I am pleased to say that Ben Cole came for a visit last week. We had two non-consecutive nights under the stars; well, one night under the stars and one night under snow.

We had an amazing time of quiet and adventure. The first night was just West of Green Mountain Reservoir at Cataract Creek. We drove (I drove and Ben caught up on sleep) and arrived with little time to spare in getting camp ready. There was about 3 inches of snow on the ground and we welcomed probably another two before we left. We cooked a delicious Mountain House meal and hit the frozen ground in our sleeping bags. We played some cards before dozing off under the influence of propane.

The next day we scrambled and hiked nearly 1,000 feet up Cataract Falls to see one of the most beautiful valleys I’ve ever seen. Views of The Williams Fork Range and Lower Cataract Lake were thrilling. We took a nap on the table-top rock with crushing water falling near by, took a Little Debbie re-charge and wished we had a hang-glider to get down the slippery, snowed on terrain. Maybe next year.

Hey, if anybody out there has a connection with the back-country, meal-in-a-bad maker, Mountain House, tell them that I want them to sponsor me.

Sunday, we had a nice day at church. Ben said, “It was incredible,” when prodded on how he thought the service was. I think he also said that the music was the best he’d ever heard, ever; I can’t remember exactly what he said.

That afternoon we left for Boreas Pass. It was an adventure just getting to the camp site. Two trucks were stuck in the at-times two feet deep snow. Les and I’s little Subaru bombed through it all with not even a problem. (Oh, and if you know anyone who has the power to give away a free Subaru I’d like them to sponsor me too). The drive was a little over an hour long and comes to a height of 11,481 ft.

The site was amazing with nearly 6 inches of icy snow on the ground. Since we brought fire wood we watched an amazing star show on a cold clear night, all warm on the inside. Ben spotted a number of satellites screaming across the sky.

We hit the tent, played some cards, and tried to fall asleep to the sound of Coyotes fighting (or killing) on the other side of the valley. The next morning we cooked 19 pieces of turkey bacon on my new 2 Burner 424 Dual Fuel Stove - 21,000 BTUs of “total cooking power.” I got it at Walmart if you want one. Then we cooked some eggs from a carton - they were terrible. Some cool looking birds ate the rest of the charred eggs from the bottom of the pan.

Oh, and when we got out of the tent at 8am it was 19?.

Ben, thank you for spending your own money and coming to see us. I promise you, it means more that you can imagine. It makes us happy.