In the morning, I prepared the Brew Hut for departure. Everything went great until it was time to hitch up. As I was turning the hand crank, I heard a funny metallic noise. When I looked down, I noticed that my jack handle was no longer secured by a nut to the bolt.
I looked everywhere in the gravel beneath the hitch and around the car and in about a ten foot circumference of the scene of the crime. The nut was nowhere to be found. I was able to continue raising the jack up by holding my hand to secure the bolt. Now, I have had trouble lining up the truck’s ball and the hitch last year, but I have had a really good stretch of no problems. Given my mechanical issues with the hitch handle, this was not an idea time for a new problem. I had no problems lining it up straight, but the hitch doesn’t fall into the ball unless it’s just right, and I was an inch or two off every time I got out to look. I tried ending in drive and reverse and blocking the truck wheels, but I kept missing it by eve so much, so that the hitch wouldn’t lock into place. Finally, I was able to get it in the right place.
Next up was a trip to Ace Hardware in Buffalo to find a new nut. I also picked up some other odds and ends: a small scissors, gorilla glue, AA batteries, and a few items for Elvis (flea/tick treatment, brush). Now 11 am., I could finally hit the road. I drove west on Hwy 16 up, and up, and up, until I reached Powder River Pass (elevation 9666). It was very windy and desolate here—above tree line with only small brush and alpine grasses.
After descending a few miles, I came to our destination: Sitting Bull Campground, which was still over 8000 feet but lush with fragrance from tall pine trees and sheltered from the wind. When I went to the pay station for the campground fee, the host told me that the campground was closing the next day, and that my site would be free. Although the campground would be closed, water shut off, and bathrooms locked, he said that I could stay as long as I wanted through hunting season. Free is my kind of price!
About a dozen other campers were in the campground, but I chose a spacious, quiet site at the end of the loop. There is enough sunlight through the trees that my Brew Hut battery is getting filled each day, although with no cell service I’m not using my devices for much. There are ATV trails (without any ATV’s present-the best kind), that Elvis and I have been hiking each day. The gravel road in from Hwy 16 has a beautiful stream running along its side, and on the other side of Hwy 16 (about a mile hike) is North Cove, a beautiful small lake and day use area.
The nights are cold and clear with temperatures dropping into the mid to high 30’s. The days warm up into the low 70’s. We are settling into a nice routine of long walks and hours spent reading my Kindle. I’m on the last book of Game of Thrones and will be finishing it in no time. I’ve been wanting to get back into the Big Horns ever since my son Justin and I drove through a couple of years ago. This is such a beautiful part of the country, although summers are quite short. I can’t say that these mountains feel like a place I could ever live, but the Big Horns are very special to me. Life is good.
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