Back a day early, for a variety of reasons, but who cares?! We had an amazing trip, perfect autumn weather in Yellowstone, and in a fantastic new region of the park. But then, aren’t they all? (trips and regions)

Between the two of us we have 364 photos and video clips, so it’ll take some doing to get it all together in whatever form. So here are five, selected according to my morning whim.

It is not camping without a fire.

Shoshone Geyser Basin. Too big for cameras.

Me fishing the upper Firehole River.

Lone Star Geyser.

I had a heavy pack for three days, with my not-very-backpackable fishing rig, tons of food, and quite a few extra items of new and old gear getting tested for next month. Some thoughts for the record:

-My all-pack is good, and will carry 30+ lbs just find, once I get my load-carrying muscles back. Legs and shoulders were a bit sore in distinctive ways last night, but not at all this morning.

-NRS Hydroskin (1/2mm neo lined/laminated with woven nylon) are great for shallow shoulder season fishing (above), and will be the ticket for soggy and chilly backpacking with permeable trail runners. I’ve had some 2mm NRS neo booties for years as a staple of my canyon kit, and they do a great job of keeping feet warm. But the lack of flexibility of such thick neoprene and the raw surface against the achillies and metatarsals is not friendly for sustained hiking. The Hydroskins will not be a substitute for truly cold water, but are much warmer than any wool sock, and I did ten miles of walking in them this weekend without a care in the world. They dry reasonably fast as well, which is important. They do still have the fatal flaw of conventional neoprene; convective heat loss in the wind. (Read: not so good for keeping wet feet warm while not mobile.) The XLs fit me perfectly.

-I want a lightweight capilene shirt with monkey palms and a hood, after the mold of BPLs beartooth and M’s Cloudveil shirts. I’ll have to push that to the very front of the project list. The concept for on the go thermoregulation is just too sound.

-My new Cloudveil Run Don’t Walk boxers (thick powerfleece) are wonderful! So long as my feet and butt are warm, and rest of my legs will come longer for the ride. These will get lots of use this winter.

-The new-to-us Snowpeak 700 (ml) cooker is a perfect little 1-2 person pot. The tall design heats fast stuffed into the side of a fire, and the lid design is exemplary.