Mile: 2,437
The hum of Pearls engine tells me she’s at her optimal cruising speed. I roll the window down and my hand surfs the wind as I see Jackson, WY in my rear view mirror. Passing Flat Creek on right my mind drifts back to the silent stillness of standing at its edge intensely watching my dry fly drift down stream. Coming around the bend the Tetons demand your eyesight. The sun having sunk below their ever upward stretching peaks eliminates them from behind. The golden glow of the sun is magnified with the looming smoke from the California wildfires, creating a “Mount Doom” appearance. For the next twenty minutes they rode along with me stretching north as I head towards Yellowstone. As if God had commanded them to gather and line up one behind the other they didn’t break ranks, they didn’t vary from side to side, they stood tall at attention awaiting their orders.
Going around the east side of Jackson Lake I entered the trees and left the sky scraping line of soldiers behind. The light waned until dusk overcame the day and Pearl hugged the dark turns through the trees. Cruising my way through a few full campsites I continued on to find some national forest land to call home for the evening. Turning off towards Sheffield Creek I came upon another full campground and as I was turning around to find a pull off in the woods somewhere a flashlight signaled me to stop. Up walked a tall broad shouldered young guy with hair down to the back of his neck. “Hey man, are you looking for a place to park for the night?” He asked. “Yeah I sure am, I was just about to head back out towards the entrance to find a pull off.” I replied. “No need man, I’ll pull over and you can swing in next to me. There’s plenty of space over here.” He followed up. Backing up I let him swing his ford work van out and back in this time off to the side of the pull out leaving enough space for Pearl to easily nestle in for the evening. I walked around Pearl to meet my gracious host for the evening, Chase Barnett was headed back south in his converted van getting ready for college to start back up. This adventure has been riddled with good people like Chase. The next morning we tipped our hats and he headed south and I headed north. Thank God for good people.
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