's why nobody cares the weather. Even thunder clouds are nearby, people start hiking. 

Soon after rain stopped, sun came! I felt much better. Finally I was able to stop without feeling cold. Then we took a nap under the tree with some sun. Comfy, comfy!

2nd night campsite

On the second night we had planned to camp at the Eklund Lake, but there was not a good spot with view. We decided to walk a mile more to the meadow. With one more mile, we would be back to the out-and-back portion, so we knew that the meadow has a good view with water source. The last dinner in the wilderness was pasta! Anything is delicious in the mountain. 

While we were eating dinner, a party of horses were hiking back to the trailhead. People were on the hourse ride. Looked fun. They stopped at the pond at the meadow and horses drank water there. Hummm. Also horses dropped stuff. Hummm. We got water from there. Oh well.

Campfire

In this regions, Bridger Wilderness, fire is allowed below treeline. This night was below tree line. There was already a fire ring where we camped. Why not have a fire? Campfire in the wilderness is my favorite. 

 

 

As we enjoyed pasta and fire, the sun was setting. In the right picture did you notice orange sky AND orange campfire?

Alpenglow

Then we were preparing aftermeal tea. Then we noticed that the mountains were in alpenglow. We walked over the best position to see alpenglow and looked at that with tea. What a gorgeous time. The previous night was in that basin. I felt I walked a long way for a day.

While we were around campsite, one hike approached us and asked if it was okay to camp in the same area. Of course okay. The meadow is huge. Later we found out he was a section CDT hiker and he was going to spend a few days in the nearby town, then go to the next section to meet a friend. Mr.N said that long distance hikers on CDT have small backpacks for big hikes. Indeed he had a small pack. It is funny that overnight backpackers have huge backpacks and 3000 mile hikers have small ones (well except for people who make mules deliver their backpacks).

moon

After alpenglow was gone, waxing gibbous appeared and it gave us substantial light. It was nice. Everyday in the wilderness the moonlight was increasing.

When I am in the city, it is impossible to notice how bright moonlight is. In the wilderness I am sometimes amazed how moonlight is bright especially when it is full moon. City like Tokyo, San Francisco, Boston are full of lights and you will never have time to think about moonlight. 

The same thing is for stars. You will be amazed how many stars in the world. They are just hidden in the cities. These things keep me go back to stay overnight in the wilderness. 

After fully enjoyed the beautiful night with pasta, tea, chocolate, fire, alpenglow, stars, and moon, we went to bed.

To be continued...