Full Moon Campout

December's full moon

Andrew decided to sleep out under the bright light of the last full moon of 2012.  From the cabin he hiked up to the ridge between our place and town and traversed it for a few miles north...a little over 6 miles altogether.  When he camps out alone he prefers to not take a tent so his pack is a little lighter.  This night in particular was only in the teens, very nice compared to the -30s he slept out in last winter. It was mostly a quiet night up there, except for the sounds of the wind whipping all around him.  In fact, it was actually the windiest conditions he has ever been in he said.  The wind was trying to lift up his legs in the sleeping bag and blow him away throughout the night.  He did dig a trench behind a scrub willow, to sleep in.  Best estimates of the biggest gusts is probably somewhere around 60mph.  While being awake from the wind a few times during the night, he had the most eerie feeling of being watched which is not like Andrew.  The next morning he packed up his camp pretty quickly because the wind was worsening, not calming down.  When he left camp heading towards home on his trail from the day before, he found wolf tracks only 50 yards away.  He said it was a single wolf that had come across his trail, paralleled it for 20 yards then continued on its way.  A startling and eerie surprise but thrilling and exciting in a way too.
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We love having those experiences up here and even more so to know that its happening in our backyard.  It's comforting to be living so close to nature.  One of those things that makes us sleep better at night. :)