skydiver: Well, I think three days after the event is over is long enough to give everyone a chance to log the cache. Those who haven't can still do so after it's archived. No need to leave it cluttering up everyone's lists in the mean time.
I arrived at the campground at approx 1:30.
The first people to arrive around 5:00pm were the Oconnellz, followed closely by Lone Stranger (in the back seat). They all setup camp planning to stay the night.
Later on, a moose wandered by camp. It eventually wandered off but not before we could get some pictures. It's incredible how stealthly something that size can move through the woods.
Next to arrive were Yumitori and Leonata who stayed and chatted with everyone for a while before heading back home.
Then shortly before dark, Jennifer and Dean swung in. They stayed just long enough to see our next visitor.
We thought we were hearing another Moose scratching his felt on a tree. I shined my flashlight into the woods to try and get a glimpse. Once I saw who was visiting, I announced Bear and reached for the spray hung on the side of my tent, and camp got pretty active. Some people gathered up the kids and headed for the van, while others started yelling and banging on pots and pans, and still others took up a position behind me armed with the bear spray. He was about 100ft from camp at this point and the noise got his attention and he took off. Jennifer and Dean decided that was enough excitement for them and left the rest of us alone to fend for ourselves that night.
On day two Scott and Lone Stranger left to Cedar Peak. While they were gone Gary and Bernie dropped by from Great Falls. They stuck around and chatted for a while before heading on.
Later in the afternoon Asatruar rolled in on his motorcycle. At that point Scott and The Stranger were a bit late coming back, so Asatruar decided to engage Murphy's Law and go looking for them. Sure enough, they both came strolling into camp shortly with stories of lack of preperation, dehydration, heat exaustion, bushwacking, bear territory, and great views.
Then the Oconnellz, Lone Stranger, and Asatruar packed up their gear, and headed back to Missoula, leaving me all alone in the woods with sunset fast approaching.
Luckily, right about sunset, MacDuff and Geocache came in to save Tor and I from the loneliness (and the bears). Not long after they arrived a deer raced past camp, apparently on her way to Lexington. We never did see what she was running from. We built a big fire, drank beer, discussed many matters of negligible importance, roasted some marshmallows, and generally just enjoyed being in the middle of nowhere. No more visitors that night.
Next morning we packed everything up, walked through the area a couple times to make sure we'd gotten everything, dumped several gallons of water on the fire. Took everything, and once again, left no trace.
On the way out at noon saw another moose in the creek right next to the road. See pictures below.
When I got home I was sorry to read that Savoy made a valiant effort, but was denied due to the coordinate change. I'd thought about putting a container at the original starting point, just in case, but decided that anybody working with 3 week old data would double check that nothing important had changed before heading out. Next year I'll try to be more organized with the starting point.
And now, the moment you've all been waiting for; Which camper wins the prize for comming from farthest away? The contest was so close that it required actually measuring the distance from peoples front doors in Missoula to the final location. And the winner is.... The Oconnellz by 106 feet. Congratulations!