Back from the Mountains

Yes, I'm back in civilization, though it's a very melancholy feeling.
After 6 weeks of living in the great outdoors, it really grew on me. I have an itch to just go back out and forget about all that remains to be done here in town. The mountains awoke the mountain man inside me.This was an old truck on Mr. Wagner's farm that was in my map area.
My little dome sweet dome tent
Patrick's tent, buried deep in the realm of the wood elves.
Our bathing spot!


There are too many photos to post. Those of you who have facebook can see my albums there. You can skip through the rock and mountain photos if you get bored.

Last weekend, instead of coming back to Rexburg, me and my friend Patrick stayed at camp so that the group wouldn't have to pack everything up and haul it home then back again to set up on Monday.
I opted to stay because in all the time I'd been out there camping, I hadn't had the real relax and enjoy feeling you should have when you camp. It had been nothing but work, work, work, go, go, go. So Friday night through Monday morning, I enjoyed the relaxed pace and had a chance to breathe. (Patrick even walked me through his Yoga routine on Saturday morning. Namaste. It means, "I bow to the divine within you".)
Me, Patrick, and Meesha ...down in an old copper mine.

We camped along a little stream called Birch Creek. It's out about 30 miles west of Mud Lake, Idaho (yes, there is a town called Mud Lake) in the Targhee Natl. Forest between the Lemhi Range and the Beaverhead Range.

I have way too much to try and tell it all here. Besides, half of it is just stuff my geology buddies would appreciate. Here's what I'm going to do; I'm going to list all the things I carry with me each day.

Here we go.

I have my backpack and my vest. These are what all the items are carried in. The vest is a hunter's vest and has more pockets than I care to count.

In the vest, I have:
-a small dropper bottle full of dilute hydrochloric acid.
-a hand lens
-a zip-up case that holds my field notebook, pencils, a sharpie, masking tape, a protractor, a plastic PASON card for describing sedimentary rocks, and a small geologic timescale.
-a very fancy GPS unit called a JUNO "Trimble". (I love this thing)
-Jolly Rancher candies
-a 2-way radio and spare batteries
-My field hat (which I can fold up flat)
-a stereoscope
-a pocketknife

In the backpack, I have:
-a clip-board with all my aerial photos and stuff
-4 liters of water
-2 bandannas
-my rock hammer
-a bottle of sunscreen
-a can of insect repellent
-ziploc bags
-a Brunton compass
-a pair of gloves

...and at the end of most any day, a couple of pounds of rock samples.

That's been fun.

I've hiked my legs into great shape and my feet are still reminding me that it was a no-no. But I loved field camp. It's been the best class I've taken so far.