Grand Priss

6/20/24

Opal-

Took a quick drive to Grand Prismatic in the evening when it's not insanely crowded with tourists. Let's just say it took a while to get a good photo.

Snow in June

6/18/24

Opal-

It snowed today. Oliver is thrilled, but I am not.

Not one... not two...

6/8/24 – 6/15/24

Opal-

This Friday and Saturday Oliver and I finally had our weekends aligned. We decided to go backpacking at Slough Creek, a place Oliver had been dying to go since we arrived here. It's up north in the park just before Lamar Valley where all the wolves tend to hang out. We grabbed a permit at the Roosevelt ranger station and started the hike. It was steep starting out but eventually leveled off and descended into a meadow that Slough Creek winds through. We stopped and watched bison and elk through binoculars make their way across the plain. We continued up until we crossed a creek and came to a second meadow. Here we debated what the difference is between a broke, stream, and creek. Is a stream bigger than a creek? We concluded that a broke is the smallest and is rocky, it sometimes pools in places. A stream can be a creek but not all creeks are streams. Then we arrived at our campsite, it was a way up the hills that surrounded the second meadow and surrounded by pines. It also had a brook running right past it. We set up camp and then walked down into the valley with the intention of fishing Slough Creek and possibly swimming. Oliver caught no fish, and we did not swim. The water was freezing which made for bad swimming, and silty from snowmelt which made for bad fishing. So we made our way back up to the campsite. On the way Oliver once again got his feet all wet. This time though he brought an extra pair of socks and did not need to use mine. He was though incapacitated by the fire while I cooked dinner. We attempted to eat out on a ridge overlooking the valley but there were too many mosquitoes and we had to retreat to the safety of the fire. After dinner, we hiked up a way and found a viewpoint overlooking the valley. After we returned, we built up the fire and started fantasizing about food. We listed out our dream meals, each with appetizers and dessert, and vowed to bring more food on the next trip. As the fire died down so did our conversation and we drifted off to bed. A little disappointed that we hadn’t seen any bears or wolves. If only we had known.

The next morning, we watched horse-drawn wagons travel through the valley coming from Silver Tip Ranch to pick up supplies and passengers. As we hiked back a fisherman warned us of a bear up ahead on the trail. We kept walking and walking and just as we thought we had missed it we rounded a corner and there it was romping around at the tree line. We slowly walked past it along with another group of hikers and some horseback riders. At one point it chased a badger into its hole. Then it headed up into the trees and we finished our hike.

On the drive back we stopped not once, not twice, but three times, and saw three more bears. The first was a black bear, the second a grizzly, and the third a black bear that ran across the road a few cars in front of us. Four bears in one day, that has to be a record.

Oliver-

The recent trend has been wet feet and no fish, not a combination I am fond of. It happened on this trip and a trip I took last weekend. I hiked out to the point where the Snake River flows into Lewis Lake, somewhere I thought would be good for fishing, and immediately could spot multiple nice trout, larger than anything I had caught all summer. Although this was exciting, one thing I have learned about trout is when you can see them, they can see you and this became evident by the way they would run away from my lure every time I cast. If I wasn’t frustrated enough at this point three random people showed up and proved that it wasn’t the conditions but me. About every five minutes or so they pulled out a nice lake trout. The three fishermen had two tactical advantages over me. The first was waiters which let them get offshore and into deeper water than I was able to access. The second is that my telescoping fishing rod is missing its last segment which means that I was only casting with three-fourths of an already short rod. A great fisherman would have found a way, but I am only a good fisherman, and good fishermen blame their gear.

I had brought supplies to spend the night, but the three strangers asked if I wanted to hike back with them to increase our fighting odds against a bear and I obliged. About half of the trail is underwater and I didn’t want to slow my new friends down, so I hiked the last mile and a half barefoot. Later I went over to their cabin, and they shared their fish with me. Trout, couscous, and beer are a pretty good combination.   

I would also like to say happy Father’s Day to my dad. Between learning how to work on my own cars, running, and starting a blog, he has inspired me to do many of the things that I am proud of myself for. Thank you for supporting my dream to come out here Dad.

An After Work Surprise

6/9/24

Opal-

Picture this. It’s 10:30pm in the Yellowstone Old Faithful Inn. I’ve just finished a seven-hour shift and it’s dark and cold out. I’m hurriedly walking through the parking lot on my way back to the cabin. As I approach the hill that leads down to our cabin, I see something bounding up the hill towards me. In no time it’s ten feet in front of me and I realize I am standing in front of a bear. I feel a rush go through my body as I register the shock. I slowly start walking backward, the bear stares at me for a few seconds, deciding what to do, and then continues running off to the other side of the parking lot.

It happened so quickly I didn’t have time to be scared. I ran down the hill and into the cabin. I didn’t have my bear spray with me and had been wearing my high-heeled work shoes using my tiny phone flashlight. I believe it was a black bear because it wasn’t enormous, but it was hard to tell in the dark. Ever since then bear spray has come everywhere with me. I told my manager at work, and she seemed unsurprised like it was something that happened every day around here. Just another Yellowstone adventure. Oliver was jealous.

Shoshone

 6/10/24

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A hike to Shoshone Lake along Delacy Creek. Found some mushrooms, a bear print, and good spots to nap.

Some Solo Adventures

5/26/24 - 6/8/24

Oliver-

Opals and my weekend did not align this week, but I didn’t let that stop me from getting out into the park. I was going to use the opportunity to attempt some of the harder peaks but settled for backpacking in the Hellroaring area after being told that the snow would make them impossible. The drive up to the North side of the park to the trailhead was mostly new territory and a very different landscape, lots more mountains and I got to see a back bear closer than I have ever seen one. After obtaining a permit, I set down the Hellroaring Creek trail through a beautiful spring flower bloom. A mile or so down the trail there is a huge suspension bridge that carries you across the Yellowstone River. There were a few other hikers that turned around there but I would recommend going a little further to where the trail opens up. The views of the surrounding hills were spectacular and with binoculars it's not hard to spot wildlife. Eventually, the trail meets the Hellroaring River, this is where most of the backpacking sites are. I got to my site fairly early in the afternoon and decided that the hill next to it would make for a better camp. After climbing up that hill the next one looked a little better. Once I was satisfied with how high up I was, I found a flat spot under a tree and set up camp. I spent the rest of the day watching Bison Elk and Pronghorns through my binoculars.

On the way back I half-jogged and half-walked up Mount Washburn. The views from the top were incredible. Mount Washburn sits in the middle of the park, from the top you are surrounded by mountain ranges on all sides including the Tetons in the south.

The next morning, I didn’t have work until three, so I fished the Nez Peirce Creek. I am getting pretty good at catching cutthroat but not anything else. For all I know I could have caught the same fish twenty times. I talked to some coworkers though and might go with one who knows a good spot for browns.

Opal-

Last weekend I drove to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and saw the falls and the yellow stones from which the park gets its name. I hiked the North Rim trail which is about three miles total. The lookouts were crowded with all sorts of tourists but if you just walk a little way off the beaten path, you can find yourself pretty much alone in this park. The trail had very few visitors. I stopped at Inspiration Point, ate an apple and peanut butter, and sketched the view. It's hard to capture the vast amount of space present between you and the floor of the canyon. It feels like there is an immense quantity of air, almost too much for one place, and you get that jarring dizziness. Among the yellow stone of the canyon wall are other vibrant warm colors, rusty reds, some so dark they almost look purple. This along with the vibrant green pines and the roar of the 108-foot falls creates quite the picture. After enjoying my apple, I headed back to the car and drove back past Yellowstone Lake from which you can see a variety of mountain ranges. These mountains look like they rise from the lake itself. This view along with the song Ventura Highway makes for an intense moment.

After another week of work in which I had a fourteen-hour shift, I hiked to Mallard Lake. The trailhead starts right behind the cabins at Old Faithful and heads up about 850 feet for around 4 miles. The hike is steep for a while and goes through a range of environments, dry pine forest, boulder fields, and alpine meadows. I got to the lake after an hour and 20-minute hike and almost immediately saw a bear. It was across the lake from me and very hard to make out. I wish I had brought binoculars. It wandered around the edge of the lake for a minute and then disappeared into the trees. Needless to say, I was a little nervous after this but decided to stay and put up my hammock. I ate lunch and read my book and then after about an hour decided to head out. The lake was a gorgeous blue and looked very inviting for a swim, but it was cold I was ready to stop thinking about a bear popping out at any minute.  The hike back was much quicker, and I did a lot of clapping. At some point, a deer ran across in front of me and my heart dropped. It was hot when I reached the cabins again. And I thought about how the middle of summer will be without air conditioning.

The past two weeks have felt like we have adjusted to the rhythm of work and the park. It's crazy to be always immersed in it. You’ll see a bison walking past your window and just think…eh.

Old Faithful Area

6/3/24

Some pictures of where we work and live.