July 4th weekend

We were out and about during our whole weekend this week, we luckily had the 4th of July off to celebrate.  Sam had Monday off, and once my shift at the dining room was over, we headed out with our friend Jim to a camping area in the Beaverhead National Forest.  It was a beautiful spot next to Cliff Lake ( if you look on a map it is just west of highway 287, west of West Yellowstone, Montana).  We met some more of our friends there who had arrived earlier.  Since we got a late start, we were only there for about an hour before sunset.  This was also Sam and I's first time using our "new to us" tent we bought from some friends.  They gave us two sets of poles to go with the tent, neither of which actually go with the actual tent.  One set works very well, but the other set not so much.  Guess which set we brought...

   It was fine to sleep in once we rigged it up decently though.  The sun came up early and warm the next morning so we took out our sleeping bags from the tent and slept out on the ground for a little while.  The morning view of the lake was spectacular.  The water was incredibly blue and clear.  Except in the middle of the lake where it was deeper, the water was so clean and clear you could always see the bottom.  So I had to swim in it of course.  I will say it was a little chilly, ~ 65 degrees by my guess.  Once in the water, it was awesome.  Great hangover cure.  Sam thought it was too cold so she just stood on the shoreline with her toes in the water.  We spent some time swimming and catching crayfish in the shallows before packing up and heading back to Yellowstone Lake. 

The clear, blue water and clear, blue sky!

After a nice nap and a good dinner at our EDR (Employee Dining Room), Sam and I set out with a group from our Rec Center for a night hike on Mt. Washburn.  Before I say anything else, this is by far the favorite hike I have done in Yellowstone, and maybe ever.  It is my favorite by means of the time of day, and the amazing views at the top.  There were ten of us in all, 5 kids from China, 2 from Poland.  Only the guide and ourselves were Americans, but luckily everyone could speak English.  On the drive out we spotted an old grizzly right beside the road.  He had a tracking collar on, and a scarred face.  Hence his name (Scarface).  This particular bear is well known throughout the park, he is very old and docile.  The reason his face is scarred is because he keeps scratching his tracking collar off.  The hike itself is relatively short, only 3.2 miles.  The summit can be reached one of two ways:  The first is the one we did, starting from the Mt. Washburn trail parking area, the other starts on the Chittenden road which is not nearly as fun.  The trail itself was actually once a road that allowed people to drive to the summit, but that was a long time ago.  On the way up it was warm and there were wildflowers all along the meadows beside the trail.  We didn't see any wildlife along the trail. 

The lookout tower from farther down the trail

   There were amazing views of the Yellowstone Grand Canyon on the way up as well.  We made it to the summit right about 9:00, and boy was the temperature dropping.  The wind at the top was really intense.  Luckily Sam and I brought jackets, but some of the other people were in shorts and T-shirts.  There is a really cool lookout building at the top where a ranger lives to fire watch and do research.  You can walk in and admire the views all around.  From the top you can see the grand canyon, Yellowstone Lake, Hayden Valley, the Absaroka mountain range, among many other peaks and ranges I don't know the names of. 

At the summit, it was super windy!

Soon after we got to the top, the sun was setting and the full moon was rising at the same time.  It was pretty incredible, and the most memorable sunset I have ever experienced.   The colors were amazing.  It was hard to know which way to look.  On our descent, we didn't even have to use our flashlights because the moon was so bright.  Since there are no lights really out here, the views of the stars are really amazing too.  This is one hike that I will definitely have to do again. 

The sun looked like it was setting right on the mountain!

My artsy shot of the moonrise...

But wait!  Our fun-filled weekend wasn't over with yet!  The next morning after sleeping in (we didn't get back from the hike until 12)  we headed out for another night of camping at a place called Shadow Mountain which is in the Teton National Forest.  We were meeting up with a lot of people from our location who go there every year for the July 4th festivities.  Unfortunately there were no fireworks in Jackson this year because of the very dry conditions and risk of forest fires.  In fact, this morning there was a haze all around the mountains that looked like fog, but it was actually smoke from a forest fire somewhere north of us in the Shoshone National Forest.  The spot itself was pretty cool and we partied down all night.  The Tetons were visible directly across from us and provided some inspiring material for late night drunk ramblings about the greatness of nature...

But for now, it is back to work for the next 5 days.  That gives me just enough time to plan out another fun adventure for next week! 

Below are some pictures of our camping at Shadow Mtn: 

Sam sleeping off the night before.  The better pole set this time.

The view on our arrival at the camping area.

The next morning.  Same view, but all the haze it actually smoke.

The Tetons enveloped in a haze.  We could actually smell the smoke from where we were camped.

Another Trip to Cody

Sam and Bill

A few weeks ago on our days off Mike and I decided to return to Cody for much needed groceries as well as exploring the town.  First we checked out a few stores around the town looking for Father's day gifts and any other things we might have need.  After purchasing a neat topographic map of the Lake Area where we are, we headed over the Buffalo Bill Historical Center which houses 5 different museums. 

It's Bill!

The first museum was dedicated to Buffalo Bill's life and career.  At the entrance to this one we were greeted by a holographic Buffalo Bill.  Many of the kids who passed by enjoyed walking through him or punching him in the gut which was pretty entertaining to watch...  The museum had many neat artifacts and also quite a few hands on activities that were probably supposed to be for kids, but Michael and I found them very entertaining and educational.  They taught you how to scout like old Buffalo Bill or how to rustle up buffalo on the plains.  They even had a Buffalo Bill board game that you could try out.  (Which I won at).  Next was Bill's childhood home which had been moved from its original location.  It was a small two room house that use to also have a little lean-to kitchen attached pre-move.  It was a quaint little house with yellow clapboard siding and a tiny living space. 

The next museum was all about Yellowstone ecology.  It talked about all the different regions of Yellowstone starting at the highest elevation where the wild sheep and goats live and then heading down to lower elevations where the bears and marmots live.  They had all sorts of stuffed animals, each one showing a different animal that lives in Yellowstone.

Neat Video about Native Americans

The next museum was all about the Native American presence in and around Cody, WY.  It had all sorts of artifacts from Native American cultures as well as some modern art by Indians of today.  They had many videos about the Indian way of life as well as traditions they held such as the different dances and headdresses which were really neat to watch.

The last museum had art pertaining to the West including Yellowstone and Buffalo which used to be essential to the western way of life.  They had some really neat paintings, one of which Michael really liked showing Custer's Last Stand with actually historical characters painted in it.  We looked at that one for awhile, all the way up until the museum closed.  At which point we headed out to dinner at a nice Chinese buffet.  I hadn't had Chinese in forever, and really wanted some so we went to this buffet and it was fantastic!  After filling our bellies and stopping to stock up on groceries, we headed back home to the lake.  On the drive back, as it was getting a little dark, we saw a bunch of sheep up on the hillside and stopped to admire them and take a few pictures before continuing home.  There were a bunch of them just sitting there; more than 10 or so, so we got to watch them for awhile until it got to dark and we left.

Sheep!

Cookout Time!

The wagons

A few days ago us front desk people got to go on a real life cookout for free for what is called "shakedown."  Shakedown is basically where people practice for the real thing.  It's like the shakedown we had at the Dining Hall here at the hotel.  At this one, all the people from the front desk around the park (Mammoth, Canyon, etc..) got to ride in little yellow wagons pulled by these really big work horses.  As we rode along, we had a driver and a guide, both of whom were telling us random facts and information about the area where we were driving.  Mostly they were stories about old west cowboys and the mountain men who once roamed about in Yellowstone.  Also, they pointed out wildlife which was only a few bison, once of which was in our way so our drivers yelled out at them and I have never seen a bison run so fast!  He was running like no tomorrow.



After about a 30 minute drive, we arrived at our destination to see a campfire with coffee brewing as well as the food line all set up and steaks a cooking! When we dismounted from the wagon, there were a bunch of picnic tables set up for us to eat at and some cowboys singing poetry.  When it was our groups turn at the table they told us it was all you could eat steaks (which later proved incorrect, at which point it was all the beans we could eat.  This too soon proved false until it was simply all the apple crisp we could eat.)

An example of the food we ate!

After dinner a few of us joined the guides over by the horses and we were able to pet them and learn some of their names.  They were really sweet and playful and it was so fun to get to see them.  Soon we were packing back into the wagons and heading home.  Stuffed full of steaks and beans, we arrived back at the Hotel ready for the next day of work.

Recap of the last 2 weeks: Post 1 Coyote Creek Camping Trip

So a lot has happened since our last post.  I will attempt to go into all the fun stuff that has been happening on our days off as well as a small update about work and all the extreme fun that goes with it. This is the first post of the updates
   To start with, we had our first overnight backpacking and camping trip last Tuesday ( the 5th).  It was Sam and I, and our friend Anna that works at the front desk with Sam.  For those who don't know, if you are going camping in Yellowstone, at any place other than a designated campground, you need a back country permit.  You can get these at any ranger station.  It is a safety precaution mainly, but is also useful so that you will know which camps around the park are open so that you won't have to worry about hiking 10 miles to find out someone is already sleeping where you wanted to be.  They briefly make sure you are aware of the dangers of the backcountry (bears, river crossings, etc.)  while also letting you know about the condition of the trail.  It so happened that the trail we were going on only had one campsite where fires are permitted, and this camp was just past a creek crossing.  So I chose that one since it was still getting pretty cold at night and we would want a fire.  Turns out we probably would have been better off to not cross the creek, but that comes later.  On the way to the trailhead, which is the Hellroaring Creek Trail, we spotted a gray wolf in a meadow, and a coyote on the road just before reaching our destination.  We got a somewhat later start than anticipated, but hit the trail at around 3:00.  Our campsite was 5.4 miles ahead of us.  Also, this was Sam's first ever backpacking experience.
    After going down a series of switchbacks (which were terrible on the way back), we crossed a suspension bridge over the Yellowstone River.  After hiking through a small patch of pines, we crossed out into open sage meadows which would take us through the rest of the trail.  The weather was beautiful and warm, and a couple miles later we spotted a little gray fox watching us from on top of a nearby hill.  There were also little towns of prairie dogs along the way, we could hear them squeaking at us when we got too close!  Hiking in, on our left was a tall rocky mountain alongside Hellroaring Creek.  We were steadily going uphill the entire way, which we noticed on the way back more than on the trip in.  It was a nice easy grade, but 5.4 miles is still pretty tiring with a 30-40 lb. pack.  The neatest thing along the way was the amount of elk shed antlers along the trail.  I spotted the first one and thought it was the coolest thing ever, but after finding bigger sets, and eventually a complete giant pair, I couldn't believe it.  Unfortunately, you are not allowed to remove any natural thing from Yellowstone or you can face pretty heavy fines. 

    By the time we passed the first campsite along our route, we had been hiking for about 4 hours.  It was getting close to 7:00, and the temperature and sun were starting to drop.  We knew we only had about a 1/2 mile left so we were getting pretty excited about setting up camp and hanging out for the night.  Then, we came to the creek we had to cross.  By my definition, it should have been a small river based on how fast it was flowing.  It was only about 6 feet across, but we decided to cross because it didn't look very deep even though the water was very fast. 

So, we changed from our boots into water shoes, locked arms for stability and support, and began to cross.  I went first, Sam next to me, and Anna last.  Needless to say, the water was freezing cold.  Before I knew it, I was waist deep in the middle of the stream.  It was happening pretty fast, and because of the cold water we were trying to rush across and Anna lost her footing.  She went down in the water pack and all, but luckily Sam was able to grab her by the chest strap on her pack and hold her head above the water.  So then, Sam loses her footing and goes down in the water too.  At that point I was mostly across so I was pretty stable, and was able to grab onto both of them and help get them out of the water.  The adrenaline was definitely pumping after that.  They were both freezing cold and needed to get warm quick or hypothermia was a real possibility.  So I gave them what extra clothes I had brought and ran ahead to the campsite to get a fire going.  Once we had finally made it to camp we got the tent set up and they tried drying all of the wet clothing near the fire.  Luckily, the sleeping bags had been spared by the creek. 

The campsite was actually very nice, and even though morale was pretty low after the swim, we slept soundly that night and were ready to go the next morning.  Most of their clothes were still wet, and Sam lost one of her hiking boots.  She had to wear her water shoes back the whole way!  The hike out was pretty uneventful after we found a much safer crossing.  The weather wasn't as warm as the day before, but the sun was still out for most of the way.  We even caught sight of a pronghorn antelope heading down the trail ahead of us. 

Overall it was really a fun experience despite the girls being a little cold during the night, and we learned a lot of lessons about the Yellowstone back country along the way.  Next time we will be smarter and more prepared about being out in the wild. 

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. 

Grizzly sighting

Since I have a week until my work begins I spent some time sightseeing yesterday.  After hearing multiple reports from other people around the dorm about a grizzly and her cub in the area I decided to try and find them.  It wasn't hard...I drove up the road a mile and they were right off the side digging in the snow for food.  I sat and watched them for nearly an hour and they paid no attention to me whatsoever.  Later that evening me and Sam drove out to find cell coverage and came upon two park ranger vehicles.  We weren't sure what they were doing but drove around them slowly, luckily we drove slow enough because right past their vehicles was a black bear laying in the woods.  We only caught a quick glimpse of him and didn't manage to get a picture, but Sam was glad since she didn't get to see the grizzly with me earlier.  Here are some pics of the two that I watched yesterday afternoon.  Enjoy!

The cub standing tall

Mama Bear

Getting settled in Yellowstone

We got up early to go the HR office in Gardiner to begin our real adventure.  Registration took about a hour, where we got our photo ID and uniforms.  The weather outside was beautiful, very cold with snow pouring down...just how I imagined starting my "summer job."  Once registered we headed into the park to await an orientation presentation, with an hour and half to spare, we tried to get warm in the car so that Herb and Charlie wouldn't freeze their little turtle butts off.  The presentation took about an hour once the time came, and went over a lot of basic information about Xanterra (the company we are working for), life in Yellowstone, what to do in case of a bear attack, and lastly why you shouldn't get too close to the animals (videos on buffalo attacks are scary but very entertaining).  The drive through the park to the lake where our dorm awaited us was exciting.  The snow covered pines and views of the mountains were amazing.  We even spotted some buffalo along the way.  We also had a near death encounter with a badger (luckily he decided not to cross the road).  Since the part of the park where we are working is not open to the public yet, we had to open a locked gate to get to where we were going. 

We were among the first to arrive at the dorms and get our room assignment.  Luckily that also meant we got to search the rooms around us for the best wardrobe, mattresses, and end tables.  We will be living in Osprey dorm, which currently does not have internet so I am writing this from Pelican dorm which does.  There is no cell phone service whatsoever at the Lake, so calls to friends and family will be few and far between until me and Sam are able to get phone cards for the payphones.  Since I have a week until my work begins, I am going to use that time to explore the area around us, as well as head back to Gardiner for things that we need/forgot and for an oil change for the Jeep on Tuesday.  We have already heard that there is a grizzly and her cub in the area from multiple people, and some guys I met yesterday even saw them last night about a mile from where we are. 

It only took us a few hours to get settled in the dorm and make it feel like our new home.  I slept soundly last night, finally not having to travel and wake up early helped with that I think.  I will try and upload photos of our first day in the park and our dorm and room soon.  Once work begins and we start planning for hiking trips and tours around the park we will be posting more, but our posts will not be as often as they have been this week.  But keep looking out for new and exciting news from Sam and I as our summer in Yellowstone begins, and hopefully summer does come soon!

Final Travel Day

We set out from Rapid City on our way to Gardiner, MT for the last leg of our long journey.  On the way, about an hour and a half in, we made our last scenic tour at Devils Tower.  It was a huge pillar of igneous rock that suddenly rose out of the ground.  The native Americans of the region have a legend about its origin.  It is said that long ago seven girls were being chased by a bear.  They prayed for rescue and as the bear reached out for them they rose up into the air on a pillar of stone.  The bears claw marks can still be seen etched into the side of Devils Tower today (know to the Native Americans as Bear Lodge).  The girls' spirits rose into the sky and became the stars of the Big Dipper. We went for a short hike part way around the tower and came to a look out spot were you could see remnants of a hand-made ladder that the first man to climb to the top used.  It was simply a rope with wooden stakes for climbing the whole way (somewhere around 1500 feet).

Artists rendering of the Native legend

Also at Devils Tower was Prairie Dog Town! Home to tons of little prairie dogs.  They were jumping in and out of their holes, and running across the road to socialize with each other. They barked at each other to warn about us since our big red car was driving through their houses.  We even got a pamphlet about all their habits and lifestyle choices.  Though prairie dogs used to live in all areas of the Great Plains, they have been reduced to just a few "settlements" like the one at Devils Tower that we saw.

We arrived at Gardiner, Montana just as the rain did.  Luckily we had a little time to unpack, but by the time we found a little pizza place, it was raining steadily.  We spent the rest of the evening relaxing in the room.  The next morning when we woke up, it was snowing! And there was an elk outside our window.  She was cute.  Since it was snowing we decided to head in to Yellowstone to enjoy the wintery scenery, in April... The park looked very picturesque and peaceful, as there were not many visitors this time of year. 

First views of the Rockies from the Jeep window thru Montana

We relaxed in the room for the rest of the night, and enjoyed some Chinese take-out for what might be our last Chinese food for the next six months.  Of course, it was delicious.  Mike kept seeing the local wildlife out of our hotel window, and he decided to go outside and try to get some close up pictures of the mule deer grazing, I will let him tell the story..." Well, there I was staring them deers down.  They looked at me and I just looked right back.  Then I took some photographs of them deers and they kept on eating grass and lookin' at me.  They moved on behind someone's house so I decided to track em down.  Once again we had a starin' contest for a few minutes just 20 yards away from each other.  By that time I was cold so I came back inside."

Sightseeing Day!

Mike: Today we planned out a non-travel, sightseeing only day...and what better place to do it than in Rapid City, South Dakota!  There were so many attractions around that the two of us decided we had only time to hit 3:  the old mining/rough n' rowdy town of Deadwood, the in-progress Crazy Horse Monument, and one of our nations most spectacular wonders, Mt. Rushmore.  Though I (Michael) had been to this area before and seen Mt. Rushmore, I hadn't the opportunity to explore the first two listed.

 I have always been a fan of western movies and as a history buff have always loved the westward expansion era of the post Civil War United States, so naturally I have had a hankering to get to tour one of the most notorious towns of the Old West.  Though it has grown into a major tourist area, Deadwood still holds onto that Western feel.  Touring the town was a treat, and the visitor center built into a renovated train station gave a good starting point for our tour.  The Adams Museum did a fairly good job of showing the history of Deadwood, though if the museum had a clearer message I think it would have been much better.  The exhibits seemed haphazard and somewhat disconnected from one another, nonetheless Sam and I enjoyed the displays.  The highlights of our trip to Deadwood came from the Kevin Costner sponsored "Midnight Star", and the Mt. Moriah Cemetery.  The Midnight Star is a building built around 3 separate floors with 3 different themes; gambling, bar and grill, and fine dining.  We toured the second (which included tons of Kevin's costumes and posters from his many hit films) and had a couple great burgers for an early lunch.  The Mt. Moriah Cemetery was a humbling experience for both of us.  The cemetery rested on the hill behind the town, and held the graves of many of the early settlers of the area, including famous names such as "Wild Bill" Hickok, Calamity Jane, and Seth Bullock.  There was a special area designated for the Jewish settlers, and an area named "Potters Field" which held many of the early poorer residents that could not afford headstones.  Walking the steep hillside among the old headstones really gave me a feeling of how important these early settlers of this area were.  Though many have been forgotten, and their stories are not often told in our time, our country would not be what it is today without the pioneers of the "Old West".

Our next stop of the day was certainly my favorite, the Crazy Horse Memorial.  It is extremely hard to describe the experience without seeing it firsthand, I was awestruck by the story of Korczak Ziolkowski and his family and what they have been undertaking for the last 60 years to bring a dream of the remaining Native American community to reality.  The monument to one of the last great Lakota chiefs, once completed, will dwarf such sites as the Statue of Liberty, Mt. Rushmore, and the Washington Monument.  The reason it has been taking so long to complete is that the project is funded entirely by private donations, and no federal funding.  Mr. Ziolkowski and his family, as well as Native leaders, strongly felt that this project should be funded by public interest and not by taxpayers dollars, which I think is quite admirable for a project of this scope and importance.  Seeing the memorial was only a part of the experience, there was a great Native American museum and testaments to the life of Korczak as an artist as well.  I would strongly encourage any visitor to this area to include this site as a stop on their trip. 

Sam: Lastly we finally arrived at Mount Rushmore! I have been wanted to see it for forever, but always figured, "it's in South Dakota and when in the world am I going to be in South Dakota ever?" Hmmm never thought I'd ever be in South Dakota, but here I am.  When we got there it was just as good as I had hoped it would be!  It was humongous and all the presidents looked regal and very presidential.  George looked the best (but then he's the best president anyway), Lincoln looked very serious and exactly as I would expect, Teddy was sort of hiding behind T.J. and Lincoln they were shoving him out of the monument (His glasses were awesome though; they made it actually look like he had lenses!), and it always seemed like we were looking up T.J. nose, no matter what angle we were at.  Michael and I made sure to take the little path that goes under and around the monument so you can get up close and see it from different angles.  It was so fun and a great way to end our fun sightseeing day.  Now tomorrow it's back on the road and finally to Wyoming! Our Destination!!! 

(Pictures of our sightseeing tour will follow tomorrow, it is time for sleep!)

An Early Start

This morning started bright and early at 5:30AM and we were on the road by 6:30AM because this was gonna be a long drive from Kansas City to Rapid City, South Dakota.  The six hours that I drove in the morning were pretty uneventful, besides a few photos of random things out in the countryside (a weird giant bull head sculpture and a replica Washington monument?).  After Mike drove for awhile we took a short detour to Cabelas in Mitchell, South Dakota where we saw all the stuffed animals (trophy deer, elk, and other North American game) and cool fish in tanks.  It was also where we tried not to buy any fun camping equipment...

Soon after, we took an awesome detour to the Badlands (also free b/c of National Parks week), also in South Dakota, where I took a million pictures and Michael and I "ooo"-ed and  "aww"-ed at the huge rock formations that make up the entire national park.  Not only were the rock formations neat (with cool geological stratigraphy!), but the views of the prairie were amazing, which is probably why I took soooo many pictures.  At the park Michael and I took a nice trail that went within the rocks and gave us even cooler views, and went on a fossil trail where we saw fossils of prehistoric animals like the many that can be found in the Badlands still today.  While in the park, we came across the local wildlife: prairie dogs, wild sheep and turkeys, as well as the occasional South Dakota bicyclist.

After that it was off to the hotel in Rapid City to get the turtles (who had been really good sports about a long days travel) settled in.  We were met at the front desk by a very nice lady with an authentic South Dakota accent; very similar to a Minnesota accent.  The hotel has a western feel due to the abundance of wood furniture and paintings of cowboys that seems fitting for a town like Rapid City.  Tomorrow we are off on some adventures to Deadwood, Crazy Horse Memorial and Mount Rushmore!

Indiana to Kansas City, trip day 2

We started out by journeying a half hour south of our hotel in Dale, Indiana to a historic site.  We were among the first visitors of the day at Abraham Lincoln's boyhood home, where he lived during his childhood after moving with his family, his father Thomas, mother Nancy, and older sister Sarah, from Kentucky.  The site was very nice, informative, and also very peaceful.  The NPS has done a great job to enlighten visitors about the formative years Lincoln spent in Indiana that made him the man he would later become.  The educational video shown in the visitors center was even narrated by Leonard Nimoy!  I would strongly encourage any interested in our 16th Presidents life to someday add this site to their "places to see" list.  It is less than a half hour from the interstate and took me and Sam just over an hour to experience everything they had to offer.  Sidenote:  It is also National Parks week, so we have been attending all the parks this week for free! (More to come)

We continued our journey along the Interstate to St. Louis, cruising at 60 MPH past the St. Louis arch, Mississippi River, Cardinals stadium, and the Rams stadium in quick succession.  We missed the exit to tour the arch because it came up so fast...we were a little disappointed but decided to just keep traveling forward.  Personally, crossing the Miss. River was a big one for me, and I felt as if now I had truly entered the west and left the east!  A few hours later we approached our destination:  the Oak Grove KOA Kampground.  Everyone at the campground was very friendly and our cabin was (as Sam says) "quaint and cute."  Once settling Herb and Charlie in their home for the night, we struck out toward Kansas City for a genuine KC BBQ meal.  Finding L.C's BBQ on a Google search of places visited by Man Vs. Food, we decided to head there based on a gut feeling that our bellies were about to be filled with a hearty, delicious, cholesterol filled meal.  The restaurant wasn't much to look at, but the smell inside was enough to make your mouth water.  The air was thick with smoke from the grill right behind the counter, and a line was quickly forming.  Sam ordered a pork sandwich, I ordered a beef sandwich, burnt ends (everyone in front of me did so I decided to go with the locals), and fried green beans.  Needless to say our eyes were bigger than our stomachs.

Leaving Kansas City very satisfied we returned to our cabin outside the city to rest up for the night.  After building a small campfire and sipping from a bottle of Missouri wine bought earlier that day, we turned in for the night ready for another adventure.

Travel Fun

Sam: Travel Day 1 has come to a close and we are here in the hotel in Dale, Indiana!  We've crossed the mountains of West Virginia (and listened to John Denver's Country Roads along the way), the Ohio River and 1 time zone to make it safely here to the farmlands of Indiana.

It was raining when we left the home state, and was very foggy on the mountain, but the roads were just as pretty as ever- we are sure to miss Virginia's beauty!  The scenery was very nice in all the states, and we took a few pictures in each.  (Which you can see by clicking on the geyser photo because I can't figure out how to get them in the corner there).

Wild Turkey!

Michael:  We took a few detours along the way to break up the driving and explore a bit.  We kept seeing signs for bourbon distilleries thru Kentucky, the "Kentucky Bourbon Trail".  We decided to stop by the Wild Turkey distillery.  Apparently, you can visit all of six whiskey distilleries (Jim Beam, Woodford Reserve, Four Roses, Heaven Hill, and Makers Mark are the others) and they give you a "passport" that you can mail in for a free T-shirt once you visit them all.  Luckily the Wild Turkey plant was only 15 minutes from the I-64 and the closest to us.  We saw many of their 26 barrel warehouses along the side of the road before arriving at the visitor center, where we were treated to a free tasting of our choice of 2 of their products while watching a short video about the history and operations of Wild Turkey.  It was a quick visit, then we were back on the road.

Santa Party!

After a few more hours we arrived at our hotel in Dale, Indiana.  After checking in and getting the turtles settled (they were ready for clean water and some food after a long day in the car), we headed off to the famed Santa Claus, Indiana to see a year round holiday town.  This was a treat for Sam, since Xmas is her favorite holiday.  It looked like they were gearing up for the summer tourist season as the holiday theme and water parks were not in operation yet.  There were statues and depictions of Santa everywhere!  The town was really in the Xmas spirit...on a pretty ridiculous level.  But since we were there we enjoyed a home-style dinner at the St. Nick Restaurant where we sat in a booth as a party of about 10 Santas with their Ms. Clauses had a boisterous cheer filled dinner next to us.

Tomorrow we head towards Independence, MO!

A Full Car

One short post before the trip begins tomorrow. 

The car is all packed and we are on out way out west! Everything barely fits in the car, but we finally got it all in there.  Should be a lot more updates now that the trip is underway, so look for lots of pictures as we head out to Yellowstone!