Grand Tetons and Yellowstone Nat Park, July 1st-5th, 2005

For the past three years, I head met up with Karl, my former college roommate, and bandmate, over the 4th of July. 1st in Berkeley, CA, 2nd in Seattle, and last year in Norway for his wedding. It was my trip to Seattle, to visit Karl and Mariann that opened my eyes to nature and gave me an appetite for adventure.

This year we took advantage of the tradition, and decided to meet up at Grand Teton National Park, for some backpacking, followed by a trip to Yellowstone. My friend Wendy also decided to accept the backpacking opportunity, though a little cautiously as she had never camped before.

Please let me take you on our journey to the spectacular natural wonders of northwest Wyoming.

Featuring...

The Heroes:

Karl	Mariann	Wendy	Matt

Works for Boeing in Seattle. In the band Wasabi Peas. Super power: Can subject his naked body to snow melt streams, and measure geyser water temperature with his finger.	Works for Boeing in Seattle. Norwegian. She and Karl live on a sailboat in the Puget Sound. Super power: Can land any Boeing plane in an emergency.	Works for Intel. Transferred to CO for 6 months (like me). Never been camping before. Super power:Can drink nearly her weight in water.	Works for Intel. Likes making web journals of his adventures to entertain people. Super power:Can consume 2000 calories of peanuts right after dinner and a beer.

The Villians:

The nasty park ranger
The pesky marmot
vast snow fields
raging streams
coin operated showers

The Conflicts:

Potential bear confrontations
Dealing with lost supplies
Plowing through snowy trails
Face to face buffalo encounters
Matt's struggle to limit picture taking to use a single battery over 3 days
Wendy's sudden immersion into backpacking with 3 hardcore adventurers for 3 days.

Join the adventure:

Act I, Scenes I-V: -- July 1st -- Driving to Tetons, backpacking into Death Canyon.
Act II, Scenes I-V: -- July 2nd -- Climbing the shelf, a change of plans, Anemone Flower Power.
Act III, Scenes I-IV: -- July 3rd -- Splendid sunrise, a graceful exit, Yellowstone bound.
Act IV, Scenes I-V: -- July 4th -- Geysers, pools, and paint pots.
Act V (Final Act), Scenes I-VI: -- July 5th -- The Breaking of the Fellowship; Yellowstone canyon, lake, and pools; Tetons revisted.

Send comments to mjtracz20@hotmail.com

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