Home Again and Soccer Game

After I crossed the pass I sped downhill to Buffalo, arriving at 5 PM. I thought briefly about stopping at the Wolf's Den again, but decided I needed to make as many miles as I could before I needed to sleep. It would be close, I thought, to make it back in time for the soccer game. A full tank of gas in the truck, I sped up and out of the valley towards Gillette, always making sure to take a look over my shoulder at the mountains. Gotta get one last look even though I'll be in the Rockies in less than two weeks and back at Glacier in 5.

I set the cruise control for about 83-84 mph and raced through Wyoming and to South Dakota. I wasn't messing around and wanted to make it to our soccer game in time. I had to stop for gas and a gigantic Coke in Rapid City as both my truck and I needed fuel to get us further down the interstate. I figured that if I could make it east of Chamberlain I'd be in good shape for the game. I made it to Chamberlain by 11:45 CST and was wide awake so kept going. My only concern was ramming into one of those stupid deer whose lifeless corpses I saw plenty of thus far along the side of the road.

By 1:15 I had gone far enough and stopped at the Salem, SD rest area. Again I had to shuffle my gear around in the truck to get a good sleeping area but managed nicely. The only problem was that for some reason I couldn't sleep. I tried for a couple of hours then managed to go down, only to discover I had overslept an hour when I finally did wake up at 7:20 AM.

No problems, however as I just speeded a little bit faster through Minnesota than I had originally intended.

The rest of the trip back was uneventful and I made it to Appleton/Kimberly in plenty of time for the game. In fact, I could have made it home, taken a shower and still made it to the game in time. Instead, I parked at the YMCA just a few blocks from the field, cleaned my gear, the truck and read some more of the Cloud Peak Wilderness guidebook. Yeah, I'm going back.

The soccer game was a laugher. After Matt got over the surprise of me being there---especially after I called home and said I was camped up on a high pass--- the team put a serious spanking on their opponent. We scored in :30 and didn't give up a shot in the first half to take a 5-0 lead. Matt played great, started numerous devastating counter attacks and refused to let the team lose after narrowly beating this same team 3-2 earlier in the season.

At half-time the kids were tired as we only had one sub and it was a warm, muggy evening. It was then that I decided to bust out my water bottle which I filled at the trailhead upon my return. I told the kids that this was sacred Shoshone water that comes from a spring high up on a mountain and that it had energizing qualities. I told them that young Shoshone boys on their visionquests used this water to find the strength to make it back home to their tribal camp. Apparently this worked as we again scored in the first 30 seconds of the half and won the game 8-0.

Matt and I managed to make it back home by 8 PM and surprised Todd with my appearance. Later, when the boy's grandma came back from a church function, I surprised her, too. Next up: Yumi, who still thinks I am in the mountains and won't be home until Sunday.