Hi OregonMouse,
I definately want to do several more cold weather trips with all our gear as well as a real backpacking trip. Unfortunately we do live in Southeast Nebraska, but we've been to the black hills several times. I wish we could get over there for a short trip, but like you said, too expensive! The thought of bears in Yellowstone makes me pretty nervous so I called a backcountry ranger there and told her of our plans and that there would only be 2 of us. I wanted to know if they thought that would be a bad idea and she said "Oh no, it's less impact on the environment so we like that." I told her I was asking because of the bears (I'm concerned about the environment too but..). She said we should be fine. To be honest, I think she was more concerned about the mark we would leave than of our safety so not sure if I should feel comforted or not! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> Someone in another forum told me that there have been grizzlies at Shoshone Lake and an attack not long ago that I wasn't aware of. Anyway, if I'm not reasonably sure about our safety by the time we get ready to go, we'll go somewhere else. I was originally thinking that we would go to Elkhart Park and hike the pole creek trail to Cook Lakes, and then up to Titcomb basin, and come back on the Seneca Lake trail. I don't know if we'll have a campfire, but I just want to practice in case we need one in an emergency. Thanks for the tips. I used to have wood heat a long time ago and was very good at starting fires but it's been awhile. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />