Yellowstone, Part II: Nature Preserved

In setting apart this chunk of the land as the world's first national park, Congress preserved a part of the west.  Things commonplace in the frontier became unique to Yellowstone as homesteaders settled and developed the land.  The southeast part of Yellowstone holds a spot in the backcountry thirty miles from any road - the most isolated place in the contiguous forty-eight states.

The park's preservation also set aside a major wildlife habitat. Yellowstone and the surrounding national forests (and Grand Teton NP) make up the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem - the largest in-tact ecosystem in the forty-eight states - full of grizzly and black bears, wolves, and plenty of bison and elk, amongst other animals.

Additionally, though not known for its mountains, Yellowstone does lie in the Rockies and sits on the Continental Divide; I have enjoyed the peaks I've reached over the summer.  Morever, the park is home to numerous beautiful waterfalls and wildflowers.  (Shown is Undine Falls.)

And of course, we have a splendid canyon - the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

Together, all of these features (thermal and other) come together to form the variety of attractions the make Yellowstone National Park great.

Last night Hilary and I safely returned to Houston (after a delay caused by President Obama arriving at the Bozeman, MT airport as we were supposed to leave).  Yellowstone was great fun, but it feels wonderful to be back in Texas.  Thank you all for reading this weblog and keeping up with our summer adventures.

Foon!

Hilary and I hiked a few miles 

south of the canyon to Wrangler Lake for our final camping trip in Yellowstone. Halfway there it started to rain, which made Hilary upset. When we got to the halfway-up-the-shin ford across Sour Creek, I decided to be a sweetheart and carry both packs across, then come back and carry Hilary across (a performance that I repeated the next day).

During the trip, I finally field-tested the "foon" Zack Van Brunt so kindly gave me in response to my Sporks? post.  It worked well for both my soupy entrée and for the chocolate 

cake for dessert.  It has also worked well for eating solid chicken in the EDR.  These pictures demonstrate how unhappy I was eating breakfast with my hands, then how my mood improved once I implemented the foon.

Yellowstone, Part I: Thermal Features

All I knew about Yellowstone before I got here was that it is home to the famed Old Faithful Geyser.  Upon arriving, I kept hearing the term "thermal feature," which struck me as amusingly formal. Whatever people meant by the phrase, it seemed that we have more stuff than just Old Faithful.

"Thermal Feature" is essentially a blanket term describing any sort of geothermal activity that brings hot water to the earth's surface.  Such phenomena include hot springs, mud pots, fumaroles (steam vents), and geysers.  They are fueled by the Yellowstone supervolcano - one of the largest active volcanos in the world.  The most recent eruption, 640,000 years ago, was 1000 times the size of the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption.  The volcano forms a hotspot under the park, where the earth's crust is only several miles thick rather than the usual twenty to thirty miles.  

The heat, along with the right underground "plumbing," has created about 10,000 thermal features here - a greater concentration than anywhere else in the world (runners up include Iceland, New Zealand, and Kamchatka).  Yellowstone also has the majority of the earth's geysers, including Steamboat, whose 400 ft. eruptions make it the world's tallest active geyser.

People disregarded reports of the area from early trappers and mountain men as tall tales, but after a couple of formal expeditions surveying the region, in 1872 Congress made Yellowstone the world's first national park to preserve this outstanding collection of thermal features.

Above is a picture from Hilary's and my trip to Artist Paint Pots two weekends ago.  Below is Grand Prismatic, the largest hot spring in Yellowstone and the third largest in the world (the first two are in New Zealand).

The Tetons

Yesterday Hilary and I borrowed a car and drove down to the spectacular Grand Teton National Park - our neighbor to the immediate south.

GTNP features the Teton Range, more impressive than any mountains in Yellowstone.  The Rockies are taller and rougher than the Appalachian Mountains because they are younger and have experienced less erosion; as the youngest subrange of the Rocky Mountains, the Tetons are especially tall and pointy.  Moreover, they lack foothills, abruptly rising more than 5000 feet out of the flat Jackson Hole valley.  The park is named for the highest peak - the Grand Teton - rising over 7000 feet out of Jackson Hole to elevation 13,770 feet.

We walked around and ate dinner in Jackson, WY - just south of the park - and enjoyed the town.

Also, we have spent all summer in Yellowstone without seeing a moose, an animal that allegedly lives here.  According to hearsay, most of the moose left during the big fires of 1988 and many now reside near the Tetons.  Sure enough, Hilary and I saw a cow and her calf during our trip.

Ponds, Peaks, and Pickles

I went on two day hikes this past weekend. On Thursday, Hilary and I did the Beaver Ponds trail in the Mammoth area.  The scenery and wildflowers were pretty, and halfway through the loop we encountered a series of ponds (shown) formed by beaver dams.

On Saturday before work, I climbed Avalanche Peak with two Michiganders.  The trail was a mere two miles each way, but felt like more with its 2000 ft. elevation gain.  The peak, sitting in the middle of the Absaroka Range, offered a great view of surrounding mountains, the Tetons, and Yellowstone Lake.

About a week ago, Hilary was serving the "Lodge Favorites" station when a boy walked up and asked for a hamburger in a distinctly French accent.  Worried he would not understand her, she asked very slowly, "Would you like lettuce, tomatoes, onions, or pickles with that?"  Not following her, after a pause and a slight furrow of the brows, he simply replied, "I am French."

The Confluence

This past weekend, the 16^th and 17^th of July, James and I decided to brave the outdoors once more and take a hike through the beautiful Roosevelt area to Hellroaring Creek.  While I was in the backcountry office to obtain a permit for the confluence of the Yellowstone River and Hellroaring Creek the ranger repeatedly advised me to take the bridge to cross the river instead of fording it because of “high waters” or something like that.  Traveling to the bridge would tack on an extra 3 (plus or minus .2) miles, but such is the price for safety.

We left the dorms at around 10:45 in the AM, and had immediate good fortune when a family from California picked us up after only about 5 minutes of waiting.  They dropped us off near our destination, at which point we caught a ride from a Roosevelt employee to our trailhead.  Our next adventure then began.

It began very well with some immediate downhill traveling.  It was hotter than we were used to here in Yellowstone, likely much cooler than Texas, but that was compensated by the beauty all around us.  We began by making good time even though we had to stop for more water breaks than in the past.  The time started moving more slowly as our destination became farther and farther away (remember that out-of-the-way bridge?)  We made it to our “secluded” campsite out in the middle of the backcountry, only to find out that right across the river were two fishermen who really liked staring at us as we ate our meals.  Thankfully, our tent was pitched up an incline out of sight of our neighbors.

We slept soundly and then ate a breakfast of tasty pancakes (which got tastier as James became a better chef.)  We packed up camp and began our long trek back to the trailhead.  After only a little bit of walking, we decided to find a nice shallow spot in the creek and ford.  James picked a nice looking spot, we prepared ourselves by taking off shoes and whatnot, grabbed our walking sticks (a third leg), and began crossing.

The water was so freaking cold.  It started out shallow and got much deeper in the middle.  It was swift moving to the point that I fell in and barely managed to catch myself on a rock.  My underwear got wet (a testament to how deep the water was), and I was altogether miserable.  I got mad at James for “making me cross that river,” and felt horrible for a few minutes.  I got over it.  Our detour cut hours off of the return journey, which kind of made up for my moment of terror.  That downhill part at the beginning of the hike turned into an uphill part at the end, but at the final end of everything I felt like I accomplished a whole lot during that weekend.

I was rewarded when we got back to Canyon with a tasty chicken sandwich, took a nice long shower, ate more dinner, and had a caldera (chocolate tasty goodness cake) from the dining room.  In retrospect I had a really great time.

Hikes

Within a period of just over thirteen hours, I recently received emails from Aunt Nancy and both my parents asking when the next blog entry would be, so I suppose it's time for another update.

I have been on four hikes since our last chat.  The first was the day after Hilary's and my rowing adventure, when we and three friends decided to take an evening hike up Mount Washburn.  To our disappointment, the few clouds in the sky were in the west blocking the sunset. Nevertheless, the view from the Canyon area's highest peak was impressive and well-worth the relatively easy (for a mountain) climb.

The next morning, I left for a long daiye hike with Buddy while Hilary got some R&R.  We walked along Sky Rim, part of the northwest park boundary, traveling 21 miles and gaining over 3000 feet.  We had a beautiful panoramic view from the trail and encountered a herd of mountain goats near the high point of the rim: Bighorn Peak.

The following Monday (my "Wednesday"), I went for a little midweek hike up and down Bunsen Peak, where I had a good aerial view of Mammoth Hot Springs and pretty Mammoth area scenery.

Then, Hilary and I had yet another backpacking adventure on Thursday and Friday, which she will discuss in the coming days.

Also, I apologize for the lack of new photos - the internet here is like molasses, and flickr has not been cooperating.

Near Death Experiences

While James was away climbing mountains last weekend I had ample opportunity to rest, so I jumped at the chance since it may have very well been my last (James has planned a big trip for virtually every break from work.)  After my relaxing weekend I was loath to go back to work but knew that it was what was necessary to continue living here in Yellowstone.  It was the fourth of July, which did not improve my attitude toward my job.  After about an hour working at Lodge Favorites, which is quite possibly the worst place to work since it usually has a line out the door, I began to come down with a massive headache.  I was working with a new employee and would have felt bad leaving early so I did not tell my manager in the hopes that it would go away.  Once I realized that my health was in a steady decline I guiltily (and somewhat happily) left work.  An hour later, without the luxury of a thermometer, I had a fever of unknown intensity, and the next day it was worse.  I called in sick for the next two days since it appeared that my illness would not be going away in that time.  After three days of misery (achy, high fever, intense headache) I finally felt good enough to go back to work.

I worked for two days, and then it was our weekend again!  My shift on Wednesday was from 6 – 11 AM, I took a shower, and then James and I were on our way to the Bridge Bay Marina.  I told James that I wanted to rest since I was sick only days ago, so we rented (for free) a rowboat and James proceeded to row me around the marina.  James had wanted to row me all the way out to Stevenson Island, three miles from shore, but the wind was so strong that it was not allowed.  Rowing was easy for James at the beginning of our adventure but, as the gusts grew stronger, it became increasingly difficult.  We almost made it back to our dock, but a particularly strong gust of wind blew us into the wrong one.  A “rescue” became necessary, and then we left.

It took us a little while to find a ride back to Canyon, but we were eventually picked up by an acquaintance of James’s from the University of Texas.  She took us as far as Fishing Bridge, and then some Canyon friends of ours picked us up.  After promising that we would get back to our village by that evening, they took us on a bit of a day hike to Stormy Point.  It was lovely, cold, and windy.  As promised we were back by 6:45, but my relaxing day had turned into a day filled with exercise and adrenaline.  I slept from 7:30 until 8:00 this morning, and I plan on doing little for the rest of the day.

The Newman-Sabate Expedition (to Electric Peak)

This weekend I climbed Electric Peak with my roommate Buddy Sabate.  Buddy is in the corps of cadets at Virginia Tech, one of the two senior milatary colleges within a public state university (Can you guess what the other one is?).  After eating Wednesday dinner in the Mammoth EDR (employee dining room), we hiked through a pretty valley (with an owl) to our campsite.  Along the way we dropped our packs and took a small side trip to Cache Lake, which offered a great view of the mountain.

When we got to the camping area, we came across something we did not expect:  The 15-or-20-foot-wide Gardner River.  With no bridge across the trail, we began to look for fallen logs.  A couple hundred yards upstream we found nothing across the river, but a promising-looking log fifty feet from the water.  We carried it over, stood it up like the flag at Iwo Jima, and let it fall across the river.  Unfortunately, the log that we could carry was a log that could not carry us; it was sagging enough that we would not be able to walk across it without the water coming over the tops of our boots.  Meanwhile, the group staying at the adjacent campsite was on the opposite shore just watching us like we were the evening’s entertainment.  We ended up just taking off our boots and fording the river at the trail.  The water was swift, knee-deep, and icy, making each of our first river fords an overall unpleasant experience (but at least an interesting one).  We later found a couple of satisfactory logs laid across the river near our downstream campsite; we added a few more and stayed dry during our other three crossings.

After a tasty sausage and rice dinner (I was unable to finish my half of the seven cups of rice) we retired, woke up the next morning, and climbed the mountain.  We ascended via the southern (left) ridge in two and a half hours – pretty good time.  The trail distance from base to summit was only about four miles, but we gained over 3000 feet, along with a wonderful view.  (Near the top, we saw a black shoe that someone had dropped.  I was going to pick it up if no one else did, but an off-duty ranger ended up getting it.)  After relaxing on the highest point in the Gallatin Mountain Range, we descended, broke camp, and went home.

When I got back and told my friend Jonathon that I climbed the mountain he asked, “Did you find a black shoe?”  I found him the phone number for her ranger station and am yet to hear where things have gone from there.

News

Just over a week ago, the Canyon Lodge kitchen (which they told us is the tenth largest kitchen in the US) got five fancy new stoves for $30,000 each.  They have little computers, along with their own temperature probes that go in the food.  When the food reaches the right internal temperature, the machine recognizes it and tells the humans.  We are still in the early stages leading to the robot revolution.

Meanwhile, I got my new 3 ounce, auto-igniting Snow Peak GigaPower backpacking stove in the mail a few days ago (on sale and for far less than $30,000).  I was so excited that I told everyone I saw (to Hilary's eventual annoyance).  Yesterday my 7 ounce skillet came, so we'll be able to make pancakes and fried eggs on our next trip.

This weblog has now been featured twice in the online Yellowstone Newspaper's opinions pieces section, once on June 5th and once on June 21st.  If you want, you can follow the link to the paper, then follow the paper's link back to the blog.

I don't like when I'm serving breakfast and have this conversation with people: "I'll have biscuits and gravy."

"How many biscuits?"

"Just one."

One the other hand, I love when foreign people ask for "shrimps."

Hilary (and I) have also noticed that after we list the soup options (including cream of broccoli soup), people often ask for the "broccoli and cheese soup."  Then Hilary hits them with the ladle and says "There's no cheese!"

Adventures galore

I’ve made a huge mistake.

In preparation for our most recent weekend I packed my backpack in a bit of a hurry.  James and I left Canyon in the late morning and arrived at our Thorofare TH (Trail Head) at 1:15.  It was at that point that I realized that I left my camera at home.  I regretted it immediately and continue to regret my huge mistake.  I was unable to photograph the wolf-prints and bear-prints that we saw all over our trail, and I was unable to capture the beautiful scenery on “film.”  The hike was breathtaking once we entered the forest, but it was hard to appreciate during our journey to our campsite.  James and I were attacked by Yellowstone’s most vicious animal – the mosquito – on our way to the campsite.  This hindrance made breaks impossible, so we consequently made our best time yet.

Still, the lakeside campsite was breathtaking.  I felt wonderful after taking a nap, and I built my first ever fire that allowed us to make S’mores. 

In other news:

James and I utilized our status as Xanterra employees to take the “Wake Up to Wildlife” bus tour with our friends Becky and Mary Kathryn.  The scenery was stunning, and the quality time with friends was absolutely wonderful.  We saw loads of bison, a small pack of wolves from very far away, and some pronghorn.  No moose.

James, our Michigan friend Katy, and a recent Rice graduate hiked to Observation Peak on Wednesday before work.  They had the pleasure? of seeing a Grizzly bear from the trail, which made me (secretly) grateful that I decided to sleep in.

Sporks?

The other day I was talking to Wilson, my Malaysian/Singaporean coworker, about his name.  He said that he picked the name Wilson when he came here this summer and that his Chinese name is "Wee Kwan."  I told him that in America they call me "Strong One."

Also, I've been browsing through backpacking gear websites, and a lot of reputable companies are selling backpacking sporks.  To me, sporks seem to fail as both spoons and forks, but many people seem to disagree.  What are your thoughts?

Fairy Creek Trail

This past weekend (Thursday and Friday), Hilary and I went on our third backpacking adventure and our first outside the Canyon area.  I’ve been choosing harder trails, but the hikes have been getting easier; Hilary is quickly acclimating and on her way to becoming a mountain woman, and I’m getting back into the swing of things.  We walked ten miles on the first day (with a 1000 foot elevation gain) and seven miles on the second day, mostly on the Fairy Creek Trail.

We saw Fairy Falls, Spray Geyser, and Imperial Geyser on Thursday and spent the night in the almost oxymoronic Little Firehole Meadow (in the background of shown photo).  The grassy expanse, named after the Firehole River, has been our favorite campsite thus far.

The following day we continued on the Fairy Creek Trail, leaving the Firehole River and meeting back up with it as it spilt over Mystic Falls before sweeping round the “fireholes” of the Upper Geyser Basin.

The Fairy Creek Trail ended at Biscuit Basin, home of the clear blue Sapphire Pool.  We continued on a boardwalk through the Upper Geyser Basin, where we got to see eruptions of Grand Geyser, Beehive Geyser, and Old Faithful, amongst many other “thermal features.”

Along the way, we also encountered various wildlife.  In addition to bear tracks on the trail, there was a buffalo next to Imperial Geyser and a deer leaping across a stream next to our path.  At Fairy Falls we made a marmot friend, though we only realized his identity after the fact.

Also, many geographic features of Yellowstone are still unnamed, so as an explorer and adventurer I took it upon myself to christen the lake we encountered at the highest point on our trail "Loch James Everett Newman."

After completing our hike, we got a ride back to Canyon Village from a nice married couple who called themselves Doug and Lorraine.  The pair met when they were college students working in the park in the 1960s.  After graduating they got married; Doug worked for NASA for thirty-something years, and he is now an adjunct professor of mathematics at William and Mary.  Now that they are “semi-retired,” they have returned to Yellowstone this summer and last, working in the Mammoth dining room and gift shop.  Getting to ride with them and talk to them was a lot of fun.

As usual, Hilary took some great pictures during the hike, which I have posted on flickr (link to the right).  This new batch of photos is particularly good.

 

Seven Mile Hole Addendum

A couple of things I would like to add to Hilary’s entry regarding our hike:

I enjoyed hearing the gentle roar of the river from our campsite, as well as getting to see the canyon from a different (and beautiful) perspective.

Though parts of the hike were challenging, the scenery was wonderful along the way.  When we stopped to catch our breath two-thirds of the way out, we sang and played the ukulele against the backdrop of the canyon.

On the way back, we made tasty pancakes for dinner (on the upside-down lid of my pot) across the canyon from Silver Cord Cascade (pictured).  The creek several meters upstream of the then-invisible waterfall was our water source on our Ribbon Lake trip, and I was glad to finally see Silver Cord on this hike.

We had collected our water from the mighty Yellowstone River, which I thought was just so cool.  We had some water left when we returned, so I asked our friends, “Who wants to drink some water from the Yellowstone River?”  Hilary reminded me, “All of Canyon’s water comes from the Yellowstone River.”

Second Hike

Hilary Mills Hazel wrote this blog entry.

So James blogged all about our relaxing “weekend” last week, but we decided that it was high time that we went on another backpacking trip.  After much deliberation, and three hours in the backcountry office planning out our entire summer, James decided that we should go to Seven Mile Hole.  By going to this particular campsite we would be camping inside the canyon, right next to the Yellowstone River. 

I was a little bit apprehensive about this trip after such an experience two we

ekends ago, but I was still up for it.

When we arrived at the trailhead, James told me that it would be basically flat up until the drop into the canyon.

Mostly flat.

Right away it was hilly, and then it was cliffy.  We lost our trail at one point kind of near the end of our trip, and had to hunt around

 until we found it.  After three prospective trailheads, we finally found one that was obviously a trail.  We followed it for about ¾ of a mile, but were dismayed to discover that we took the wrong fork in the road.

We backtracked, and finally found our campsite.

Once we arrived we set up camp and made our meal.  Two other lost hikers found us, and we pointed them back up the hill to the fork.

I slept more warmly than I did last trip, and had an altogether better time.  The area was very lovely, and we were very close to the river, which was very fascinating.  Nevertheless, I was a bit bored by midday and decided that I would rather leave late a day early than leave early in the morning on the intended day.

After fighting my way out of the Canyon, I agreed with James.  It really was mostly flat once we got out.

Snow!

It snowed yesterday at Canyon Lodge! (in June!)  I watched it cover the ground and the trees from the cafeteria window as I served breakfast and lunch.  Though there have been scattered piles of snow lying around leftover from past snowfalls (as seen in a previously posted picture of Canyon Lodge), this is the first time here that we have experienced any new snow, so fresh and soft and falling right in front of us.  Hilary took some good pictures of it, which I have put on flickr (link to the right).

One of the nice things about Yellowstone is that it draws employees from all over, offering different points of view.  My coworkers from Michigan, Illinois, and other northern states acknowledged that the snow was pretty, but did not share my enthusiasm, and may even have found strange how often I mentioned that it was "still snowing." Nevertheless, my Georgian comrades appreciated the snow as much as I did, and my friend Andy from Singapore was happy as well; she had never seen snow before, and had said when we first got here that her goal for the summer was to see snow.  

When my boss Roger told me to take my lunch break, I replied, "Okay, I'll take my snow break."  I did eat lunch, but I also found time to have a fun snowball fight or two with Hilary.

That morning, I served breakfast to some park guests from China. Sometimes I communicate with visitors with limited English, but these folks were the first ones I have encountered who seemed to speak none at all.  Some of the foods we serve are oatmeal and biscuits & gravy, all of which are near each other in the food line.  The first Chinese man enthusiastically pointed to the gravy.  I asked, "would you like a biscuit with that?"  He said nothing.  I smiled and pointed at the biscuit, and he shook his head.  "Do you want oatmeal?"  I pointed at the oatmeal, and he shook his head.  I pointed at the gravy, and he smiled and nodded.  With a doubtful, questioning look, I held up a bowl, and he continued to smile and nod.  I reluctantly served him up a hot bowl of gravy, and he was happy.  The next man also smiled and pointed to the gravy, and I sighed and gave it to him. I said, "I don't think this is what you think it is," but the words were lost on the two men.

The Washburn Expedition

Hilary and I had Wednesday and Thursday off this week.  When I told her that it was supposed to rain both days and that it was supposed to freeze at night, she told me she wanted to skip backpacking this time.  Secretly relieved at her resolve to stay in, I told her that if she didn’t want to go, I suppose I wouldn’t mind sitting this one out.

For whatever reason (but probably because of several early morning shifts), Hilary wanted to begin her weekend by sleeping in.  I decided to carpe the diem and fill in for a tired coworker, so I got up early to serve breakfast in the cafeteria.  I don’t know why I like it so much, but I particularly enjoy serving breakfast.  Getting to serve it with my Michigan friends was a bonus and a pleasant surprise.

Afterward, Hilary and I ate lunch, did laundry, and watched The Italian Job (which I thoroughly enjoyed) while it rained outside.

We get to ride on tour buses for free as employees, so we decided to go on "The Washburn Expedition" today, named after the Washburn Expedition.  We rode in the same nifty type of bus we took to get here on day one, making a loop around much of the northern half of Yellowstone.  We saw a bighorn sheep, a distant black bear, several pronghorns, and many bison, along with three waterfalls and many beautiful hills, mountains, and meadows.  Along the way, we visited Mammoth Hot Springs, which make attractive terraces by depositing bits of limestone as the water flows.

In other news:

I have posted photographs from our first hike and from today's bus tour.

Hilary has her “Greetings from Texas” postcard from Erin proudly displayed on her wall.

We have both recently decided that English muffins are one of the best foods on the planet and have been eating them at every meal.

Hilary was yawning as I was writing this entry and apologized for being “so yawny.”

I just bought a wonderful National Geographic topographic map of Yellowstone that has all of the backcountry trails.  I love it and have already spent about an hour studying it.

Identities

I worked my first shift as server Sunday evening at the Stir Fry station.  The best part of serving is getting to talk to the guests.

My favorite interaction was with a stocky, bearded man who approached my station with fervor for stir fry.  Noticing that he was scrutinizing my three sauces, I said, “We have sesame ginger, sweet & sour, and teriyaki sauces, if you were wondering their identities.”  “Identities,” he laughed, “I like the way you talk.”  After going back to the front of the calf to get a tray, he returned still laughing, “You’re killing me . . . identities.”

Thirty minutes later a woman came and starting looking at my food.  She pointed and asked in a European accent, “What are those?”  I told her, “They’re egg rolls – little fried things with vegetables inside.  They’re pretty good.”  After pausing for a few seconds she said, “I don’t like vegetables,” and abruptly walked away.

First Hike

Hilary here, and the other day (Friday, May 29 to be exact) I went on my very first backpacking trip. James and I stayed at our dorm until about one o’clock in the afternoon so that we would be able to rent a tent from the rec(reation) center, only to find out that our waiting around was fruitless since they did not have any tents yet. Fortunately, we were able to borrow one pretty quickly from a fellow employee who has just graduated from Rice University. We got our backcountry meals from the EDR (Employee Dining Room), packed our packs, and finally were on our way.

This being my first hike, and being with James Everett Newman, I did not want to skimp too much on the weight of my pack. The bag started out heavy (for me), and just kept getting heavier.

A few miles later, it was time to slap some moleskin on my feet.
Still later, I started to notice the burning on my hips as my backpack continued to rub me raw.

Then James Everett Newman offered to carry mine as well as his, and manfully carried both for the last three miles of our trek.

My legs hurt, my lungs hurt, and so far I felt pretty miserable. Then we passed a beautiful view of the canyon that took my breath away. My breath is taken away all the time at this altitude, but this was different.

Despite the not-all-together stellar start to my backpacking career, it sure was worth it.

Also . . . James had a blast.

The Calf

H. Hazel and I finished our week of training and are now well-equipped to serve food, bus tables, and keep all of the coffee and pop* machines up and running in the Canyon Lodge cafeteria. The “caf,” or as I call it – the “calf,” had a “shakedown” lunch yesterday, serving food to all of the Canyon Lodge staff to practice before serving park guests. Actual work is so much more fun and fulfilling than training; even bussing, which I supposed would be my least favorite of my jobs, isn’t so bad. As a bonus, we got to eat delicious shakedown breakfast and dinner in the CL dining room. I was even kind enough to pay for the $103 dinner for my table of four with the fake credit card the assistant manager gave me.

This is Canyon Lodge’s big opening day. I had been looking forward to being part of it: going to work (not training), serving food, and talking to people from all over the country and world. However, we found out yesterday afternoon that Hilary doesn’t start until Sunday and that I don’t start until tomorrow evening. The mild disappointment of missing opening day was quickly replaced by excitement at the prospect of getting to go on our first backpacking trip. If everything goes according to plan, we will hike to and camp at Ribbon Lake on the other side of the canyon.

*I’ve made several friends from Michigan who all refer to soda as “pop,” which entertains me. I am also very amused when they point out where in Michigan they live using their hand (because most of Michigan resembles a mitten). I also take great pleasure in their pronunciation of “Oregon” as “or-uh-gone.”

The Canyon

After dinner last night, we went for a walk to see our area’s main attraction: the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.  Only a couple of miles from the lodge, the canyon is gorgeous, complete with the 308-foot-tall Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River.

On the way back, our group stopped and had a fun impromptu snowball fight - a rare treat for a Texan.

The Arrival

Everything has been splendid thus far on Hilary's and my summer adventure.

Zack Van Brunt (current surrogate son in the Newman household) graciously drove Hilary and me to the airport at 3:15 Friday morning so that we could catch our 6:00 flight out of Houston.  I slept on the plane, Hilary watched me sleep on the plane, and we were checked into our hotel in Bozeman, Montana before noon. We ate a great lunch at MacKenzie River Pizza Co., a recommendation from a professor of mine who got his undergraduate degree in Bozeman. After a brief walk around town, we returned to the hotel and caught up on lost sleep.

We rose the next morning and walked across the street to catch a groovin' bus, whose colors reminded me of the old Astros uniforms.  The bus crowd was lively, and we made several friends en route to Yellowstone.

Once we got to the park, we checked in, got our employee ID cards, picked up our uniforms, went to orientation, and got our room assignments - typical first day stuff.  Our newly acquired friends and our view of beautiful mountains (above) made the hours of line-waiting a lot more pleasant than they might have been. That evening, we arrived at Canyon Lodge and got settled into our rooms in the "Grizzly" dorm.  Much of the surrounding area is still covered in snow.

Training began today.  Hilary and I both found out that we will be cafeteria workers in the "front of the house," which thankfully will involve a number of non-dishwashing tasks.

I hope to explore the area on some little hikes in the coming week.