1. My Days Location Is Solely Based on the Sun
We hike in, lopping the whole day; arms length for the horses. It is nearly 6PM and
we woke at 5AM in order to catch the train from Durango to Needleton. We slowly
make our way deeper in, feeling the heat radiate through our clothes and into our
pores. Our packs are weighing hard on us and we still have at least three miles to go.
We saw and lop until we cannot possibly go any further. The sun has been since
dipped below the lowest peak. My shirt is dipping wet, once from the heat and
cooling me down but now giving me goose bumps. We make camp and fall into the
nest in the earth that we have created. The moon brings on a bright night, filled with
clumsy, inconsiderate mountain goats. I assume the weather has brought them
down as well.
We sleep in but still rise before the grass has fully dried of its dew. Just as we agree
on the best spot for this years Chicago Basin crew basecamp, the horses file in; eight
packing with three riders. It is nice to see a couple new faces. The heat has clearly
drained these 2,000 pound creatures a bit as well, along with the 140 plus pounds
they each carry. Load after load continues to arrive each day just before 1PM. This
goes on for three days; unload, organize, rearrange, and repeat.
Basecamp is nearly complete. Now all that is left are a few I minor details: setting up
the giant canvas tent, putting together the water filter buckets, organizing the food
and cookware, setting up the groover, digging a large sump, laying out the solar
panels to charge, assemble the electric bear fence, charge up the radios, create a
trash and compost bucket, set up a tarp for the tools…I think that’s it. Oh! And set up
the slack line for some fun.
The days spent receiving loads, organizing all of the goods, and drinking gallons of
coffee have been nothing slight of fabulous. All of these moments spent with a new
life friend, Val. There is something about living, waking, and retiring in the
wilderness with someone else. You quickly learn the phases at which the moon is at
and the time of day based on the blazing sun’s alignment in the sky. To be able to
share these hours with another makes it all that much more a miracle. The power of
the weather lifts us up and brings us down. I would not want to live this summer
any other way.