SUMMARY:  After a somewhat weary night in a crowded campground (I had forgotten how noisy campgrounds are!) we were among the first in line for breakfast at the Grill, then took a deep breath, prayed for help with permits, and headed for the backcountry office.

The wonderful older husband/wife team did the very best they could for us, but in the end it will mean 3 more nights in Yellowstone.  Sigh.  Then it was prayer time again. “Lord, we need a ride to Old Faithful Village.” Many cars passed us by, and it was hard. Then along came a well-travelled one driven by Felix, from Germany. Well, for us he was”Felix sent by God”, because not only did he take us to Old Faithful Village, but he stood by us during a temporary drama where the post office could not find our box, then waited while we sorted and reloaded packs and drove us all the way back to where we left the trail yesterday. Felix Mendelssohn the composer could have never orchestrated such an event. Felix, we will always be grateful to you!

DETAILS:  It’s been a long time since we camped in a CAR campground.  Wow.  It sure is different from our wilderness campsites where the only sound is the wind, the birds, and maybe a creek and/or wind.  There were all kinds of noises all night long and smells, too.  It was hard to sleep.  Part of the not sleeping was I was really concerned about the logistics for today–all I could do was pray to the Father who loves me and trust Him to provide.

It was a cold morning–we didn’t bother to get up till 6:30, since the Grill wasn’t open till 7:00.  It was so cold I could see my breath. Brrrrr.  But we warmed up with a big and delicious breakfast and I spent a few minutes talking to the older guy who empties the garbage cans.  Looks to us like Yellowstone is being run by retirees and kids (teens and college students).

Then we went to the backcountry permit office and “Mom & Dad”, a husband/wife team, did the very best they could for us.  But it means it will take a day longer than we planned, to get OUT of the park.  Oh well.  After that, permits in hand, we prayed, “Help, Lord!” and took my hand-lettered sign out to the Grant Village exit road, trying to hitch a ride to Old Faithful Village.  It was very discouraging.  Nobody would stop.  Finally along came a well-travelled car driven by Felix from Germany.  Felix turned out to be our “angel” for the day.  Not only did he drive us to Old Faithful Village, but when we got to the post office and they could not find our box, and we had to phone to find out where it was and go through all sorts of drama, Felix waited patiently, in case we needed a ride somewhere else.

It turned out that our box was right next door to the post office, in the “backcountry” building.  Whew!  I asked Felix if he would mind waiting another hour while I sorted through the food and made a quick shopping trip to pick up what we needed for the next leg.  He said, “No problem.”  I hurried as fast as I could on that shopping trip, and one of the things I got was another pair of socks!  I always wear “double” on my socks–Wrightsox go on my feet first, then over that I wear Thorlos.  The poor Thorlos are in bad shape, and I was worried that they might not make it to Canada, so I got a really awesome pair of socks just in case the Thorlos “die.”  I love the Thorlos–they are so comfortable, but I guess they are not quite as durable.

Felix then gave us a ride all the way back to the CDT trailhead which we hitched out of yesterday, and even gave us some granola bars to eat during the ride.  He told us that back home in Germany he is a geologist and a teacher at a university near Cologne, and told us how he really likes the students and teaching, rather than researching and publishing and being the “boss” of things.  Well, he sure took care of us!  There is no way we could have made it back to the CDT so easily without his “above and beyond” help.  I thought of Felix Mendelssohn, the composer, and thought, “Only God would have orchestrated all that happened today.”  Thank you, Felix!  May you be as much of a blessing to your students as you were to us!

It was wonderful to be back on the trail tonight and not in the car campground!