This weekend I made my first backcountry camping trip and the most scary thing wasn't the fact that we were going deep into bear country, or had to drink giardia water from the creek, but just the weight of those friggin backpacks!
Hiking 9.0 miles with a pack filled with a tent, sleeping bag, food and clothes on your back is a whole lot different than just hiking. Ugh. But with The Backpack From Hell it's even worse. This big blue one I borrowed from John was made of lead or something because carrying that thing just sucked. And that was even after I learned how to pack light from my roommate Mike the camping expert. ("What's this?" "A shirt for tomorrow." "You're just going one night, you can wear the same shirt. What's this?" "Swim trunks." "Just go in your shorts. What's this?" "Um, ...pajamas." "Pajamas!!")
Thankfully my friends all agreed this pack came from hell so everyone shared the burden and we traded off carrying the beast for a while. Just so you know, it wasn't all my stuff, it had our hot dogs, cookies, pb&j, bread, and Lipton instant "chicken-flavored fettucine." Damn our gourmet needs! It seriously felt like having a dead body on your shoulders. Anyways, we had a great time nonetheless. We hiked in 9.0 miles to our campsite on Saturday, and returned the same way on Sunday. It was a nice hike; there were nice grassy meadows and woodsy parts with lodgepole pines and aspen trees mixed in, with the beautiful creek meandering by. Ryan was fly fishing and caught a ton. He also saw a grizz.
I definitely want to do more backcountry camping, but I think 5 miles distances would be more enjoyable wearing a pack, and I'd want to stay out for more days to make it worth it.
Oh yeah, I also had my first outdoor poo. That was exciting.
Destination: Slough Creek
Who: Me, Albert, my roommate Ryan and our ranger friend John.
Distance hiked: 19.0 miles roundtrip
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Where am I?
Yellowstone National Park is in the top left corner of Wyoming and is part of the Rocky Mountains. A tiny edge is in Idaho and in Montana, because the park existed before all those states were even created.
I'm stationed in the area called Mammoth Hot Springs, which is at the top north part of the park. I'm an hour away from Old Faithful, and and hour-and-a-half from the nearest "big city," which is Bozeman, Montana. So far I've made one trip up there to make a shopping run at Wal-Mart (blah!) and see the Dark Knight movie, which was awesome.
I'm stationed in the area called Mammoth Hot Springs, which is at the top north part of the park. I'm an hour away from Old Faithful, and and hour-and-a-half from the nearest "big city," which is Bozeman, Montana. So far I've made one trip up there to make a shopping run at Wal-Mart (blah!) and see the Dark Knight movie, which was awesome.
Postcard from Jellystone
July 9, 2008
Heyyyy, BooBoo!
This summer Albert and I are having an adventure living and working in Yellowstone National Park. I have an internship with the National Park Service in the Landscape Architecture division. (No, I’m not a park ranger, and no I don’t get a uniform. I know, boo.) But I did talk them into giving me an NPS cap after I told them that my San Gabriel Nursery hat doesn’t quite make the same impression on park visitors.
Every day that I’m here, I step outside and can’t believe how lucky I am. This is America’s first national park, indeed the first in the world – the largest protected wildlife area on our continent, and the size of two states, Delaware and Rhode Island combined… and yet the average tourist only sees Yellowstone for one-and-a-half days. It’s unforgivable. Now, I’m here for an entire season, but with 2 million acres of valleys and peaks and lakes and 10,000 geysers, I know I can’t see everything. But I’m definitely going to try my best!
Heyyyy, BooBoo!
This summer Albert and I are having an adventure living and working in Yellowstone National Park. I have an internship with the National Park Service in the Landscape Architecture division. (No, I’m not a park ranger, and no I don’t get a uniform. I know, boo.) But I did talk them into giving me an NPS cap after I told them that my San Gabriel Nursery hat doesn’t quite make the same impression on park visitors.
Every day that I’m here, I step outside and can’t believe how lucky I am. This is America’s first national park, indeed the first in the world – the largest protected wildlife area on our continent, and the size of two states, Delaware and Rhode Island combined… and yet the average tourist only sees Yellowstone for one-and-a-half days. It’s unforgivable. Now, I’m here for an entire season, but with 2 million acres of valleys and peaks and lakes and 10,000 geysers, I know I can’t see everything. But I’m definitely going to try my best!
Don't Wash Your Clothes With Cheese!
So I don't know what made me think this would turn out okay, but since I didn't have very much laundry this weekend, I just threw my socks and undies in with this kitchen floor rug that I wanted to wash also. Uhhhh, mistake. When I took my "clean" laundry out, I saw there was shredded mozzarella cheese in my chonies. Gross!!
Monday, July 21, 2008
The Adventures of Bryan in Yellowstone is online!
Hey friends and family! I thought this would be the best way to share what I'm up to this summer in Yellowstone. Hopefully I can figure out this blogging thing and post some of my meeellions of photos :)
This is me in my bright orange maintenance t-shirt with my boss, Lori. She is one of the park landscape architects. Everyone seems to love their job and stays here forever. She's been here for 20 years already.
This is me in my bright orange maintenance t-shirt with my boss, Lori. She is one of the park landscape architects. Everyone seems to love their job and stays here forever. She's been here for 20 years already.
My mailing address, if you're sending a postcard or something through the US Postal Service, is:
Bryan Matsumoto
General Delivery
Yellowstone National Park
WY 82190
If through UPS or FedEx, then use:
Bryan Matsumoto
Bryan Matsumoto
Supply Center, Bldg. 34
Mammoth Hot Springs
Yellowstone National Park
WY 82190
I hope you're all doing well and look forward to your comments! Let me know what you're up to!
I hope you're all doing well and look forward to your comments! Let me know what you're up to!
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