Tuesday, June 21, 2022

Wednesday, June 15, 2022 Day 15

Woke at 5. 33 outside and 66 inside. I think the near freezing mornings are behind me. Tomorrow is supposed to be warmer, I hope.

Need to find a dump station. I’ve been in my trailer for 14 days without dumping and my grey water tank (sinks and shower) is full. The dump station at Burgess Junction is not open yet. I might have to take a drive I don’t want to take. Can’t really take my trailer to Sheridan for chores. I won’t be able to park in some spots.

Thurs., June 16, 2022 Day 16

Woke at 5:30. 35 outside and 64 inside. Not much warmer.

Tried to fish the North Tongue River which is usually a little stream. It’s still high. While I was wading I would spook good size trout from just under the bank. That’s where they were hanging out so I couldn’t get to them. It was super windy. Trying to accurately cast a dry fly to within a few inches of the bank wasn’t going to work. The bank has a lot of what looks like willowy bushes that just have buds right now. I lost one dry/dropper rig to a bush across the stream. There was a deeper fast moving hole in front of it so I couldn’t get to it. Hopefully a few more days or a week the rivers will be fishable.

Friday, June 17, 2022 Day 17

Woke at 5. 44 outside and 67 inside. Feels like a big warmup.

12 degrees warmer outside made a big difference in my trailer.

The dump station up here is still not open. Had to drive to Sheridan to a huge Wyoming rest area on I-90 which has a free dump. A mile from the rest area is a U.S. Forest Service office where I bought a Bighorn National Forest Map. The woman behind the counter told me that Burgess Junction dump was closed because of a broken water line caused by the unusual weather and that it would be open sometime next week.

Sat, June 18, 2022 Day 18

Woke at 4. 59 outside and 64 inside.

Last evenings was perfect so I built the first campfire I’ve built in decades. It was pleasant. $6 for a small bundle of wood that seems to be enough for two small fires which will last about an hour and a half each. You can collect dead wood to burn. I’ll do some of that once in a while.

The Forest Service is behind up here because of the 30” of snow almost 3 weeks ago. This campground and another in the area don’t have working water pumps. The campgrounds just opened and I think the water has to be tested.

I chose to come here this early in the season in order to see the entire season. So far I’m getting my wish.

I’m camped at Tie Flume Campground for the next two weeks. It’s on the South Tongue River which is still pretty high. 

Two years ago I was here twice, once in July and once in August I think, two weeks each time, for a total of a month. I caught many small trout.

Like everywhere else the Forest Service has a shortage of camp hosts. When I told the 75 year old host at Ranger Creek that I was going to camp in the Bighorns for 100 days this summer, he said I should be a camp host and told me about his pay. There are signs at the entrance to the campgrounds looking for hosts. The pay varies by the size of the campground. He gets $1000 a month, his campsite, and some expense reimbursement. Works out to about $1500 a month. He and his cohost, his wife, get one day off a week. They live in Greybull, about a 35 minute drive away.

There isn’t anything wrong with it but I don’t want to clean the bathrooms a couple of times a day along with cleaning the fire rings and tables at each campsite everyday. The reservations and  campsite postings must be handled also. 

Every camp host I’ve encountered is a real talker.

The host here at Tie Flume seems to be very friendly. She must be 75 to 80. For a National Forest campground Tie Flume isn’t small. There might be 25 sites that need to be maintained and the sites reservations need to be handled. She’s in a conversion van from the 90’s and a tent. I hope it works out for her.

Turns out I can paint in my trailer if I lay the easel on its back on a TV tray I forgot I had under the trailer without extending the easel’s three legs.

The South Tongue River is still way too high

Sun, June 19, 2022 Day 19

Woke at 6. 52 outside and 63 inside. Warmed the trailer up in about 10 minutes. I think it’s supposed to be cool for a couple of days. At 11 am it’s 54 and mostly cloudy.

Once the dump station is open this will be a breeze. Every two weeks I’ll go to either North Tongue Campground or Tie Flume Campground. The dump station is about three miles from North Tongue campground. The two campgrounds are about ten miles away from each other. I will change campgrounds and dump my tanks and fill up with potable water every Friday. On the Friday I’m not moving I’ll hook the trailer up and take a short ride to the dump station. Right now potable water is an issue.

It’s Sunday so people are leaving. Local ATVers are taking their trailers, toys, and kids and going home. I realize they have every right but weekdays are much quieter.

Successfully started on a 12 x 16 stretched canvas painting using a photo I took a couple of weeks ago. By successfully I mean that I painted indoors and didn’t get oil paint on anything.

Don’t have any idea how the painting will turn out.

This is the first stage of the sky. There might be three more layers. The pencil drawing leaves dark smudges with the first layer of paint but the first layer will lock in or “fix” the pencil when the first layer of paint drys.

Kinda ballsy showing every step of a painting. Chances are the finished product won’t be successful. 

Monday, June 20, 2022 Day 20

Woke at 5:30. 40 and sunny outside.

Painted the first stage of the hills and foreground. 

It’s sunny but just under 50 degrees at 11 am.

Yesterday I learned that I can get water from a campground that is only 4 miles away. I have a 5 gallon jug with a top. One trip a day until the dump/potable water station will do it.

At 1 pm it was 59. At 3:30 it was 36 and snowing.

Droveto Greybull partly through snow. I needed to check on something. 67 degrees down there. On the drive back I saw two elk and a couple of antelope for the first time this trip. Almost every time I drive somewhere I see at least one moose. Two moose grazing together is common. I once saw three moose together and once four together. None of the moose, mule deer, antelope, or elk I’ve seen have antlers. Google this before posting this blog.

For the heck of it I went through the am and fm channels on my trailer’s radio. I wasn’t expecting to find anything. Campgrounds tend not to be placed at high points. The speakers aren’t terrible. Nothing on am but on fm I found Wyoming NPR loud and clear! Also one country, one classical, and one pop station. I was surprised to find anything.

When I’m painting at home I have NPR on my little system.

Tuesday, June 21, 2022 Day 20

Woke at 5:30. 32 and sunny outside. My furnace has been treating me well. 

Yesterday I broke the end off of my HDMI cable. No movies until I go to town so I’m going to go today, a day early. I read a lot during the day, sometimes inside, sometimes outside.

Once it warms up I anticipate painting in the morning, fishing after it warms and the bugs and fish are active, and reading at night. For now I appreciate a movie at night.

There are two young families camped at adjacent sites. They spend the entire day outside. They each have their little rubber boots and rain jackets with hoods. Yesterday they were eating lunch at the picnic tables in the cold rain. It wasn’t pouring but it’s not for me. I admire the lifestyle but I wasn’t raised that way and it’s not for me.