Second Installment

Second Installment, 2009

I forgot to add a couple of images from our trip out that you must see. Lorraine and I made the decision (as we did last year) to avoid fast food restaurants completely. Therefore we found some interesting local restaurants in small towns off the interstate. One such was the Travellers Inn Restaurant in Alexandria, MN. The pictures are of homemade pies in the pie case, and the pieces of sour-cream raisin and lemon meringue pie that we had for dessert. This is why we don’t go to fast food chains!

We have a huge owl’s nest at Mammoth with a mother horned owl (I think) and two chicks. The picture shows the mother on the left and one of the chicks on the right. The young ones are now almost as large as the mother. They are 12 – 14 inches tall and are very impressive birds.

I have to include pictures of my favorite animal in the park, the bison. The first one is guarding the path to the Employee Dining Room (EDR), and the second is trying to decide whether or not it is worth his time to get up and charge our car, which is very close. When standing, these animals are higher at the shoulder than an average car. They are extremely impressive in person, and are considered the most dangerous animal in the park for humans.

The next picture is of our dorm (Aspen). Our room is the last one on the left on the first floor. It is the same room we had last summer, so we feel right at home. Next is an artsy picture Lorraine took of an elk resting in the shade outside our window.

A very common morning sight is Barbara and Loretta (the Pony sisters) having their morning smoke on the steps of the dorm before going to work. They are among the many returning friends from last year.

We’ve (I’ve, since L. hasn’t started working yet) had a couple of days off and done some day trips. The first was a loop over the Beartooth Pass which is over 10,000 feet high and is always spectacular. The first picture is of Pilot (left) and Index (right) peaks. When I first saw a painting of them, I thought it was ridiculous since no mountains could actually look like that. I was shocked to really see it.

Next are four views from the road to Beartooth pass. The first two are while we are still below the tree line, and the next two are clearly above the tree line. We went through snow banks that were 13 – 14 feet high. There was a storm coming in from the northwest, so it was a little scary. They close the top of the pass in storms, so you can get caught up there – not a good prospect. We had a few snow flurries near the top.

As we returned on a different route, we got a good view of rain between us and the Beartooth Mtns.

After traveling the Chief Joseph highway – another beautiful route – we reentered the park and came through the Lamar Valley, which is always full of herds of bison, pronghorn, and elk, and sometimes even wolves. The picture is of the setting sun lighting up budding cottonwoods across the Lamar River. It is an enchanted place.

We saw our first bears (blacks) on the way back between Roosevelt and Mammoth. The one pictured was giving a good show for the folks in the bear jam on the road, digging for grubs and roots and sniffing the air. He seemed oblivious of us. Lorraine and I were in the car talking about the fact that we would like to be the first to see a bear, rather than to come upon a bear jam on the road, when I looked up a large talus pile to my left and saw another black bear scurrying up. We couldn’t stop and he disappeared over the top before I could get a decent picture, but we still were first (and last) to see him.

Our second day off included my first golf game in the area – at a 9-hole course in Livingston. I met an interesting local guy (Al Colburn) who was full of information about the area and directed us to a beautiful drive along a gravel road (about 22 miles of gravel road) that took us to a great little local bar/restaurant called the Road Kill Bar and Café. It was as good as he described. We had an early supper and got to know the owner (Jimmy) and bartender (Pamee), who are getting married on Father’s Day, as well as the bouncers/greeters (one of whom is pictured looking at me inquisitively). The place has real character as well as good food. It is a local haunt of the celebrities who live in the area – including Tom Brokaw, Michael Keaton, Whoopie Goldberg, Peter Fonda, Sam Shephard, and Dennis Quaid.

We took a short hike along the Rescue Creek trail between Mammoth and Gardiner. Even this offers beautiful views. You see Lorraine on the footbridge across the Gardiner River, the river from the beginning of the trail, some views of the Yellowstone River canyon, with the river showing in the lower left of one of them, some of the wonderfully colored rocks along the trail, and the great view of Electric Peak as you return.

The next picture is of Devil’s slide, just north of Gardiner. This looks like a slide, but is actually some formerly horizontal layers in the earth that have been pushed up to where they are nearly vertical. This is clearly an area that has had some “upheavals”.

The last picture is of my GPS unit along the road up the mountain from Gardiner to Mammoth. This is the 5-mile stretch that we travel the most often, and is one of my very favorite roads in the park. Those who know me know that I love to drive curvy roads, and this obviously qualifies. What you don’t see on the GPS are the near vertical drops to the river below with no guardrails, the bighorn sheep on the absurdly steep walls of the canyon, and the big animals that occasionally appear in front of you around the tight curves. I love this road!

Now a few words from Lorraine:

Doug failed to mention that there are 53 curves in this 5 mile road pictured above!

Also, just FYI, temps have been bouncing around but right now we're in the 60's during the day, nights as low as the high 30's - with very low humidity, makes for pleasant weather but for alligator skin!

As for local news, a can of bear spray (You shoot it in the face of the charging bear as soon as he gets within 15 feet of you. Then you have a heart attack.) left on the dashboard of an employee's car exploded and blew out the windshield a few days ago.

All of Yellowstone was without power (electricity for lights, internet, all phones) for a few hours yesterday as a communications relay tower was damaged in a mud/rock slide just outside of Mammoth in Gardiner. The tower was still operating on battery power as of last night.

I start work Saturday!