Trip to Yellowstone Lake

The excitement started not long after we left Mammoth on the way to Yellowstone Lake to celebrate our 41st wedding anniversary, which was two days eariler. A large black bear ran out of the woods not more than 12 feet in front of the car. Fortunately, I had slowed down to pass a truck on the edge of the road, or I might be under the jail for killing a bear in Yellowstone. The whole event lasted maybe 3 seconds before the bear disappeared into the downhill side of the woods. He/she was running pretty fast. [You should never try to outrun a bear. You can't!]

We also saw our first wolf just before we got to the Lake Hotel. He took time off from looking for rodents to pose for the camera. An individual wolf doesn't look too intimidating, but in packs, they can take down elk and even an old moose.

The beautiful Lake Hotel is the oldest one in the park - even older than the Old Faithful Inn, which looks very old because it is a log cabin. The Lake Hotel was in disrepair when Lorraine and I were here before, but is now easily the most elegant place in the park. It is a gem. Our version of the hotel was the smaller yellow cabin - which was also very nice, and much bigger than our current "home".

An excellent string quartet plays in the large sun room of the hotel most nights. We enjoyed them while having a drink. We decided we were cut out for that kind of life. The dinner in the dining room was also excellent: bison prime rib for me and antelope medallions with lobster tail for Lorraine. It was a very good anniversary celebration.

We had a wonderful boat ride on the lake on Friday morning. The lake was smooth and the air was crystal clear. We could easily see the Grand Tetons, something like 70 miles to the south.

We took a hike to Storm Point - a rocky promentory on the Lake. It started at Indian Pond, which is named for all the indians who camped there. This was probably a stopping point for Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce, who were running from the U. S. Calvary. It is a beautiful spot. Note the bear warining at the beginning of the trail. The Park Service points out that they aren't responsible for our well being if we meet a grizzly on the hike.

We didn't see too much wildlife, but there was a beautiful red-headed bird near the lake. We also saw bones from a much bigger animal. They had been picked clean by the various predators.

The views along the edge of the lake were spectactular! Note the little inlet from the lake with brown stained water from the tannins in the trees. You can see Lorraine enjoying the view from Storm Point, and another view of it as we walked down the edge of the lake. You can also easily see the Tetons in the distance with snow-covered Mt. Sheridan on the right.

The trail then took us through a forest of lodgepole pines. It was spooky in there, but beautiful in it's way. The trees are all green at the top, but the tops are way up in the air.

As I was packing the car to go, I became aware of a large presense behind me - no, not Lorraine - and I turned to find a big bull bison ambling across the street - followed closely by another. They are the largest American land mammal and are truly imposing. As you can see from the final picture, they get the right-of-way whenever they want to cross the road.

Lorraine says that she will write the next blog. We'll know soon.

Hike to Beaver Ponds, Rodeo

I'll show you some of the pictures from out hike last Friday (the 13th!) and a couple from the Gardiner Rodeo that evening.

It was a glorious day for a hike. We thought the Beaver Ponds hike was classified as "easy" and was no more than a couple of miles. It turned out to be a "moderate" hike and 5 miles long - a lot of that close to vertical. We managed it OK, but Lorraine's knee gave her some problems toward the end. We had to head straght for the lounge for a beer at the end. After that we decided that we really enjoyed the hike.

I'll mostly let the pics speak for themselves. They are straight out of the camera, since I had no time for edits.

As we approached a hill or a curve in the path, we made all sorts of noise to let the bears know that humans were coming. The worst thing you can do is surprise a bear - especially one with cubs. You can see the Beaver ponds themselves, a beautiful pair of antlers, a wonderful view of Gardiner, MT from way up high. One picture shows both the old and new roads to Gardiner from Mammoth.

We saw a mule deer in the middle of the trail. We had to shoo her away to get by. There was a single Pronghorn in a field just below the trail, and a herd of elk not far away. Alas, no bears!

I'll end with a couple of pictures from the Gardiner Rodeo, Friday evening. Sorry about the rail in the middle of the pictures. However, we are glad it was there. This stuff is violent. The local color was a lot of fun.

I have to stop and go to work. I hope this makes some sense.

We go to the Lake area tomorrow to celebrate our 41st wedding anniversary, which was Tues.

Bye for now.

Doug P.

Last Thursday was our first of two days off, and we decided to take a trip south to the Old Faithful area. As we were leaving our dorm, we saw a herd of elk next to the Post Office (across the main street from our dorm - which we now call "home"). We checked it out and found that several elk families (mothers and youngsters only) were having a picnic. The elk calves were doing what all kids do at picnics: they were running and jumping and prancing. It was really fun to watch. My photo has 5 elklets as well as a couple of the moms.

I thought I would show you a scene of Yellowstone in winter. However, this winter scene was taken on June 12. This is truly an amazing place!

As we approached Old Faithful, we encountered a herd of Bison right next to the road. The picture shows a female with her winter coat. Since the Old Faithful area is at a much higher altitude than Mammoth, the Bison there are slower in losing their winter coats. It is easy to see why these coats were prized by native Americans.

The next pictures are of the Old Faithful Inn, a truly wonderful place. The outside picture shows the lobby exterior with one of the old Yellowstone touring busses from 1936, which have been renovated and put back in service. We see them all over the place. Employees get free access to their tours (space available only, of course), which is a nice perk.

The interior of the Inn lobby is truly amazing. The timbers are all local Lodgepole Pines. The extra supports at all 90 degree angles are from trees that were bent by other falling trees or some other natural event. It has three levels that are accessible to all, and goes up even higher, as you can see from the vertical picture. It is a fun place, but much busier than Mammoth. I'm glad we are at Mammoth.

The Old Faithful Geyser is both beautiful and relatively reliable, which is what makes it famous. There are larger geysers, but none that attract more tourists, because you can look at the sign in the Inn and see when it will erupt, within plus or minus 10 minutes. The eruptions are approximately 90 minutes apart now. It was closer to an hour 45 years ago.

Our eruption was right on time - which was fortunate, since the wind was howling and it was colder than our clothes would allow. While we were waiting for O. F., we saw another geyser in the basin erupt. It started snowing again just as we returned to the Inn. O. F. is right outside the Inn, so you can actually sit on the first floor balcony and get a wonderful view of the eruption. We went as close as we could get, however. There was a large crowd, but it was nothing compared to the crowds they will see in July.

We saw another grizzly bear on our way "home". It was moving at the edge of a tree line, however, and I never could get a decent photograph. Apparently the harsh winter has kept the bears at a relatively low altitude, and they are also coming down to take advantage of the easy prey of elk and Pronghorn (antelope) calves. Some of our friends here have actually witnessed successful grizzly attacks on supposedly hidden calves. It is hard to watch, but this is how nature works here. The grizzlys couldn't survive without their prey.

We continued on to Gardiner, MT, to do some grocery shopping and finally saw the large family of bighorn sheep that lives on the cliffs along the Gardiner River. You have to look carefully at my picture, but there are at least 10 sheep visible on the cliffside. None of the males with the big horns - like the one I showed in an earlier blog - were visible.

On a subsequent trip we saw this same family running along the apparently vertical cliffside as if it were their front yard - which I guess it is.

I'll close with a picture of another friend here at Mammoth. Pam, the potwasher extraordinaire, bailed me out several times when I was the only dishwasher for all the restaurants here. I noticed tonight that there were 4 people doing the job that I was (unsuccessfully) trying to do for two days.

That's all for now. My next entry will show pictures from our 5-mile (mostly vertical) hike on Friday the 13th.

Around the "Springs"

Last Tuesday (6/10) we walked out of our dorm door to a dusting of snow on the ground [see first pic]. Next we see our old dorms from 45 years ago - with a snow angel. They look pretty much the same, but there are fire-escapes now. The one on the left was the "boy's dorm", where my brother Mac and I lived, and the one to the right was the "girl's dorm", where Lorraine lived. They are now co-ed, of course and have the high-fallutin names: Lodgepole and Juniper.

The next picture is the eating area of the Employee Dining Room (EDR), formerly called the "Zoo". It is spruced up a bit and the food service area is much updated, but the eating area is not a lot different. This is my domain, since I start this week as a "Lead" in the EDR. It gives me .50 more per hour than my previous salary (and Lorraine's), but it remains to be seen whether or not this is on the whole a good thing.

I'll introduce some of the EDR staff who were on duty Tues. The Lady with the wry smile is Jody, the other EDR Lead, and my mentor. Nid, from Thailand, is a co-worker who, with our other Thai friend, Indy, tells me exactly what to do and how to do it. To and Cassie, from Hong Kong, are even newer than I in the EDR. Josh was a cohort at the dish washing station.

Barbara and Loretta are sisters who come back to work in the park year after year, and know everything that goes on. Lyle and Judy (waving from the table) are our next door neighbors in the dorm. Alex and Vitaly are young friends from the Ukraine.

The General Store - formerly the Hamilton Store - is updated, but not a lot different. Fortunately, now they sell wine, beer, and a little booze.

The last two pictures are from the Map room of the hotel. The first shows the windows looking toward the Terraces, and finally, the Map itself. This map shows each state in a wood veneer that is different from any adjacent to it. [It is hard to photograph!] There is actually a famous math problem that answers the question: How many different veneers are needed for such a map? I'm way too tired tonight to think about the math problem.

Lorraine is getting used to working 8 hours in the gift shop without much sitting, and can now handle a rush of people and a full store by herself. I've watched her do that very effectively. She says that she will write part of the blog soon, but right now she is sleeping!

My next entries will be about our trip to Old Faithful and the hike we took on our second set of days off.

The weather looks like it is changing from the cold and wet stuff we have had since we arrived to beautiful spring conditions. Today was absolutly fantastic.

Best,
Doug & Lorraine