Nature - its all over me!

Our official hiking adventure began on Sunday night with a mandatory meeting with our trekking guides - Scott and Dean.  Scott is a Montanan who grew up in Missoula. Dean was born in Ireland, grew up in New York, now lives in Oregon and works in Montana - a true traveller.  Both seemed very knowledgeable and serious about the great outdoors.  They read us the riot act on dealing with bears - with which we had achieved expert status given our tourist jaunt to Bear Encounter Park.  

Speaking of riot act, do you know where that came from?  In 1715, Britain passed the Riot Act which wasn't repealed until 1967.  Huh, you would have thunk they would have needed the Act during the 1960's.  It enabled the British government to declare a group of 12 or more people as a riot during much civil unrest in the 1700's.  Luckily we have only 8 in our party so we had minimal threat of authority in Montana actually invoking this act. 

Back to the trek...let me share a few memorable quotes from members of our party -- it will give you a sense of what actually happened during the trek.  We will start with my 16 year old nephew, Kishan who had the quote of the trek that inspired the title of this blog.

"Nature!, it is all over me -- GET IT OFF!" - Kishan

"Stupid bugs" - Kishan

"We go to sleep when nature turns off?" - Amita

"Isn't there a downhill to this mountain?" - Ajay

"AHHHH! There is a spider in my tent.  Oh, it is on the outside." - Kishan

"You guys, these flies are like wild flies." - Amita

"Oh shit, I left the shovel where I went." - Ella

"Oh, I didn't know I was putting on a show." - Kelsey, when peeing in the woods with a hiker approaching. 

"I am trying to enjoy nature and you are talking to me." - Elena to Kishan

Now for a brief picture tour....

No, the picture below is NOT from the hike.  It is from the Bear Encounter park.  But given we only saw one wild bear from a good distance, I wanted to share a close up with you in case you have never seen a bear.  :-)  This by the way is Jake - as introduced in a prior blog. 

The trekkers all suited up and ready to go!  This is the morning of day one.  From left to right, Amita, Kiertan, Kishan, Ajay, Ella, Elena, Shailesh, and Kelsey.  Oh, by the way, Ajay was known as Dundee for the rest of the trek.  He confidently announced he was Crocodile Dundee and then asked for his whip.  To which, Elena or Kelsey replied that it is Indiana Jones that had the whip not Crocodile Dundee.  Crocodile Dundee had the knife. So the name stuck for Ajay and he proceeded both knife-less and whip-less.   The packs ranged from 30 to 40 pounds for the adults.  

Our humble abode for two nights.  Two to a tent.

 

Trekking, trekking, trekking.  The most beautiful views we have all ever seen.  We averaged about 5 miles per day for a total of 14-15 miles.  While the distance doesn't sound that great, it was through some great countryside, rolling hills, ridges, woods, and plateaus.  Carrying 30 to 40 pounds for 5 miles wears on you - trust me.  By the way, you can drive through all of the roads through Yellowstone and only see 2% of the land.  Only the greatest views and experiences are available by foot.