Kamp Karma

It was tough to say goodbye to all the beautiful people and places I met in Montana, but once I hit the road I couldn’t get out of the state fast enough. It sank in that I stayed in Montana for about two months, summer was almost over and there was still a lot I wanted to see and do before winter set in.

I had about a week before I needed to show up at my next farm, so I decided to cram as many sights (and miles) into it as possible. My first stop was Yellowstone, which, of course, kicked ass.

I only had to drive a few miles into the park before I saw my first herd of elk. They were just lying around the lawn at the Mammoth post office (a small town inside the park). Aside from a few rangers keeping the crowd at a safe distance, they seemed to fit right in. Ten minutes later, a humungous buffalo crossed the road in front of me.


I took about twenty pictures of that buffalo, thinking the whole time that this was such an incredible and unusual experience… how lucky of a visitor must I be to see this right after entering the park… when will I EVER see a buffalo this close again? Turns out I saw another buffalo alongside the road again about an hour later, then about an hour after that, and an hour after that. Halfway through my second day, I was pretty sick and tired of those damn buffalo blocking traffic all the time. I also started thinking they should allow hunting in this park to help solve their buffalo infestation problem.

Aside from the amazing wildlife, the place was full of waterfalls, geysers, steam beds, and countless pools and lakes full of bubbling ooze every color of the rainbow. I never imagined there could be so many boiling pools and pockets of steam anywhere in nature. It was like a mad scientists’ playland. And I totally lucked out with Old Faithful. It goes off every ninety minutes, and most people wait over an hour to see it. I walked up to the site and within two minutes it went off!


My first night at Yellowstone, I made looking for a campsite my top priority. I learned that lesson after getting shafted at Glacier about six weeks ago. As it turns out, all the campsites were full by the time I arrived. I was ready to give up and see if I could find a place where I could park and sleep in my car for the night without getting in trouble when I met Vera and Jim, a friendly old couple from Ontario. Not only did they insist that I share their campsite with them, and not only did they adamantly refuse my offer to pay for half the site fee, but they also insisted on feeding me. The conversation went like this:

VERA: Can I make you a hot dog?
ME: No thanks, I have food in my car.
VERA: Are you sure I can’t make you a hot dog?
ME: Thanks, but I’m not hungry. Really.
VERA: Are you sure?
ME: Yeah, I’m sure. Thanks.
VERA: Well, I’m making you a hot dog anyway so you might as well eat it.

And later…

VERA: Here are your hot dogs. I made you two. Can I make you some dessert?

On my second night at Glacier, I shared my site with an Asian couple that came too late to get one of their own. I think this was a karma thing coming back to me. I’m not a fan of processed food on Wonderbread buns, but after living off cold oatmeal for a few days, those hot dogs really hit the spot.