Saturday, August 21, 2010

Walking in thin air

For my last weekend’s activity in Yellowstone National Park, I climbed Electric Peak with Jillian and Kara. As the 6th highest peak in the park (at 10,969 ft and prominence of 3,389 ft), it was by far the most difficult hike/climb I’d attempted all summer and I didn’t even go to the absolute summit (though the other two girls did). It had become evident as the climb up the mountain progressed that I was not in any shape comparable to Jillian and Kara with one being a cross country runner and the other being a local and accustomed to the elevation. I got a headache and a little dizzy and stopped climbing about 50 feet from the summit. I figured climbing over loose rocks on a steep mountainside and not being steady on my feet was not a safe combination.

So, Kara and Jillian went on and I found a relatively flat spot, laid down, and slept! That nap was the quietest outdoors nap I have ever experienced. The mountain peak was absolutely silent apart from a few buzzing flies. There was hardly any wind which surprised me because when we climbed Mt. Holmes (which is almost as tall as Electric), we couldn’t really stand up straight because of the wind. What blew my mind is that we could see the Grand Tetons from the peak. Electric Peak is about 3 miles north of the park boundary and the Tetons are about 15 miles (That’s a very rough estimate) south of Yellowstone. This might give you an idea of how huge the Tetons are. It was an incredibly clear day when we first got up, but then storm clouds rolled in and we had to hustle down the mountain. We could also see the little town of Gardiner far below us and shiny specks that were cars driving through the valley. When the storm clouds rolled in, I think we would have been inside them if we had remained at the top of the mountain.

Our Electric hike was a two day ordeal. We hit the trail around 7 PM on Sunday night, Aug. 15, hiked about 2 miles down the trail and went another 2 miles off the main trail to our campsite. Faith, Jillian’s sister, spent the night with us, but decided not to do Electric as she had already climbed it a few years ago. She ended up doing a different hike that day. We packed up camp by 7 the next morning and began hiking soon after. Just after sunrise, we spotted two bull moose in the field below us! That brings my total moose count up to four with half of them not even seen within the park. Around 8, we reached the trail to get to the summit and Faith parted ways with Kara, Jillian and me. About a mile down the main trail, we hid our frame packs in the bushes and continued carrying our day packs. The trail was relatively flat for the first 7 miles or so until it reached the part where it climbs 3000 feet over 3 miles. To say the least, my Achilles tendons felt like they were going to snap on that ascent. I was by far the least physically capable of the three of us but Jillian and Kara were gracious enough to wait for me a lot of the time. So, we made it to the top (or mostly to the top for me), hung out for a bit, then started the descent which was almost as difficult as the ascent. We all made it down safely, minus one face plant by Kara (she was alright, though, just a bit dirty and scratched up) and were at our car by 6:20 PM. Our total mileage, counting the detour to our campsite, was about 24 miles. We could have omitted the camping and done it all in one day, but the camping part is so fun that we had to include it.

I’m really looking forward to coming back to Virginia and now that most of my friends have gone home, it’s gotten quite lonely. But, the herds are migrating now in preparation for winter (it seems early, I know) and that provides some entertainment. Today, a herd of bison has been hanging around in front of my dorm and they make much more noise than I ever expected. They grunt and groan constantly. They’re fun to watch, though, and to figure out the group’s social hierarchy. Sometimes a big male will suddenly start chasing a smaller male or female to keep it in line. The bison are surprisingly agile for such enormous creatures. I’ve seen a few herds of elk around, but none have come as close to the dorms as the bison have. While cleaning the cabins today, a mama black-tailed deer came strolling through with her two spotted fawns. They looked at me with some curiosity but continued on nonchalantly while munching on some grass. Of course, there are always the chipmunks and chattering ground squirrels that are everywhere. Marmots and pikas are a little less common to see, but not unheard of either. I haven’t seen a bear in the lake village for a long time now. Nobody that I know has ever seen a live mountain lion in the park. Jackalopes are the only animals that are legally hunted in the park. They’re so common, I’ve tripped on one late at night coming home from the pub!
shalom

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Yellowstone has three seasons: Winter, Spring, and August

As the summer is winding down, my weekend activities have become noticeably less intense. Though I am a little disappointed that perfect opportunities for Epic Yellowstone Adventures are slipping away, I’m grateful as well because I’m provided with times for reflection and rejuvenation before heading back into the full swing of school in a few weeks. Don’t get me wrong, however, life here hasn’t been totally drab.

Two weekends ago (8/1), I and two friends, Molly and John, rented a motor boat from the marina and went out on the lake for an hour. I can’t speak for the other two, but I know that I thoroughly enjoyed myself that afternoon. The view of the hotel, the mountains and just the whole shoreline from the water was unlike anything I could have expected. The sky was clear and sunny and the air was warm. It was a wonderful day for boating. The next day, I drove an hour and a half to the small town of West Yellowstone (located 20 feet outside of the west entrance to the park) and visited the wolf and bear sanctuary. The sanctuary is basically a zoo of wolves and bears that either were abandoned as cubs, have been deemed dangerous to humans, or needed some safe place for recovery, etc., etc., etc. I wouldn’t recommend paying to visit the sanctuary because, if you spend enough time in the park, you’d see those animals in the wild. And, you’d see the same thing at any zoo you visit. Fortunately, being an employee in the park, I got in free of charge.

Later that week, I actually got to visit with a friend from high school who is working in the Tetons this summer. On Saturday after work, Eric and I joined some of my friends at the Boiling River in the northern part of the park. The water of the Boiling River is heated by thermal features a mile or so away in the Mammoth village. Basically, it’s a natural hot tub. It’s better than a normal hot tub, though, because occasionally you’ll get hit by a cool and refreshing wave of water. The river starts somewhere inside the park and is joined just outside the Mammoth village by runoff from the hot spring. We relaxed in the shallow water for an hour just a few feet from where the hot and cold water join forces. That Monday, Faith (Jillian’s sister) and I drove out to Cody for an afternoon spent in a relatively civilized region. We had a good time despite being caught in a vicious thunderstorm, which included hail, while driving over the mountains. I think that every single time I’ve been to that town, I’ve witnessed a thunderstorm. Cody has a fun shopping scene downtown and we spent a good portion of our time looking around the little shops and buying a few things here and there. Cody also has a Wal-Mart—which is wonderful. Before this summer, I never would have thought I’d be grateful for a Wal-Mart. It’s easily the biggest and most dominating building in the town. But, being a super Wal-Mart, it has everything I could possibly need for 3.5 months in (virtually) the middle of nowhere.

Believe it or not, it’s starting to get cold here again. I think we witnessed a solid 4 weeks of “summer heat” at the lake. On Sunday, I spoke with a woman who says that the park tends to see snow near the end of August. This is a little surprising (and maybe a little disappointing too) because the wild flowers are out in full force and I’d hate to see them freeze. I won’t be here for the most drastic changes anyways, so I won’t worry about it. More evidence of changing weather is that we’ve had thunderstorms nearly every day so far this month because the warm weather is clashing with the cold weather that’s starting to settle again. I really don’t mind the storms, though, because they provide phenomenal cloud viewing and amazing sunrises and sunsets. I also simply enjoy listening to thunder. I woke up this morning to a huge crash of it around 6:30 AM. Finally, my co-workers are starting to go home to head back to school. Some, however, such as my roommate, have chosen to take a semester or two off of class and extended their contracts. Many are now staying until the park’s closing date of September 28.

It seems that I might be spending two nights in Bozeman, MT before catching my flight home. This is so because of when the busses that shuttle people between the park and Bozeman run. If everything works out to plan, I’ll be riding up there on Aug. 23 and then getting a taxi to the airport on Aug. 25. I really don’t mind this, though, because I’ve heard that Bozeman is a neat town that deserves some exploring.
Shalom!