Day Hike at Storm Point, Lunar Eclipse, Wildlife watching in Lamar Valley ( a full week of Yellowstone fun!)

Last Tuesday, Sam and myself along with two new friends (named Anna and Robbie) took a day hike near to where we live, called Storm Point.  We set out walking through a nice meadow by a small pond, walking towards a small pine forest.  The trees lay right on the edge of the lake on a dropoff of about 15 feet.  The lake was starting to thaw at this point so it was a mix of thin ice and free flowing water ( at the time I write the lake is almost completely thawed now).  The weather was beautiful during the hike, sunny skies and mild temperatures in the low 60s.  After crossing a small stream with a log bridge built across it, we entered into another rock strewn open area.  Looking across at one of the large rocks we noticed a small animal resting on top of it.  It turns out this area is home to a large family of Yellow-Bellied Marmots, and they were sunning on nearly every rock in sight.

We hung out on the point right on the lake for a little while, seeing as this was a very short hike and we wanted to sit out and enjoy the sun.  Our marmot friend in the picture above hung out with us, from about 15 feet away.  He didn't seem to have a care in the world about us, and we just wanted to enjoy the same sunshine. 

Once we continued the walk over the next hill we came upon some bison grazing in the field right where our trail was headed.  There were only two but we kept our distance and walked around on the edge of the trees.  Once we took back up the trail I looked over to the left and there was Big Papa bison looking at us through some pines.  I can honestly say he is the biggest one I have seen yet, and he just lay there staring straight back at us.

We continue our walk through the pine forest until we crossed a small creek out into the field where we started our hike.  Of course, there were more bison out there blocking our path.  So we took the long way around, which happened to go through a nice marshy area.  Luckily Sam and I wore our boots but our two friends had opted for low cut sneakers and they got wet feet.  This one bison decided also to follow our path across the field so we had to keep going out of his way...eventually we made it to the road and back to the car where he had continued to follow us and was only about 10 ft. away when we got to the car.  Storm Point was an excellent little 1.5 hour hike that I will definitely do again if I just want to get outdoors somewhere close by.

The next day we were supposed to go on another hiking trip overnight, but decided to visit the Old Faithful area instead.  Though we didn't actually see Faithful erupt, we took the walk around to look at all the other geysers, hot springs, and colorful pools around the area.  The fact that Yellowstone has more combined thermal features that anywhere else on Earth is pretty impressive.  So what we walked around and saw in an hour here you couldn't see in any other area without touring the entire world basically.  There are really too many to put pictures on the blog, but I will upload some into our photostream.  There are some geysers that can be predicted like Old Faithful, but none are as regular or as often.  We didn't see any of the others erupt on this particular day either, but plan to go back and give it another shot some other time.

Looks like the sun is resting on the treetop!

On Sunday night we went with a big group of people from the dorms to the Lake Butte Lookout point to watch a lunar eclipse.  It turned out to be nice sunset, and with only cheap sunglasses we couldn't see much, but there was definitely an eclipse happening.  We stayed up there about an hour watching the sunset and enjoying the scenery, but it was only partly an eclipse with a small crescent visible in front of the sun.  I got some neat pictures of the sun, but unfortunately they don't show the eclipse. 


On Monday, Sam and I decided to head to the Lamar Valley to try and see wolves.  This has been the most popular spot for wolf sightings in the park that we have heard, though some have been spotted just north of us in the Hayden Valley as well.  The wolves are usually more active later in the evening so first we took a short hike at a place called Trout Lake.  There was a steep 1/2 mile hike up to the lake, which was beautiful.  The lake was very small, but the scenery around it was beautiful.  We made sure to take our bear spray with us, since this was a prime bear habitat.  Luckily we didn't see any.  We walked around the small lake, and saw a bison resting under a tree on the far side (he didn't seem interested in us at all).  I didn't see any of the trout swimming in the lake, or the otters that live there, but we did see some ducks swimming around.  The two males were fighting over the female duck, it was pretty interesting to watch.  On the way back down we met a Russian fellow with a very large camera lens.  He didn't speak English, but did manage to show us something interesting through his camera...mountain goats on the steep cliff-side opposite of our hike down.  They were so far away my binoculars could barely make them out but they were there right on the top of a steep mountainside. 

After our hike we headed back down the road where we watched for the wolves for nearly an hour, this one tourist apparently spotted one but they were very far away and never reappeared.  We cut our losses and headed home, seeing many buffalo (with their young, called "Red Dogs") and elk along the way.  The Red Dogs were really fun to watch since they run around and play with one another and butt heads.  That's all for now, but next post will be about our trip to Jackson and the Grand Tetons!

Lamar Valley has the largest herds we have seen so far!

Little Red Dog

Curious Fox Day

A few days ago (on Mother's Day), after a long day of work Michael and I decided to check out the Lamar Valley where wolves and other such animals are known to be all the time.  We didn't see any wolves unfortunately but we did see some other cute animals!

We started the trip by heading to Mammoth Hot Springs for dinner where we ate at the Employee Dining Room where we ate with a bison outside the window! He was just sitting there while everyone ate their dinners; he was eating his dinner too!

After diner and a call to our moms to wish them a happy Mother's Day, we headed out to the Lamar Valley.  On the way we saw lots of animals.  First we passed some Elk eating grass in a field.  Next we came across some bison who were play fighting and huddling around the Roosevelt Ranger station.  On the other side of the road were the females and their youngsters called red dogs.  Some of the red dogs were jumping around and playing on their new legs, bumping into each other and falling on the ground.  It was very cute.


Continuing on our journey, we found ourselves stuck in our very first bear jam.  Tourists were crowding the side of the road and so we slowed down to see what the fuss was all about.  When we looked over on our left we saw to black bears in the field below looking around for food.  So we pulled over and got out of the car to take a closer look.  Michael manned the camera and I had the binoculars.  We watched them for awhile as they ate berries and wandered around.  As we were leaving, one of the bears ran across the road right next to one of the tourists and I was sure we were about to see a bear mauling.  I'm sure glad Xanterra made sure we are bear aware, so we won't have such a close encounter.  And if we do we will be prepared.

After this we arrived at the Tower Falls where we hiked around for a bit and saw the falls which are 132 feet high.  The view was spectacular.  The trail was closed off at one point down near the Yellowstone River but of course Mike had to go check it out.  We went on for about another 50 yards and saw why it was closed, a landslide had washed away 20 ft of the trail ahead.  We could see where it picked up on the other side but there was nothing in between.  Then we journeyed on to go back to the Lake area and we took the road that is closed to tourists.  Here the snow was still pretty high across Dunraven Pass, but we were on the lookout for any animals, particularly wolves since I really want to see some. Suddenly, while we were driving Michael hit the brakes and backed up a bit.  Looking out his window, I could see a fluffy orange face peeking over the snowbank.  It was a cute little red fox!  He was the most curious fox I have ever seen.  While we sat watching him he came right over to the car and sat there looking at us.  He was very curious.  We got lots of good pictures of him and then decided to let him keep hunting for little critters and rolled on towards home.  I'll let Michael describe what happened next:

"Well, we were just drivin' on down the road talkin' about that fox that we seen.  We were all tickled and excited about it since he came right up to the car window that we were startled when we saw another critter right in the road ahead of us.  Guess what, another grizzly bear!  He must have heard us comin' cuz he was haulin A** down the road!  Before we had time to stop he had crossed the road and jumped right into a 5 ft tall snowbank...without even rolling the window down I could hear the weight of the bear hit the snow with them paws.  It had the same kinda sound that big rocks make when they hit the water...SKADOOSH SKADOOSH.  Buddy, let me tell ya, we musta gave that bear the scare of his life cuz he didn't stop runnin' the whole time we were in view of him, even when he reached the safety of the pine forest.  There won't no time for a picture, but I believe he was the biggest one we seen yet.   We didn't want to disturb him anymore than we already had so we kept on goin' once he was safely off into the woods."

See you next time for the next Mike and Sam Adventures!!

The Season Has Started!

The season has officially started and the Hotel has been open for 5 days now and I've been so busy training and all that Michael has had to write all the blog posts! Most of my training was meeting the group, paperwork and a ton of computer training.  Its pretty hard to learn a computer system that is older than you are (We are using a DOS system that is from the 1980s...).  Part of our training was a bus tour, however, and that was super fun!

Old Faithful Geyser

We left from the hotel about 8 AM and drove from the Lake area up to Old Faithful, the whole way learning new things from the tour guide and also a few bad jokes.  For example: In the older days of Yellowstone people would ride in carriages around the park and they would stop for lunch by some hot springs where they would put their eggs in metal basket and put them in the springs to cook.  After a few minutes they would have hard boiled eggs.  That's not allowed anymore, but do you know why its not allowed?....... Because there is no poaching allowed in Yellowstone!! Hahaha.  So you can see that the tour guide jokes are really very hilarious.  But anyways, when we arrived at Old Faithful, we arrived just in time to see Old Faithful Geyser go off.  I've saw it go off in the summer last time I visited when I was a teenager, but it looks really different in the winter because it produces a lot more steam.  It was really neat to see.

Canyon Falls

Old Faithful Inn

After Old Faithful we went around the park, noting interesting geological features and visiting every hotel/lodge/campground to familiarize ourselves with each to better be able to help the guests.  We went to Canyon and saw the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone as well as the Upper and Lower Falls there which was quite amazing, especially with all the snow around them.  After, we had to radio in to see if we could take the road directly to the lake area, which unfortunately we could not due to construction, so we had to go all the way back around the park to get back.  This made our trip about 10hours long and we didn't return until about 6.  Needless to say we had a very long workday that day, since we were getting paid for the tour.  The tour was really helpful though as I have had quite a few guests ask me about things in the park and now I know the answers.

Map of Yellowstone showing the Bus Tour Route

  
I've had quite a few check-ins so far at the front desk, but its nothing compared to how they say next week will be when the hotel will be pretty much all filled up!  So far I have really enjoyed work, and I think Michael has too.  We've been meeting so many fun and nice people here (including nice guests so far :-) )  All the people I work with at the front desk are awesome and we get along really well.  Michael and I have asked for the same days off so we will be able to hang out on Tuesdays and Wednesdays which is nice because some of our friends have Wednesdays and Thursdays off so we can go hiking and hang out with them some.

We have been enjoying our time here very much so far.  Going to the pub with friends after work, or going for a drive to see wildlife.  Eating at the Employee Dining Hall (or EDR for meals) is always fun because you are bound to see someone you know and you can catch up with them while eating.  The food is really very good most the time, and Michael and I have become friends with a few of the EDR staff since some live in our dorm, so we are certain to get extra of all the good stuff.

Yesterday we moved rooms in our dorm.  The one we had on the end, though we liked it, was right next to an outdoor staircase that leads to the rooms upstairs and so we could hear everyone going up and down at all hours of the day and night.  It was just too loud.  So we moved up the hall a few doors to a new room, and have already gotten it all organized.  I think we will like this spot, and our new setup much better.

Lake Hotel Officially Opens Tomorrow

Just an update on our job situation and what is going on at the Lake Yellowstone Hotel.  Today is our last day of official training.  Tonight is our "Shakedown Dinner" which means that hosts (me), servers, and the kitchen is in full swing for a dinner to all the lake area employees before we officially open tomorrow for lunch.  Dinner will be free to all employees to enjoy our fine dining selections from the actual menu.  To give you an idea most of the entrees are between 15 and 35 dollars, so this is quite a treat.  Some of the entrees are bison tenderloin, blackened salmon, a lamb trio, Montana trout, among others.  Even the food and beverage employees get to enjoy this as we have divided into two teams, one eating early and one eating later. 
   Sam is doing something similar at the front desk.  They are doing mock reservations, check outs, and the like.  Also, the employee pub officially opens tonight!  Everyone around town is super excited for this particular feature.  Especially since they are serving liquor as well as beer and wine for the first time.  We plan on heading out for a little while, but not too late as my first shift begins for lunch tomorrow at 11:15.  We aren't expected to be too busy as far as guests go, but we are expecting the phone to start ringing off the hook to take reservations for the coming weeks.  Everything is getting ready to be in full swing! Can't wait for that first paycheck to get here!  Oh, and just to digress a bit, after our beautiful mid 60s day yesterday it is back in the low 40s and snowing right now, haha...

Wolf and Grizzly family sighting

On Monday Sam and I went out for a drive just to get out and kill some time, and it turned out to be a great call.  We weren't even expecting to see anything amazing, since the area we were driving through usually is only home to scattered groups of bison.  First we came upon some cars pulled off and just stopped in the middle of the road, and looking around we saw a lone white wolf in the field below the road.  We stayed and watched the wolf as it stalked around and dug up moles to eat.  It soon came up the hill the road was on and crossed up to the hill above us.  We got some good pictures so check those out.  After the wolf was out of view, we continued up the road barely 1/2 a mile when we came upon even more cars pulled off.  Our first thoughts were, MORE WOLVES?!?!  But it turned out to be a grizzly with two cubs, and it was pretty awesome to watch them walking across the meadow.  We really can't believe how many bears we have been seeing around so far this year, some people from previous seasons even say that they haven't seen this many before.  Just as many people haven't even seen wolves either, especially not in this area where we are living.  The wolves are usually more north of us in a place called the Lamar Valley.  The weather is really starting to get beautiful, spring is definitely in the air here in Yellowstone.  We have been having nice high 50s and 60 degree days, but it still gets pretty chilly at night.  The snow is starting to melt off, and the lake has started to thaw.  Sam will post later on a update about our jobs, beginning work and other such things.
  Here are a few pictures of the wolf and grizzly family, as well as some local reptiles:

Charlie chillin'

Our first day hike of the "summer"

On Thursday we finally got a chance to go explore around the park with some of our new friends from our dorm.  Sam had the day off from training so we decided to go on a short day hike.  Leaving our dorm around 12:30 we headed towards Old Faithful to find a trail called DeLacy Creek.  After locating the trail head we soon realized this was not going to be an ordinary, easy to find the trail type of hike.  The entire area was covered in at least two feet of snow, and much more in some places.  So with 5 of our new dorm mates, we just decided to start walking in hopes that we would eventually find the lake that the trail supposedly lead to.  There wasn't a big worry about getting lost since we could easily follow our tracks back to the road.  Meandering through this area where we were walking was a creek, sometimes visible beneath the snow, so we decided after a few close calls of nearly falling through feet of snow into the creek, that we would stick to the edge of the treeline.  It will be so interesting to come back to this trail later in the summer and see what we were actually walking on.

To our right was usually a 30 yard open space which most of us thought contained the creek, or even a larger pond, which also influenced our decision to stay within the treeline seeing as no one wanted to find themselves falling into water and getting hypothermia.  Beyond the open area was the treeline for the ridge opposite us.  After continuing along this way for about an hour, taking our time because we often fell into patches where the snow wasn't as sturdy and found ourselves up to our ankles, knees, or even waist on a few occasions.  We were also careful because it would have been very easy to sprain an ankle in these conditions.  We spotted no wildlife or signs of wildlife in this area, except for a single marmot (similar to a wild ferret). 

After awhile we decided to cross to the other ridge and go up to see if we could potentially acquire a view of the lake which we were ultimately seeking.  Talk about taking your breath away.  We had to jump across the creek before coming to the base of the ridge which was hilarious in itself.  You had to place your feet and jump to a certain spot or it was certain you were going to sink in a bit.  We all made it luckily, with Sam being the last one across and having to do a tuck and roll at the end.  The climb up the ridge was pretty tough.  It was steep, but also covered in snow, and by this time even my waterproof boots were getting wet.  It was rough going for about 15 minutes but we then made it to the top.  I would like to say that the view was spectacular, but all around was obscured by lodgepole pines.  We hiked in the same direction we had followed before across the top of the ridge for about another half hour, but still found no end in sight.  It was getting later in the afternoon so we made a group decision that the hike had still been fun and successful even though we hadn't reached our destination.  Perhaps later in the season once the snow melts we can hike this trail again and laugh at how far off course we really were. 

Once we started the hike back, and made it down the ridge which we had climbed up, it started snowing once again.  It was beautiful to see and spirits were high from everyone in the group despite us now having cold toes and being mostly wet up to our knees.  We made it back following our trail of footprints, and it seemed so easy.  The hike down always seems to take less time and seem easier doesn't it? Once back to the car we headed back for some hot food and met back at the dorm to celebrate our successful day with shots of Jaegarmeister to warm the body.  

New Happenings

We will be updating our photos...since the last we have was from our trip coming West around Rushmore.  Since internet capabilities are slow, hopefully we will be able to get them all up but we may have to pick and choose.  The new pictures, and hopefully a video or two, will include:  Devils Tower, our first couple days in the park (minus the stay in Gardiner which we forgot to get off the camera at the moment), wildlife sightings thus far (including more grizzly bears, elk, and bison), our dorm and pictures of our room, and whatever else might be there.  If anyone is experiencing problems seeing the pictures or the background seems to be a series of exclamation marks let me know and hopefully we can fix that.